At less than 30 kilometres in length, the Second Track follows a much shorter route between Koper and Divača.
Its first rail line runs for 27.1 kilometres through seven tunnels and across three viaducts. One of these tunnels is the longest in Slovenia at 6.7 kilometres. Meanwhile, the second rail line, which will run parallel to the first one, is 60 percent complete. Like the first line, nearly all of it will be underground: 20.95 of its 26.95 kilometres, passing through six tunnels and across two viaducts and a bridge.
Local news reports have described the Second Track as a smaller version of the Brenner Base Tunnel. The improvements will be substantial. With both lines of the Second Track up and running, the number of trains able to travel between Koper and Divača will rise from 90 to 252 per day.
Travelling at speeds of 120 kilometres per hour, freight trains will complete the journey in 30 rather than 110 minutes. Passenger trains will travel a little faster at 160 kilometres per hour, arriving at destination in 17 rather than 45 minutes.
Increasing rail freight transport, the Second Track will contribute to having slightly more than half a million fewer freight vehicles on Slovenia’s highways per year in 2030, according to 2TDK’s website. By 2040, there will be nearly one million fewer freight vehicles per year.