Russian Railways is playing a key role in creating a modern transport infrastructure in preparation for the XXII Olympic Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games due to be held in Sochi in 2014. The projects being developed and implemented by Russian Railways are in many ways unique, not only in Russian, but also in global practice.

Constructing roads and railways

Russian Railways is building 157 km of roads in the vicinity of ​​the Games. Despite the fact that most of the construction is being done in mountains where a difficult engineering and geological situation prevails, 12 mountain tunnels with total length of 30 km have been built in a very short time.

The most ambitious project is the construction of a combined 48-kilometer road and railway line, part of which runs through Sochi National Park. In order to reduce the area under ​​development and preserve the Park’s unique natural landscape, the decision was made to build bridges and flyovers. The combined road and rail link has 71 bridges and flyovers totalling 38 km in length.

All the Company’s projects are proceeding on schedule.

Combined Adler - Alpika Service road and rail line

This 48 km combined road and rail link is part of a new transport infrastructure which will connect Adler, the Olympic Park and Krasnaya Polyana. The new fast route will pass through the mountains via tunnels, bridges and flyovers and provide rapid and comfortable travel between the Olympic venues. The rail link will be capable of handling a maximum of 8.500 passengers per hour, while the road can accommodate up to 11,500 passengers. The new Lastochka luxury electric train will take less than half an hour to complete the trip to the last stop at Alpika Service Station in the mountains.

In view of the difficult engineering and geological situation, the most difficult part of the construction is building the complex of tunnels required, starting at the 23km of the combined road and railway line, including a 3.2 km road tunnel, a 4.6 km railway tunnel and a service-cum-evacuation tunnel.

This project brought Russian Railways a victory at the annual International Tunnelling Awards 2011 in Hong Kong and was noted as the largest and most complex tunnelling project. The excavation of all the tunnels was done using tunnel shields – modern machines capable of boring some three hundred metres a month underground and installing the primary lining.

When laying tunnels many kilometers long, the tunnel machines, with their 13m diameter shields, are out by only 3 mm when they meet.

Facts:
Number of bridges and flyovers - 71
Number of tunnels - 12
Length of bridges and flyovers - 38 km
Due to be commissioned - April 2013