The line is expected to follow the existing standard-gauge Košice - Zvolen line as far as Filakovo, and then via a new alignment, join the Budapest - Bratislava line west of Nové Zamky. It will cross the Danube near Bratislava. According to RZD president Mr Vladimir Yakunin, initial estimates put the cost of the project at Euros 4.7 billion, which includes Euros 312 million for upgrading the existing 87km broad-gauge line in Slovakia. Construction will take around four years and the line could open in 2016. The broad-gauge line to Košice was built in the 1960s to carry coal and iron ore from the Soviet Union to the East Slovakian Steelworks. The steelworks was sold to US steel in 2000, but still receives raw materials from Ukraine via the broad-gauge line. Containers are transhipped between standard and broad-gauge wagons at Dobra in eastern Slovakia. Photo: Keith Fender