Back inward 2011 , posted pictures of a mysterious greenish tunnel of trees roofing a department of railway tracks inward Ukraine , known equally “Tunnel of Love”. At that fourth dimension , the cyberspace was non aware of its beingness in addition to at that topographic point was absolutely no data of this house salve for its vague location nigh a urban heart called Klevan. I asked my readers if they knew nigh the house , in addition to a few chipped inward with bits of information. In the concluding few years , equally these pictures became to a greater extent than in addition to to a greater extent than pop on social media in addition to other websites , additional data began to surface. Recently , RFE/RL’s journalist in addition to lensman Amos Chapple visited the site in addition to came dorsum with a to a greater extent than authentic story.
The “Tunnel of Love” is located betwixt Klevan in addition to the hamlet of Orzhiv on the Kovel-Rivne describe of piece of work , a distance of 7 kilometers. Near Orzhiv , the describe of piece of work splits into two. One leads to Klevan in addition to the other leads to a undercover armed services base of operations , from the Cold War era , hidden inward the forest. Back inward those days , the trees were deliberately planted with the runway to conceal the carry of armed services hardware. The armed services base of operations is maybe all the same inward purpose because Google maps shows large numbers of armed services vehicles on the base.
The “Tunnel of Love” is kept neatly trimmed , non yesteryear of the displace of the armed services , exactly yesteryear industrial freight trains operated yesteryear the Odek plywood manufactory , inward the hamlet of Orzhiv. Birch trees from across Ukraine are trucked inward to the manufactory where they are turned into plywood panels. Finished plywood panels are loaded onto large containers in addition to hauled yesteryear trains to the Klevan railway junction. From Klevan they are taken along the top dog body describe of piece of work to markets across West Europe.
The Odek manufactory trains run to Klevan through the “Tunnel of Love” several times a hateful solar daytime , depending on how much plywood at that topographic point is to transport. The “tunnel” starts afterward a few hundred meters from the factory. Chapple doesn’t bespeak how long the tunnel extends , exactly according to the English linguistic communication Wikipedia it is 3 kilometer long , piece the Russian Wikipedia says it’s iv kilometers.
Apparently , the “tunnel” is hugely pop inward Ukraine. Couples in addition to newly weds oftentimes receive got photo-shoots here. Sometimes the tourists are a work for the prepare operators in addition to they receive got to continue a abrupt midpoint on the track. Last twelvemonth , a 38-year-old Japanese adult woman was struck yesteryear the prepare , fracturing her hip , exactly it was an isolated incident.
The tunnel has no official protection nor whatever guardian , exactly a few years agone the manufactory cutting downwards several trees to assistance passage of the prepare in addition to at that topographic point was a huge outcry. The manufactory hasn’t touched a tree since then.
The Odek plywood manufactory , inward the hamlet of Orzhiv.
These are the containers the plywood is loaded onto.
The describe of piece of work on the left runs to the armed services base. The describe of piece of work on the correct leads to Klevan.
