The Project

The Brenner Pass is, and not only historically, an important route. Even today, this pass is the most important North-South connection in the European Union. Every year, more than two million heavy vehicles and almost twelve million vehicles in total move across the Brenner. Almost 50 million net tons of goods are shipped over this route every year.

Everything possible must therefore be done to ensure both a healthy quality of life but at the same time the possibility of economic development along the Brenner corridor and in the Alpine area. This includes measures such as shifting goods traffic from road to rail, changes in mobility behaviors, interactive logistics systems and adapting the economy to the usage of rail infrastructure.

The shifting of heavy goods traffic from road to rail inevitably requires an efficient rail infrastructure. This is being constructed at present in the Lower Inn valley in Tirol. In 2012, this roughly 40-kilometer long, mostly underground stretch between Kundl and Baumkirchen will be completed. It leads directly to the Innsbruck bypass, which was opened in 1994.

And that is where the Brenner base tunnel begins.

The Brenner base tunnel is a low-gradient railway tunnel. It consists of two tubes which are interconnected every 333 meters.  In each tube there is a single track on which (primarily) goods trains travel in a single direction, so traffic is one-way. The tunnel is 55 kilometers long and will, as mentioned, connect with the existing (and also underground) Innsbruck bypass to the south of Innsbruck. The bypass and the Brenner base tunnel together make up the longest underground railway line in the world, with a total length of 62.7 kilometers. Before reaching the railway station in Innsbruck and the station in Fortezza, both tunnel tubes will emerge from the mountain to allow the trains to enter the stations. Below the Brenner pass, which is the lowest Alpine pass at 1371 meters, the tunnel lies at around 794 meters. The gradient of the Innsbruck bypass and the base tunnel is about 6.7%.

In between the two tunnels and at about 12 meters below them (10 meters below them just before Fortezza) runs an exploratory tunnel. This will be built in sections before beginning construction on the main tubes, mainly to examine and prospect in the rock. The results of these tests will be used in the construction of the main tunnel. This reduces construction risk and optimizes construction costs and time.

The Brenner base tunnel is a central element of the new high-capacity axis for the Berlin-Palermo railway line and is meant primarily for goods transport.