Tunnel World turns 10: over 500 people celebrated the tenth anniversary of the Brenner Base Tunnel information centre
Quite a success, with lots of smiles and people enjoying themselves - on Saturday, over 500 visitors came to celebrate the first 10 years of the Tunnel World (Tunnelwelten) information centre in Steinach am Brenner.
It was quite an affair and very much geared to families, with fun, conviviality and the high-level engineering of the Brenner Base Tunnel.
The afternoon flew by, what with jumping on the bouncy castle, face-painting, wooden toys and the very popular interactive scavenger hunt based on the theme of tunnel and railway construction. Much attention, as always, was paid to the environment and the re-greening process - even the smallest visitors learned how the project sites will be restored to their original state, as soon as the works are over.
The visitors celebrated with the centre’s managing team, made up of Martin Schneider, Daniela Wieser, Manuel Schwab and Stefan Freimüller. Every day, the Tunnel World team welcomes guests from all over the world to the 800 square metres of exhibition space and guides them into the heart of the mountain to discover the BBT construction sites.
Florian Riedl, Mayor of Steinach am Brenner: "Seeing so many families and local people here today shows that Tunnel World has become an important touchstone for our community over these past ten years, not only in terms of the information provided, but also from a social and cultural point of view. Steinach is proud to host a structure that links our region to a project that has such a fundamental role in Europe.”
Martin Gradnitzer, Austrian CEO of BBT SE: “BBT SE’s goal has always been to maintain a constant and constructive dialogue with its surrounding region. Tunnel World is a feather in our cap in terms of this: it is an important point of reference for the inhabitants of the Wipp valley and beyond. It means a lot to the local community to be able to count on a direct channel with us, to get clear answers to any questions, doubts or curiosities. My heartfelt thanks go to my colleagues for having represented our project so well over the past ten years and I wish them all the best as they continue to do so.”
Julia Gruber, Head of Communications of BBT SE: "The tenth anniversary of Tunnel World is an extraordinary success that shows us how important it is to continue doing what we’ve been doing. Making the complex engineering involved in building the Brenner Base Tunnel accessible for everyone is a major challenge. It’s important for members of the public to receive clear information, experience the project from up close and see th3e construction sites with their own eyes. This wonderful response, with 500 visitors at today's event, shows once again how close the centre’s work is to the community.”
Martin Schneider, Director of the BBT Tunnel World: "Celebrating ten years of work with 500 friends of all ages is a wonderful feeling. Seeing the amazement in their eyes as they discover what makes a construction site tick, when we answer all their many questions, is what makes our work special. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to the entire community and to my wonderful team for this achievement.”
This ten-year anniversary isn’t just a celebration for today, but a successful milestone along a longer road: so far, Tunnel World has had over 200,000 visitors.
An exceptional number, which shows how important this space is both for teaching and from a social point of view.
While the excavation works on the Brenner Base Tunnel proceed apace, Tunnel World proves once again its value for the community.
Over the coming years, the centre will continue to renew its content and align it with the developments in the BBT project. Its doors will remain open to schools, technical experts, families and people from all over the world, to document and show the final phases of this important cross-border project.
