The Brenner Base Tunnel - a new link through the Alps

5 France Germany Austria Switzerland Ventimiglia Monginevro Mongenisio Fréjus Montblanc Simplon St. Bernhard Tarvis Lyon-Torino Lötschberg St. Gotthard Brenner Italy heavy traffic on the road freight transport in million tons / year heavy traffic on the railway freight transport in million tons / year new railway lines 0,3 19,3 0,5 2,9 10,6 8,7 13,4 0,4 1,1 15,3 8,4 2,0 33,5 13,4 15,1 9,1 Trans-Alpine traffic flows over the main transit routes. Source: European Commission (DG Move), Office fédéral des trans- ports (2017) The EU’s goal is to guarantee swift, convenient and environmentally friendly freight transport and a new manner of travel for passenger traffic. Today, 40% of all transalpine traffic moves over the Brenner Pass. Over two thirds of freight transport occurs by road, barely a third travels over the Brenner by rail. In 1994 the EU decided to take measures to counteract the increase in heavy traffic on the road and thereby promote ecological rail infrastructure and its sustainable development. The first step in this direction was taken with the development of the TEN transport axis in the 1990s. In December 2013, the EU decided to redesign the TEN transport axis, and create transnational multi-modal transport connections. The new TEN-T core corridors now connect Europe’s major ports with the pertinent railway infrastructure and access routes by road. The role of the Brenner Pass in Europe