BRENNER
Situated in the middle of the Alps at the lowest altitude compared to other Alpine passes (1,371 m above sea level), the Brenner Pass has always been a crucial transit and transport crossway for Europe. Today, the Pass sees a quarter of all transalpine freight traffic.
The Brenner Base Tunnel is a major rail infrastructure that will connect Austria and Italy, crossing through the southern Alpine ridge. Part of the Scandinavia-Mediterranean International Corridor (SCAN-MED), it will help strengthen rail freight transport and reduce road traffic, in line with European Union goals.
The intervention falls within the European TEN-T Corridor "Scandinavia-Mediterranean," connecting Helsinki and La Valletta, passing through Central Europe, the Tyrrhenian ridge and major Sicilian cities, with a length of 9,400 km.
The project will connect Innsbruck (Austria) and Fortezza (Italy) through the Brenner Base Tunnel, one of the longest in the world.
| LENGTH: 55 km between Fortezza (Italy) and Innsbruck (Austria), extending to 64 km, including the Innsbruck railway bypass. |
| MODERN TRACKING: reducing slopes and distances compared to the old line, improving efficiency and sustainability. |
| TRANSFRONTIER RAILWAY PROJECT: designed to improve connectivity between Italy and Austria, promote sustainable transportation, and ensure rail operation through the installation of technical facilities and systems such as electric traction equipment, telecommunications, signalling, control systems, security and ventilation. |
| DESIGN: Two single-track main tunnels with bypasses every 333 m and shafts every 2000 m, connected by cross passages and an exploratory tunnel, useful for construction, maintenance and safety. |
| BENEFITS TO THE TERRITORY: Separation of freight traffic flows from passenger traffic flows and long-distance services from local services. |
Italferr, lead of the Consortium formed by Systra, IlfConsulting Engineers Austria and EUT Engineering Srl, has been engaged for years now in the realization of important components of the work, which due to its cross-border nature requires strong technical compatibility with the Italy-Austria railway networks, as well as compliance with European regulations on interoperability.
The central Alpine area consists of cross-border sections, the Munich-Innsbruck northern access line and the Brenner Base Tunnel, and the Fortezza-Verona southern access line, located entirely on Italian territory, along the Isarco and Adige valleys. The latter will run for about 180 km, requiring the quadrupling of the existing two tracks. The northern end of the project consists of Lot 1 - Fortezza-Ponte Gardena, a mainly tunnelled section with a total length of 22.5 km.
BBT - Brenner Base Tunnel awarded Italferr the Project Management and Works Supervision of the "Eisack River Undercrossing" in the southern section of the tunnel. This is the most important construction lot of the project, for which about 4.5 km of main line tunnels and 1.6 km of tunnels for interconnections with the Fortezza Station have been built.
The geological context and the presence of the Eisack river, the Brenner Highway, National Road No. SS12 and the Verona-Brenner railway line required the adoption of highly technical design solutions such as the use of soil freezing to excavate the tunnels under the river. All the activities were successfully completed.
The technical-constructive features of the new railway link, and in particular the drastic containment of slopes and the underground passage of the line between Verona and Innsbruck, will also mitigate the noise impact of heavy traffic as well as reduce traction energy consumption by up to 40%, with a parallel reduction in emissions.
The work is scheduled for completion in 2029.