Workers have successfully broken through the final layer of rock in the Base Tunnel under the Brenner Pass, a project that will connect Austria and Italy and change the map of European transport. The tunnel, scheduled to open in 2032, will stretch 56 kilometers and, with a connection to the existing route to Innsbruck – at a full 64 kilometers, overtaking the Gotthard Base Tunnel as the longest railway tunnel in the world, writes News.bg.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said: “Today we are taking a decisive step towards the construction of one of the largest infrastructure projects in Europe.“
The project, estimated at around 8.5 billion euros, aims to reduce the travel time between Fortezza (Italy) and Innsbruck (Austria) from 80 to under 25 minutes. Brenner is one of the busiest Alpine passes – over 2.5 million trucks, 14 million vehicles and 50 million tons of goods pass through it annually. The new tunnel will shift a significant portion of freight traffic from road to rail. However, the project is dependent on the completion of the northern routes in Germany, which will provide a full connection to the tunnel. The Alps are home to some of the most ambitious tunnel projects: Gotthard Base Tunnel (Switzerland) - 57 km, opened in 2016.
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Löchberg Base Tunnel (Switzerland) - 34.6 km, relieves north-south traffic
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Simplon Tunnel (Switzerland/Italy) - 19.8 km
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Eurotunnel (Channel Tunnel) - 19.8 km 50.5 km, of which 37 are under the seabed
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Seikan (Japan) – 53.9 km, connects the islands of Honshu and Hokkaido
The Brenner Base Tunnel is part of Europe's strategy for sustainable transport. Shifting freight from trucks to trains will reduce air pollution, ease traffic in the Alps and create faster connections between northern and southern Europe. The success of the project depends on the cooperation of all countries along the route and the construction of the necessary connections.