Work Continues on Brenner Base Tunnel, Linking Northern and Southern Europe
Jeffrey Heimgartner posted on June 23, 2020 |
Set to open in 2028, 11 excavation sites in Austria and Italy continue work the Brenner Base Tunnel.
A vital traffic connection between northern and southern European lies in the Austrian Alps. While motorists have long dealt with traffic jams and pollution levels have continuously risen, a massive engineering feat has slowly been moving forward beneath it to create the longest underground railway link in the world: the Brenner Base Tunnel. Set to open in 2028, 11 excavation sites in Austria and Italy continue work on creating the Brenner Base Tunnel through the Austrian Alps, set to be the longest railway corridor in the European Union.
Part of the Mediterranean Corridor, which links Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Italy, the new tunnel eliminates traveling along the steps grades that require slower travel. Instead of 60 to 110km/h and a 30km/h speed restriction through Brenner station, the tunnel will allow freight trains to travel 120km/h and passenger trains to travel at 250km/h. For now, the massive undertaking, which started in 2008, is only 50 percent through the excavation process.
Once completed, the Brenner Base Tunnel will be the longest underground railway link in the world. (Image courtesy of BBT SE.)
This intense project is estimated to cost €9.2 billion with the European Union contributing 40 percent of…