Brenner Base Tunnel

The Brenner Base Tunnel (German: Brennerbasistunnel; Italian: Galleria di base del Brennero) is a 55-kilometre-long (34 mi) railway tunnel under construction through the base of the Eastern Alps beneath the Brenner Pass. Once completed, the Brenner Base Tunnel will rank as either the second or third longest railway tunnel in the world, depending on the definition employed. It will be surpassed in length only by the Gotthard Base Tunnel in Switzerland and, depending on the relative completion dates of these projects, the Mont d'Ambin Base Tunnel between France and Italy. When combined with the Inntal Tunnel, which forms part of the existing Innsbruck bypass, the Brenner Base Tunnel will reach a length of 64 kilometres (40 mi), making it the longest underground railway connection in the world. It will run from near Innsbruck, in Austria, to Franzensfeste/Fortezza, in Italy, replacing part of the current Brenner railway. The line is part of Line 1, the Berlin to Palermo route, of Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T) and funded by Austria and Italy with large contributions by the European Union. The tunnel is scheduled to be completed in 2032. The Brenner Pass, in the Alps at the border between Austria and Italy, is one of the most important traffic connections between northern and southern Europe, and the motorway going over it is infamous for its frequent traffic jams. Pollution from transit traffic is a major concern because of the combination of temperature inversion with the narrow shape of the valleys leading to the pass. The goal is to relieve this situation by greatly improving the railway connection between Germany and Italy with the new tunnel, which will allow trains to cross the Alps much faster. Currently, speeds in the Brenner region barely exceed 70 km/h (43 mph) due to the steepness of the existing...