The construction of the Brenner Base Tunnel in the Alps is one of the world’s largest railway projects. In Germany, Bavarian politicians have put the brakes on things. Now things are set to move forward.
After long political delays, Deutsche Bahn wants to bring its planning for the German access route to the Brenner Base Tunnel in the Alps to the finish line by the end of the year. The next step will be to forward the route variant developed by DB to the Bundestag and the Federal Ministry of Transport, said Klaus-Dieter Josel, the outgoing DB Group representative in Bavaria.
“We will prepare the documents by the end of the year. The aim is to have them presented to the Bundestag in spring 2025.” The 55-kilometer-long Austrian-Italian giant tunnel is intended to one day speed up the current slow train traffic from Germany to Italy and also provide relief for the local population. In particular, the troubled residents of the Brenner motorway in North and South Tyrol have been suffering from exhaust fumes, noise, chronic traffic jams and illegal traffic for decades.
But there are also hordes of truck drivers and German holidaymakers in Italy complaining and suffering. The importance of the Brenner Pass extends far beyond the Alps: goods and passenger traffic from the Mediterranean to a number of countries (and vice versa) runs over the pass: in addition to Austria and Germany, these include the Czech Republic, Poland and the Netherlands.
In 1998, 1.2 million trucks passed through the pass. In 2023, the Austrian motorway company Asfinag counted twice as many at the Schönberg toll station: 2.4 million trucks. In total, almost 14.4 million vehicles crowded onto the Brenner motorway.
Important route since the Middle Ages
The Brenner Pass was the most important transalpine trade route in the Middle Ages, and today the pass is generally the cheapest way for freight forwarders to cross the Alps. “The Brenner North Access is part of the important European Scan-Med axis from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean,” says Josel. “We need this route.” Passenger trains currently take over five hours to travel from Munich to Verona, but one day this will be reduced to just three.
The base tunnel does not touch German territory, but in order to be able to use the full capacity one day, the “feeder” must be expanded. The current route runs on a 160-year-old route from royal Bavarian times from Rosenheim through the Inn Valley to the Tyrolean border.
New route planned
The DB is planning a 54-kilometer-long new route away from the towns. A good 30 kilometers are to be built as tunnels. This has not appeased local citizens’ initiatives. “Modernize existing infrastructure instead of destroying the environment,” says the Brenner Dialogue initiative.
Those opposed to the new construction stress that they are not against the railway: “We want freight transport to be moved to the rails and regional transport to be strengthened,” says Brenner Dialogue board member Lothar Thaler. The existing route should have been upgraded long ago. “The citizens are not responsible for the delays.”
There is also resistance and delays in Austria and Italy, but both countries overtook Germany years ago. “The route of the entire southern approach has been completed,” says Martin Ausserdorfer from the Brenner Base Tunnel Observation Center in South Tyrol, which is monitoring the construction on behalf of the regional government and municipalities. Construction work recently began on the most important section.
Josel: Planning “not too late”
And on the German side? “We are conducting a very intensive planning dialogue and have the impression that acceptance has increased,” says Josel. “We expect building permits to be in place in the early 2030s, with construction starting shortly thereafter. Commissioning would then be possible in the early 2040s.”
The planning is “not too late,” stresses Josel. “On the current route over the Brenner, the trains are relatively short and often have to travel with two or three locomotives. In the Brenner Base Tunnel, trains up to 740 meters long can travel with a higher loading capacity. The amount of goods transported will increase, but not suddenly.”
Bridged or tunneled?
Alternative proposals from Bavarian municipalities are also to be submitted to the Bundestag. One of the main points of contention is whether the Inn will be bridged or tunneled under. “A tunnel under the Inn would cost at least one billion euros more, and depending on the route it could even be up to three billion more,” says Josel.
The target date of 2040 assumes that there will be no further major delays. Thirty years ago, the CSU vehemently demanded the expansion, but the enthusiasm has long since waned. In 2004, Austria and Italy decided to build the tunnel. In 2009, Peter Ramsauer became the first of four CSU politicians in a row to take over the Federal Ministry of Transport, and in 2012, Berlin and Vienna agreed to jointly plan the feeder route.
But Ramsauer’s successor Alexander Dobrindt assured the citizens’ initiatives in 2017 that he would review the need for the new route. In Munich, CSU coalition partner Hubert Aiwanger entered the state government in 2018, and his Free Voters are also fighting the route locally. “For the Brenner access, the need for a new route must first be proven,” it suddenly said in the Bavarian coalition agreement at the time. The currently valid wording in the 2023 new edition: “We will continue to work to ensure that the Brenner North Access is implemented with maximum resident friendliness.”
Dissatisfaction with politics in Bavaria
Meanwhile, dissatisfaction with politics is growing in the Bavarian economy, and the anger is no longer directed solely at Berlin. “Both road and rail transport have been operating at their limits for years, and bottlenecks and traffic jams are causing high economic losses,” complains the Chamber of Industry and Commerce for Munich and Upper Bavaria. Any further loss of time must be avoided.
The developments in Vienna are being closely followed. “By 2040 at the latest, the corridor will need to be four-tracked in order to be able to handle the forecast volumes in good quality,” says a spokesman for the Austrian Ministry of Transport.
Source: Stern
