Europe is changing drastically. While the EU invests billions in its eastern member-states for brand new highways, city face lifts and railways, Western states need to update their infrastructure: think of high speed lines and subway systems that are outdated. Meanwhile, many EU-candidates try to speed up the application process by mayor infrastructure works. In Europe under construction, Reasq takes you every Saturday to a new mayor construction site in Europe and tells the true story behind the project. Today: the Brenner Base Tunnel.
The central station in Munich on a Saturday morning at 09.34. On Platform 13 the EuroCity to Bologna is ready to go when 2 Japanese tourists run with their suitcases to catch it. Just on time, as the conductor blows his whistle and closes the doors right behind them. Even though I was 15 minutes early on the train, I'm just as tired as them. I started my journey today in Berlin at 05.28. A high speed train covered the 700 kilometre journey in 4 hours. The tourists enter my coach and take a seat, as the train slowly pulls out of München HBF...
It's one of the few remaining EuroCity trains, with the typical 6 seat compartments. In front of me there is an Austrian coming back from his night shift in Germany. He lives in Kuffstein, Austria, and takes the train every day to work in Munich. The other 4 seats in the compartment are occupied by a group of young Italians that are returning from a rail trip in Northeastern Europe. Destination of the day: Naples, 1200km South of Munich.
From Berlin to Palermo at 300km/h
Their journey covers a big part of the Trans European Network Corridor No 1 (from Berlin, Germany to Palermo, Italy). It's one of the seven corridors making up the Trans-European high-speed rail network (TEN-R). The network, which will allow people and goods to travel more convenient and faster over the continent, has been defined by the European Commission in 1996 and EU funds have been (partly) funding major constructions on the network.
Most of the 2500km Berlin - Palermo corridor has already been completed and has thus been open for high speed trains that run at 250-300km/h. However, in Southern Italy (between Salerno and Palermo), innovative plans haven't been put into reality yet. A proposed upgrade of the existing 400km railway between Salerno and Reggio Calabria hasn't been officially planned yet, neither has the bridge that should connect Sicily with Italy.
The Brenner Base Tunnel through the Alps
While I'm writing this, the train slowly glides through the Austrian Alps. Those 300km/h are far away on the curvy Brenner Railway which links Innsbruck with Verona. Or that's how it looks today. Six hundred meters under the train tracks, a new tunnel is being built that should bring trains from Innsbruck, Austria, to Fortezza, Italy.
The Brenner Base Tunnel, which should be fully operational in December 2028, will be 64 kilometres long and thus the longest underground railway connection in the world. At an allowed speed of 250km/h, both in the tunnel and on the soon upgraded link from Fortezza to Verona, trains will be able to cross the Alps in less than 2h instead of the current 3h30.
Total costs: 1,183 billion euros
"The total costs of the tunnel are currently estimated on 1,183 billion euros: 303 million for the exploratory tunnel and 880 million for the actual tunnel tubes", states BBT SE, which is building it. The EU funds 50% of the exploratory tunnel (151,5 million euros) and 40% of the main tunnel (352 million euros). The other 679,5 million euros are decided between Austria and Italy, both paying 339,75 million. Together with the other upgrades are newly created high speed lines on the Berlin - Palermo route in the last years, it's by far the most expensive project funded by the EU.
Besides smoother passenger traffic, the more important reason for the project is the European economy. Currently the Brenner highway is overloaded with trucks traveling between North and South Europe. As Swiss tolls for trucks are way higher than the German, Austrian and Italian ones, truck companies heavily reroute their trucks in order to avoid them.
While the new railway would be extensively used by high speed rail traffic during the day, it would be open to freight traffic during the night in order to get the trucks off the highway.
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