Brenner base tunnel

Brenner base tunnel
Aicha-Mauls exploratory tunnel
length	64 km (with Innsbruck bypass )
Tubes	3
Overlay	Max. 1,720 m
Pitch	4 - 7 ‰
completion	planned for 2027
opening	planned for 2028
Train protection system	ETCS level 2
Traction power supply	25 kV 50 Hz
costs	€ 8.384 billion

Routing
Course of the Brenner Base Tunnel (blue)
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Legend from Innsbruck Hbf Brenner railway to Brenner / Brennero North portal Connection tunnel to the Inntal tunnel Emergency stop Innsbruck St. Jodok emergency stop State border (Austria / Italy) Trens emergency stop Crossing under the Eisack Brenner railway to the Brenner to the Brenner Railway to Brixen South portal Franzensfeste / Fortezza southern access route to Verona

As Brenner Base Tunnel ( BBT , including the Brenner Base Tunnel and the Brenner base tunnel , Italian Galleria di Base del Brennero ), an Austro - Italian joint project to build a railway tunnel for mixed passenger and freight traffic under the Brenner Pass called. The BBT will cross under the main Alpine ridge between Innsbruck and Franzensfeste , parallel to today's Brennerbahn . It is part of the Berlin – Palermo railway axis in the Scandinavian-Mediterranean core corridor of the EU's TEN program . The BBT measures 55 km between Innsbruck and Franzensfeste. Together with a large part of the already existing Innsbruck bypass , the Brenner Base Tunnel would have a length of 64 km. That would be the longest underground rail link in the world .

Commissioning is planned for 2028 (status: 2019).

Function and history

Starting point and objective

Passenger and freight traffic across the Alps has increased significantly in recent years. In the freight sector, around 40% of the transit volume in the central Alpine arc is handled via the Brenner axis, around three quarters of which is by road. For a long time, residents have been fighting for relief from the associated high emissions. Its advocates consider the construction of a base tunnel to be an important prerequisite for shifting transit goods traffic from road to rail.

The railway line from Innsbruck to Bolzano was built between 1860 and 1867. Tight curve radii and gradients of up to 25 per thousand make operation difficult. Up to three locomotives are required to pull the freight trains. In 2010, an average of 242 trains per day ran between Innsbruck and Steinach am Brenner (terminus of the S-Bahn Tirol ). As a result, the capacity limit is almost reached. On the Italian side, an optimization of the existing line took place, which was completed at the end of 2008 and which means that the line can theoretically accommodate 240 trains per day. However, this did not significantly reduce the inclines.

A maximum gradient of 12 ‰ is planned on the new Brenner Railway and from 4 to 7 ‰ in the base tunnel. This means that a locomotive can pull more than twice the mass than before. Thanks to the new line (base tunnel and new south access Waidbruck - Franzensfeste ), the travel time from Innsbruck to Bolzano should be reduced from two hours today to less than half.

chronology

BBT exploratory tunnel in Innsbruck's Sill Gorge on April 18, 2011, the day of the start of main construction phase III

• The first feasibility studies go back to 1989.
• On April 10, 1994, the Essen EU Council added the expansion of the Brenner axis to the list of priority TEN projects.
• From 1996 to 1997 the new Munich-Verona railway project with the Brenner Base Tunnel was optimized technically and economically.
• In 1999 the transport ministers of Austria and Italy founded the European Economic Interest  Grouping (EWIV) for the planning of the Brenner Base Tunnel, with which the planning phase began.
• The preliminary project with the basic definition of the route was created from 1999 to 2002.
• On April 30, 2004, the Austrian and Italian Transport Ministers, Hubert Gorbach and Pietro Lunardi , signed a contract for the construction of the tunnel in Vienna.
• On December 16, 2004, the installation company Galleria di Base del Brennero - Brenner Base Tunnel BBT  SE was founded.
• On July 12, 2005, the Austrian federal government decided to assume 12.5% ​​of the planned costs for the pilot tunnel of 430 million euros. The Tyrolean provincial government promised to contribute 54 million euros. The shafts and exploratory tunnels with a total length of 52 km should be completed by 2010. At this point in time, the opening of the tunnel was planned for 2015.
• On March 7, 2006 the Italian company "Tunnel Ferroviario del Brennero - Finanziaria di Partecipazione SpA (TFB)", which holds the Italian share of 50% of BBT SE, was founded.
• The symbolic groundbreaking ceremony took place on June 30, 2006, and construction work began on the first section of the exploratory tunnel between Aicha and Mauls in South Tyrol in August 2007 .
• The intention to build the tunnel has been confirmed several times in intergovernmental agreements between Austria and Italy, for example on July 15, 2007 with a memorandum signed by Infrastructure Ministers Werner Faymann and Antonio Di Pietro in Vienna. The difficult question of financing remained open. At the same time, Germany took part in the Memorandum of Understanding , which up to now had not taken any steps to increase the number of people, except for “announcements by the respective economics and transport ministers that they would speed up the expansion of the track in the direction of Brenner” .
• On February 29, 2008 the submission and UV project for Austria and Italy was completed.
• The environmental impact assessment (EIA) was completed on December 12, 2008 and the building permit for the Brenner Base Tunnel has been obtained in Austria.
• On May 18, 2009, the ministers of transport of Austria, Italy and Germany, the governors or presidents of the states and provinces between Munich and Verona as well as representatives of the railway companies in Rome signed in the presence of EU coordinator Karel Van Mierts and Vice-President of the European Commission Antonio Tajani an agreement in principle for the construction of the Brenner Base Tunnel. The so-called Action Plan 2009–2022 contains concrete, mandatory measures to improve rail logistics as well as political measures to shift heavy traffic from road to rail.
• On December 4, 2009, construction work began on the first section of the Innsbruck-Ahrental exploratory tunnel in Austria.
• The Interministerial Committee for Economic Planning  (CIPE) approved the financing of OPET in Italy on November 18, 2010. According to the CIPE resolution, Italy has approved EUR 4.6 billion.
• Austria approved the infrastructure master plan on February 1, 2011, earmarking 5.2 billion euros for the Brenner Base Tunnel project, including around 1.3 billion euros by 2016. During this time, the first kilometers of the tunnel are to be drilled and, in parallel, exploratory tunnels be driven into the mountain for the main tunnel. From 2016 tunnel boring machines should then start on the main section ( Ahrental - Trens ).
• On April 18, 2011, a festive ceremony took place in Innsbruck to mark the start of the main construction phase. On this day, the shareholders of BBT SE issued the order for the start of phase III.
• On the Austrian side, the official start of construction of the main tubes took place on March 19, 2015.
• A total of 50 kilometers of the 230-kilometer tunnel system had been excavated in mid-2016.
• By the end of 2016, 85 percent of all orders for the structure should be awarded. For the inflow on the German side, the first route corridors should be available in summer 2016, which should be condensed into a preliminary planning by 2019 ^[obsolete] .
• Five bidders bid on the construction contract for the largest lot, the section between Pfons and Brenner. The cheapest offer for the total of 50 km of tunnels was offered by a joint venture led by Porr for 966 million euros. The second and third placed bidders raised an unsuccessful objection to this decision.
• In September 2017, 72 kilometers of tunnels were excavated.
• In April 2019, 100 km of the total of 230 km had erupted and the breakthrough is planned for 2022/23.
• On May 22, 2019, the last of three tunnel boring machines to dig in the direction of Brenner started in Mauls. The twin TBMs "Flavia" and "Virginia" have a diameter of 10.7 m and excavate the two main tunnels. They follow the smaller "Serena" (with a diameter of 6.8 m), which drives the exploratory tunnel.
• The three-track entrance to Innsbruck Central Station went into operation on September 5, 2019. The future Brenner base tunnel is thus linked to the existing Brenner railway.
• On November 29, 2019 a total of 115 km of 230 km had been excavated, exactly 50% of the total length of all tunnel structures.
• The TBM "Günther" broke through on July 6, 2020 after a 16.7 km drive from Innsbruck south in Steinach am Brenner.

Project

Tunnel system

View of the tunnel tubes of the Brenner Base Tunnel

Ahrental landfill

The 55 km long, two-tube main tunnel is to be in Innsbruck - Wilten at an altitude of 609  m above sea level. A. penetrate the mountain and at a rock overburden of up to 1720 meters the main Alpine pass underneath, until the track at Franzensfeste in South Tyrol in 747  m slm comes back to light. The Brenner Base Tunnel joins the existing branch of the Inntal Tunnel .

The Brenner Base Tunnel consists of two main tunnel tubes and an exploratory tunnel. The single-track main tunnel tubes have an inside diameter of 8.1 m. Cross tunnels connect the two tubes every 333 m. These so-called crosscuts act as escape routes in emergency situations . The concept corresponds to the highest safety standards in tunnel construction. An exploratory tunnel runs in the middle 12 m below the main tunnel. Its diameter is 5-6 m. In the construction phase, it is primarily used for geological preliminary exploration in order to minimize costs and risks. In the operating phase it is used as a service and drainage tunnel. Four side access tunnels connect the tunnel structures with the terrain surface. These access tunnels are located in the Austrian project area in Ampass, in the Ahrental and in Wolf near Steinach am Brenner, in Italy near Mauls. The tunnel system of the Brenner Base Tunnel covers a total of approx. 230 km.

The amount of rock excavated during the construction of the tunnel is estimated at 21.5 million m³. Around a third of the total amount of excavated material should be recyclable, as bulk material, as concrete aggregate or for embankments and recultivation. Seven landfills, all of which are located near the access tunnels, are planned for the final storage of the non-recyclable material. The largest of these with a capacity of 7.7 million m³ is located in the Padastertal in the municipality of Steinach am Brenner.

According to current planning, the apex of the tunnel should be at the state border at an altitude of 794 m above sea level. M. are located. A vertex further south could have been lowered. The state treaty between Austria and Italy requires the apex at the point of the state border. The reason given for choosing the apex is that Austrian water must run in the tunnel to Austria and Italian water to Italy. On the Austrian side, the tunnel has a 6.7 ‰ gradient , on the Italian side 4.0 ‰ .

In addition to the cross passages that connect the east and west tubes, the safety concept provides for three emergency stops with evacuation options via the adjoining access tunnels. The emergency stops are approx. 20 km apart and are located in Innsbruck, St. Jodok and Trens.

Railway technology

25 kV 50 Hz was chosen as the traction current system . The tunnel is to be equipped with ETCS Level 2 . Passenger trains should pass it at 250 km / h, freight trains at 120 km / h.

Construction progress

TBM tunneling in the Ahrental – Pfons exploratory tunnel

Shop for blasting in the Wolf access tunnel

Tunnel segment exhibited at the Franzensfeste

The Brenner base tunnel is being built from several construction sites: Ampass and Ahrental near Innsbruck , Wolf south of Steinach am Brenner , Mauls near Sterzing and north of Franzensfeste . In December 2019, with 116 kilometers of tunnels, slightly more than half of the 230 km long tunnel network had been excavated. The following five lots are being worked on:

Project area Innsbruck, Austria: "Sillschlucht" construction lot

The construction lot is located in the Sill Gorge, at the foot of the Viller Berg, and includes the connection of the north portal to Innsbruck Central Station. Work began in August 2020 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2024. The construction lot comprises a number of complex construction measures:

• a 200 m long retaining wall with a height of 9 m
• an open-cut tunnel through the Bergisel (130 m)
• two railway overpasses for the east and west tracks over the Sill
• the north portal of the Brenner Base Tunnel
• two 140 m long sections of the main tunnel
• a tension band bridge for pedestrians across the Sill
• the new construction of the access bridge over the Sill (42 m)
• various river engineering measures.

Project area Innsbruck, Austria: "Tulfes-Pfons" construction lot

The two access tunnels Ahrental (2.4 km) and Ampass (1.4 km) have been excavated and serve as access points and points of attack for the “Tulfes – Pfons” construction lot. The following tunnel sections (a total of 41.5 km) were excavated in the course of this construction lot:

• A tunnel boring machine was used for the first time in Austria during the construction of the more than 16 km long exploratory tunnel from Ahrental to Pfons .
• The Tulfes rescue tunnel (9.7 km) runs parallel to the existing Innsbruck railway bypass and was realized with three blasting drives at the same time.
• Connection tunnel (6.8 km)
• Main tunnel (6 km): The two sections of the main tunnel tubes to the north serve as a connection to the Innsbruck bypass.
• The 470 m long Innsbruck emergency stop is located below the two villages of Patsch and Igls .
• Safety and logistics tunnel (3.9 km)

Project area Steinach aB, Austria: "Pfons-Brenner" construction lot

In this construction lot, 52 km of tunnels will be excavated between Pfons and the state border. The work in Wolf (municipality of Steinach aB) has been running since 2018 and will take more than 6 years. The construction lot comprises the following tunnel sections:

• 37 km of main tunnels are being excavated to the north and south with two TBMs each.
• Cross cuts that connect the two main tunnels every 333 m.
• Exploration tunnel (9 km)
• The St. Jodok emergency stop

In the already completed "Wolf 1" and "Wolf 2" lots, two important logistics tunnels were built in addition to the 3.3 km long access tunnel, the 1.2 km long section of the exploratory tunnel to the south and several connecting tunnels: the Saxen tunnel connects the construction site with the motorway and the Padaster tunnel lead underground from the access tunnel to the landfill in the nearby Padaster valley.

Project area Mauls: Lot "Mauls 2-3"

"Mauls 2-3" extends from the state border in the north to the "Eisack underpass" construction lot in the south. The construction lot comprises 65 kilometers of tunnels and the construction period is 7 years. The following tunnel sections will be realized during this time:

• Main tunnel (39.9 km)
• Exploration tunnel (14.8 km)
• Safety and logistics tunnel (6.9 km)
• Trens emergency stop with access tunnel
• Cross cuts between the main tubes (every 333 m)

In Mauls, 3.7 km of main tunnels and 1.5 km of exploratory tunnels were excavated in the previous “Periadriatic Seam” construction lot (2011 to 2015). The penetration of the Periadriatic Fault Zone - one of the most powerful geological fault zones in the Alps - went without any problems.

Franzensfeste project area, Italy: "Eisack underpass" construction lot

The construction site "Eisackunterquerung" from a bird's eye view

The southernmost two kilometers of the two main tunnel tubes, which flow directly into the Franzensfeste train station, and two connecting tunnels to the existing railway line will be built. The tunnels run just below the surface and pass under the Brenner motorway , the state road , the Eisack river and the Brenner railway . The crossing under the stream and the complex nature of the soil require two special construction methods: the ground freezing and the jet grouting . The work on the tunnel tubes was preceded by the relocation of the SS12 state road with the construction of two new bridges and a railway underpass. In the course of the work, a separate entrance and exit at the Brenner motorway and a loading area were also built. The construction work has been running since October 2014 and is expected to last until 2022.

geology

In-depth geological and hydrogeological investigations have been carried out to explore the BBT since 2000. The project area was geologically and hydrogeologically mapped by the Universities of Padua and Innsbruck together with the Federal Geological Institute. Around 350 geological exploration wells had been carried out by the end of 2015, 25 of which are deeper than 500 m. The deepest borehole is 1,420 m long. So far, around 35,000 running meters of rock have been extracted from the boreholes in the form of drill cores. Many of these drill cores were geologically and geotechnically examined in the test laboratory. The exploratory tunnel, which has been driven in several places since the beginning of 2008, provides detailed knowledge of the geology and hydrogeology at tunnel level. The parallel course of the exploratory tunnel to the two main tunnels enables a precise forecast for these. Any uncertainties can be identified and analyzed in advance.

Hydrology

Hydrogeology is a special focus in the planning and construction of the Brenner Base Tunnel. The planned route of the tunnel crosses the catchment areas of numerous water sources. As a result of the preliminary project from 2002, it was feared that the drilling could cause several sources to dry up or provide less water. In Austria, the municipality's own spring in Vals , which supplies around 60% of the local population, is one of the potentially endangered springs. For this reason, BBT SE set up a replacement supply system in advance, which has been in operation since 2013. A replacement supply system that was financed by BBT SE is already running in the municipality of Ellbögen .

In order to examine the water balance, sources, wells, groundwater measuring points and bodies of water have been measured periodically in the entire project area since 2001; there are currently 1350 measuring locations. Every four weeks, the amount of water, the water temperature and the conductivity of the water are examined as part of the water management evidence preservation. In addition, the water is sampled and chemically analyzed at least twice a year. The entire monitoring program on the water balance is to continue over the entire construction period. In addition, it is to be continued five years after completion of the BBT.

financing

As a transalpine route of the SCAN-MED corridor, the Brenner Base Tunnel is funded significantly by the European Union. Between 2015 and 2020, it bears 50% of the costs of the exploratory tunnel (approx. 303 million euros) and 40% of the costs of the two main tunnel tubes (almost 880 million euros). Austria and Italy each bear half of the remaining 60%.

At the start of the concrete construction planning in mid-2006, the estimated costs were between 4.5 and 12 billion euros. The EU should take on a maximum of EUR 900 million of this. At the 2006 price level, the estimated costs in 2009 were 6 billion euros.

The base costs of the Brenner Base Tunnel are estimated at a total of 7.8 billion euros (price basis 2017). Extrapolated to the end of the project (2028) , the forecast total costs including risk provisioning and advance valuation are around 8.384 billion euros. They are divided into four large groups: 60% of the shell construction, 15% of the equipment, 10% of planning, services and internal costs, 1% of property matters and 14% is reserved for risk prevention.

In the framework plan for infrastructure, Austria has earmarked 2.5 billion euros for the Brenner Base Tunnel project for the period 2017 to 2022 . The state of Tyrol makes a contribution to the costs of 190 million euros. According to the CIPE decision, Italy approved EUR 4.6 billion in 2010. The Italian Brennerautobahn AG has been saving part of its toll income for the base tunnel since 1997 . By mid-2013, 338 million euros were raised. The Italian financial contribution for the second construction lot amounts to 638 million euros. Financing has thus been secured from the governments in Vienna and Rome.

Builder BBT SE

The building owner of the Brenner Base Tunnel is the “Galleria di Base del Brennero - Brenner Base Tunnel BBT SE”. BBT SE is a European stock corporation and is 50% owned by Austria and 50% by Italy. On the Austrian side, ÖBB Infrastruktur AG is the sole shareholder. The holding company Tunnel Ferroviario del Brennero Holding AG (TFB) holds the Italian share. The TFB is owned by the Italian State Railways AG RFI (88.99%), the Autonomous Province of Bolzano (6.38%), the Autonomous Province of Trento (4.24%) and the Province of Verona (0.39%).

Feeder lines

Brenner Corridor Platform

As part of the Brenner Corridor Platform  (BCP), between the states of Bavaria, Tyrol, South Tyrol, Trentino and Verona , the three infrastructure ministries in Berlin, Vienna and Rome, the three operating companies DB , ÖBB and RFI, together with BBT SE chaired by European Union in nine working groups to develop proposals for improving the traffic situation in the Munich-Verona area. In July 2008, the former TEN coordinator Karel van Miert presented a corresponding action plan in Brussels . The working groups take into account, among other things, the optimization of the existing route, cross-financing road-rail, the investigation of the traffic area, the relocation of goods traffic to rail and the corresponding organization of loading terminals.

Northern approach route

Railway systems in the Innsbruck area

Finished shell of a gallery for the new Lower Inn Valley Railway

The BBT has two access routes in the north, which run underground a few kilometers before it joins the main tunnel and also have to be built in the course of the Brenner base tunnel construction. One route runs underground from Innsbruck main station am Bergisel to the BBT, and the other is a bypass route from Innsbruck . At eight kilometers of tunnel, this is a little longer than the connecting route from the main train station. Including this, the BBT will be the longest continuous railway tunnel in the world at 62.7 km. If, however, the Gotthard Base Tunnel access routes in the Berg long variant and the Axentunnel are also added, this would again be the longest tunnel in the world with a total length of 75 km - these two projects are currently suspended and implementation is not guaranteed.

The route in the Inn Valley from Baumkirchen to Radfeld (Wörgl Radfeld junction) is now four-track, the Wörgl Radfeld section via Wörgl Kundl to Wörgl Terminal South (for the time being) has three tracks and the Wörgl Terminal South section to Wörgl Central Station has four tracks. The line also has three or four tracks between Wörgl Kundl and Wörgl Hbf. In Wörgl Hbf the line to Salzburg or Graz and Klagenfurt ( Giselabahn as part of the Austrian Western Railway ) branches off, which is why the line from Wörgl via Kufstein and Rosenheim to Munich is significantly relieved. With the commissioning of the new double-track section Radfeld – Junction Wörgl Schaftenau – Brannenburg (the approval process is currently in progress) there will then be up to six parallel tracks in the Wörgl area; As the largest railway junction with a traction location and workshops, Wörgl is connected to the new line on both sides.

The northern approach from Munich to Innsbruck is 165 km on the Grafing - Rosenheim - Kufstein route . Ideas to relocate long-distance traffic between Munich and Innsbruck on a more direct route, for example via Garmisch-Partenkirchen , Mittenwald and Seefeld - including the Wetterstein tunnel , the Karwendel tunnel and the double-lane Mittenwald-Scharnitz island - were not pursued, although the route Munich– Innsbruck could thus be shortened to 129 km.

The section between Munich and Grafing was also expanded to four tracks on the German side , separating the Munich S-Bahn trains from long-distance traffic . The latter has a capacity of 275 trains per day. Currently (2016) a participation process to find the route between Schaftenau and Rosenheim is running. In Bavaria there is resistance to the Brenner northern inflow.

Southern approach route

South inlet
Legend from Innsbruck Hbf Brenner railway from Brenner / Brennero Brenner base tunnel south portal Franzensfeste / Fortezza Brennerbahn to Brixen / Bressanone Eisack Bridge Brennerbahn Exit to Waidbruck / Ponte Gardena Connection to the Kardaun tunnel Brenner railway from Bozen / Bolzano Brenner railway to Verona PN

The southern access route of the BBT is to be 189 km long and extend from the south portal of the BBT in Franzensfeste to Verona . One of the seven construction sections from the south portal of the tunnel to Waidbruck has already been approved and is to be completed together with the BBT . Concrete plans are already being made for the Bolzano bypass , while the consultation phase has been completed for the Branzoll-Salurn building lot and the route has been entered in the master plans of the municipalities concerned.

The southern approach is divided into 4 priority construction lots: Franzensfeste-Waidbruck, Bolzano bypass, Trient and Rovereto bypass and Verona entrance. The other sections are Branzoll-Trient, Rovereto-Pescantina, Waidbruck-Blumau.

Lot 1 Franzensfeste-Waidbruck (22.5 km): In 2003 the RFI prepared the first preliminary project, in 2015 the definitive project, which was approved by the CIPE in 2017. In 2019, the RFI reached an agreement with the municipalities of the Eisack Valley and the construction lot received a positive EIA report from the Ministry of the Environment in Rome. Work will begin in 2020.

Lot 2 Bolzano bypass (14 km): The Autonomous Province of Bolzano has identified a corridor within which the route in the South Tyrolean Unterland may run and has approved the inclusion of the project in the master plans of the municipalities concerned.

Section 3: Trento and Rovereto bypass (35.6 km): A first project created by RFI in 2015 is currently being examined. The project is expected to be completed in 2021, work to begin in 2025 and completion in 2032.

Lot 4 entrance Verona: The first preliminary project dates back to 2003. Since then, studies have been carried out, alternative routes and optimizations have been sought and further preliminary projects have been worked out.

Chronology of the approach routes

• As a TEN project, the expansion of the inlets was decided on April 10, 1994. A declaration of principle was thus also signed by Germany, Austria and Italy to provide access routes.
• In Austria, the Brenner Eisenbahn  GmbH  (BEG) was founded in 1996 to establish the necessary infrastructure and carried out the construction work in the Kundl area.
• When the agreement in principle was signed on May 18, 2009, the then German transport minister Wolfgang Tiefensee only vaguely promised to “if necessary” ensure that the Inn Valley route would be expanded. This would be made dependent on whether the traffic volume actually increased significantly after the implementation of the BBT.
• In June 2012, German Transport Minister Peter Ramsauer promised to expand the line between Grafing and Kiefersfelden to four tracks. The cost of the route is estimated at more than 2.6 billion euros, the speed of realization is questionable.
• In Austria, a second double track of the Lower Inn Valley Railway was opened on November 26, 2012 to relieve the Kundl - Baumkirchen section . This new Lower Inn Valley Railway runs underground for around 34 km. The 2nd section Brannenburg –Kundl is being planned. This project costs a total of 2.4 billion euros.

Whether this expansion can only develop its full benefit in conjunction with the BBT, or whether it is justified by the overlapping of the existing Brenner axis with the inner-Austrian east-west rail traffic, remains controversial.

• In 2013, citizens' participation for the German influx began in the Rosenheim area , and there is massive resistance, particularly in the Kiefersfelden area .

Opinions and critical voices

Some citizens' initiatives in North and South Tyrol are critical of the BBT. They argue that there are no guarantees that heavy traffic will actually be shifted from road to rail and that the tunnel will not turn into money-burning ruins, and as the first and most important step they demand the introduction of restrictions on road transit , for example as part of an Alpine transit exchange .

In a study published in May 2006, the Institute for Transport Management and Logistics at the Vienna University of Economics and Business came to the conclusion that the Brenner Base Tunnel project was based on incorrect traffic assumptions and cost estimates and that the construction would not result in any shift in traffic from road to rail. The dubious economic viability of the project weakens the position of the railway compared to the road and only withdraws money from more sensible infrastructure projects, according to the study carried out by Sebastian Kummer, Philipp Nagl and Jan-Philipp Schlaak. Hermann Knoflacher from the Vienna University of Technology and - in a study from June 2006 - the Munich traffic consultants Vieregg and Rössler expressed similar concerns about the economic viability of the Brenner Base Tunnel . In a statement on this study, Deutsche Bahn agreed with the project's critics.

Due to the planned mixed operation of passenger and freight trains, the performance of the line is reaching a fundamental limit. The greater the speed difference between the fastest and slowest train, the fewer trains can travel the route per hour. A significant part of the route capacity is therefore lost from the outset. More recent analyzes come to the conclusion that a resurgence in rail freight transport (in addition to organizational measures) would also require separate infrastructures for freight and passenger transport along the most important main axes.

Two interest groups support the construction of the Brenner Base Tunnel: the “Association Habitat for Generations” in Austria and the “Friends of the Brenner” (“Amici del Brennero”) in Italy.

Similar projects in the Central Alps

• Semmering Base Tunnel (Austrian project)
• Koralm tunnel (Austrian project)
• Mont Cenis Base Tunnel (Franco-Italian project)
• Gotthard Base Tunnel (Swiss project)

literature

• Jutta Kußtatscher (Ed.): Tunnelblick. The Brenner Base Tunnel. Facts - arguments - opinions . Studies Verlag, Innsbruck 2007, ISBN 978-3-7065-4499-3 .
• Gerd Millmann: The grave of billions on the Brenner. In: The time . No. 15 of April 3, 2008, p. 13 ( zeit.de ).
• Konrad Bergmeister : Brenner Base Tunnel - habitats and traffic routes. Tappeiner, Innsbruck 2008, ISBN 978-88-7073-456-0 .
• Helmut Petrowitsch: The major Brenner Base Tunnel project. Tunnel on the dump . In: Eisenbahn Magazin . No. 10/2010 . Alba publication, Düsseldorf October 2010, p. 24-27 .
• Konrad Bergmeister: Brenner Base Tunnel - Brenner Base Tunnel - Galleria di Base del Brennero . Tappeiner, Bozen / Innsbruck 2011, ISBN 978-88-7073-587-1 .
• Sebastian Heinrich: The Brenner Base Tunnel is getting closer . In: Mittelbayerische Zeitung . August 2, 2014 ( Mittelbayerische.de ).
• Entire legal regulation for the route of the Brenner Base Tunnel - high-performance Kufstein-Innsbruck-Brenner route. Version dated August 31, 2015 ( ris.bka.gv.at ).

Web links

Commons : Brenner Base Tunnel  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• BBT SE homepage
• Homepage of the OPET Observatory for Environment and Occupational Safety
• Action group Brennerbahn
• Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology: Brenner Base Tunnel - All materials for the process including environmental impact assessment (EIA)
• European Commission, Mobility and Transport: Scandinavian-Mediterranean Core Network Corridor - only available in English

Individual evidence

1. ↑ BBT - Brenner Base Tunnel Infofilm 2019 (DE). Retrieved January 29, 2020 (German). 
2. ↑ ^{a b} project overview. Retrieved January 29, 2020 . 
3. ↑ Factsheet. BBT SE, September 2019, accessed December 9, 2019 . 
4. ↑ ^{a b c} Report on the Brenner Base Tunnel. In: Eisenbahn-Revue International . Issue 6/2004, p. 270.
5. ↑ Announcement of the pilot gallery for the Brenner base tunnel . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International . Issue 10/2005, p. 483.
6. ↑ ^{a b c} Stefan Menzel, Peter Thelen; further sources unknown.
7. ↑ ^{a b c d} You missed the connection. Transport Minister Ramsauer promises an expansion of the railway line to the Brenner tunnel. Conny Neumann in: Der Spiegel 29/2012, April 16, 2012.
8. ↑ BBT becomes reality - Council of Ministers gives the green light , tirol.orf.at, April 11, 2012.
9. ^ Courier: Brenner Base Tunnel: Start of construction for the main tunnel . Article dated March 19, 2015, accessed March 21, 2015.
10. ^ Matthias Köpf: Embarrassment of the transport policy . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung . tape 72 , no. 129 , June 8, 2016, p. R13 (including date sueddeutsche.de ).
11. ↑ Matthias Köpf: Germany is lagging behind in the Brenner Base Tunnel . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung . tape 72 , no. 129 , June 7, 2016, p. R14 ( sueddeutsche.de ).
12. ↑ Objection to the largest construction lot of the Brenner Base Tunnel . In: Railway Austria . No. 10 , October 2017, p. 488 .
13. ↑ Brenner Base Tunnel: Porr retains the contract for the Pfons construction lot. In: eurailpress.de. July 12, 2018, accessed July 17, 2018 . 
14. ↑ Brenner Base Tunnel . In: Eisenbahn Magazin . No. 11 , 2017, p. 38 .
15. ↑ Brenner Base Tunnel: 100 kilometers ready. May 1, 2019, accessed May 1, 2019 . 
16. ↑ Last tunnel boring machine started at the Brenner Base Tunnel. In: Baublatt. May 24, 2019, accessed December 9, 2019 . 
17. ↑ BBT: Innsbruck train station entrance is ready. In: ORF Tirol. September 5, 2019, accessed December 9, 2019 . 
18. ↑ Half of the Brenner Base Tunnel excavated. November 29, 2019, accessed December 2, 2019 . 
19. ↑ Brenner Base Tunnel: Successful breakthrough in the exploratory tunnel. In: APA OTS. July 6, 2020, accessed August 13, 2020 . 
20. ↑ Overview plan of the integration of the OPET in the Innsbruck bypass PDF saved on the BMVIT website. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
21. ↑ BBT SE: General brochure PDF saved on the BBT SE website. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
22. ↑ BBT SE: General brochure PDF saved on the BBT SE website, pp. 16-17. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
23. ↑ ^{a b} Brenner base tunnel adopted . In: Railway Gazette International . tape 165 , no. 5 , 2009, p. 7 .
24. ↑ Half of the Brenner Base Tunnel excavated: construction is progressing according to plan. Retrieved April 11, 2020 . 
25. ↑ BBT: Construction work started in Sillschlucht. August 4, 2020, accessed on August 13, 2020 . 
26. ↑ salini-impregilo.com
27. ↑ APA-OTS: First tunnel boring machine at the Brenner Base Tunnel gathers speed Press release from BBT SE of September 26, 2015, accessed on October 17, 2016.
28. ↑ ^{a b} construction progress. Installation company BBT SE, accessed on December 11, 2019 . 
29. ↑ BBT SE: Brochure on the Franzensfeste project area ( Memento of the original from June 18, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. PDF accessed on October 17, 2016. 
30. ^ Vals community news PDF saved on the website of the community Vals, p. 9. Accessed on October 12, 2016.
31. ↑ BBT SE: Financing ( Memento of the original from August 9, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Website of the installation company BBT SE. Retrieved August 8, 2016. 
32. ↑ Helmut Petrovitsch: Exploratory tunnel for the Brenner base tunnel. In: Eisenbahn-Revue International . Issue 8–9 / 2006, p. 396.
33. ↑ key data. Table of the installation company BBT SE, accessed on December 2, 2019 . 
34. ↑ Financing of the Brenner Base Tunnel is shaky . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International . No. 7 , July 2013, p. 354 .
35. ↑ BBT SE: project company , website of the installation company BBT SE. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
36. ↑ Exploratory drilling for the second expansion step of the new Lower Inn Valley Railway . Brennernordzulauf.eu. February 15, 2017. Retrieved November 14, 2017.
37. ↑ Bavarian State Parliament, plenary minutes 12/51 (PDF), May 6, 1992, accessed on July 27, 2019.
38. ↑ October 20, 2015 - Preparation of the route selection process at the northern inlet of the Brenner has started . Brennernordzulauf.eu. Retrieved May 13, 2016.
39. ↑ Patrick Guyton: Europe's largest transport project: A huge hole in the mountain . In: The daily newspaper: taz . June 14, 2019, ISSN  0931-9085 ( taz.de [accessed August 15, 2019]).
40. ↑ LPA / Thomas Ohnewein: BBT feed line: LH Kompatscher is happy about Yes from Rome. Autonomous Province of Bolzano , March 3, 2017, accessed November 14, 2017 . 
41. ↑ LPA / FP: BBT inlet route: LH Kompatscher is happy about Yes from Rome. Autonomous Province of Bolzano , February 21, 2017, accessed November 14, 2017 . 
42. ↑ South approach to the Brenner Base Tunnel. Brennerbahn Action Group, accessed on May 6, 2020 (German). 
43. ↑ New Lower Inn Valley Railway: high-speed and maximum safety. (PDF; 166 kB) (No longer available online.) ÖBB-Holding AG, November 26, 2012, archived from the original on September 30, 2013 ; Retrieved November 27, 2012 . 
44. ↑ The last rail has been laid. (No longer available online.) Tiroler Tageszeitung, December 16, 2011, archived from the original on February 5, 2013 ; Retrieved November 27, 2012 . 
45. ↑ Rosenheim citizen participation for connection to the Brenner base tunnel begins. dpa, January 23, 2013, in Abendzeitung München online, Friday, August 29, 2014.
46. ↑ Report in the ARD / Tagesschau.de from July 1, 2019: Brenner north feed of the railway: five possible routes - and a lot of criticism (accessed: July 1, 2019)
47. ^ ^{A b} Sebastian Kummer, Philipp Nagl, Jan-Philipp Schlaak: On the efficiency of rail infrastructure construction projects using the example of the Brenner Base Tunnel. In: Journal of Transport Science. 2006, accessed on February 2, 2020 (pages 6–21). 
48. ↑ Lecture by Prof. Knoflacher on the subject of the Brenner Base Tunnel ( memento of the original from December 21, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Sterzing, April 17, 2007 (online at ivv.tuwien.ac.at) 
49. ↑ mein district.at: Rastner: "Establishing the association was important and correct" Article from June 15, 2011, accessed on October 17, 2016.
50. ↑ Inter-parliamentary group “Friends of the Brenner” founded ( Memento of the original from October 17, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Press release of the South Tyrolean People's Party of September 27, 2013, accessed on October 17, 2016.