Austria and Italy now connected by the Brenner Base Tunnel

No rush! Book your travel for 2032

An important milestone was passed last week nearly 1.5 km beneath the Alps. The first tunnel link between Austria and Italy - the Brenner Base Tunnel - was breached.  Once fully operational, the tunnel will link Fortezza in Italy with Innsbruck in Austria, enabling passenger trains to travel at speeds of up to 250km/h. This will dramatically cut the journey time from 80 minutes down to just 25, making cross-border travel more convenient and sustainable.

On the Italian side, construction is led by Webuild, utilising advanced tunnel boring machinery. The completed Brenner Base Tunnel will stretch 64km, earning the title of the world’s longest railway tunnel. It will be a key link in the Scandinavian-Mediterranean Corridor within the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T). This will allow direct travel all the way from Helsinki, Finland to La Valletta, Malta.

Despite challenges with difficult geology and delays, the project now aims for completion in 2032, costing around 8.5 billion euro. To date, approximately 200km of tunnels have been excavated since construction began in 2008.

(ML. Source: Global Construction Review & ENR Photo:  Webuild image library)