A landmark was reached at the Brenner Pass on September 18 with the breakthrough of the 57.5km exploratory tunnel for the Brenner Base Tunnel, which will become the world’s longest railway tunnel. The event, attended by European Union (EU) officials alongside the Italian and Austrian heads of government, was hailed as a decisive step forward for one of Europe’s most significant infrastructure projects.
Around 1000 guests gathered for the ceremony, led by European commissioner for sustainable transport and tourism, Apostolos Tzitzikostas. Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, and transport minister, Matteo Salvini, were joined by Austrian federal chancellor, Christian Stocker, and transport minister, Peter Hanke, alongside regional governors and representatives from Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) and Italian State Railways (FS).
The dignitaries pressed a ceremonial start button, initiating the breakthrough at a depth of approximately 1400m beneath the Italian-Austrian border. The moment engineers working on the H53 Pfons-Brenner and H61 Mauls 2-3 lots finally met underground was greeted with cheers and broadcast live to guests in a festival tent in the village of Brenner.
The exploratory tunnel, situated about 12m below the two main tunnels, is not intended for rail traffic but will provide geological data for excavation of the two running tunnels as well as facilitating drainage and maintenance, and serving as an emergency escape route. Three of the nine tunnel boring machines (TBMs) that will be used on the Brenner Base Tunnel project excavated 42km of the exploratory tunnel, beginning work in Italy in 2008 and Austria in 2009. The remainder was excavated using conventional methods.
Once completed, the Brenner Base Tunnel will extend 64km between Innsbruck in Austria and Fortezza in Italy, overtaking the Gotthard Base Tunnel in Switzerland as the world’s longest rail tunnel. It is designed to shift millions of tonnes of freight from road to rail, relieving pressure on sensitive Alpine regions while cutting journey times for passengers.
“Today, Europe is growing closer together through Italy and Austria,” said Gilberto Cardola and Martin Gradnitzer, executive board members at project company BBT. They praised the commitment of miners, engineers and project teams, describing the breakthrough as a symbol of European cooperation and technological achievement.
In total, 204km of the 230km of tunnels that will make up the Brenner Base Tunnel have now been excavated, including 100km of the main running tunnels.
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