Brenner Railway

Innsbruck station at the north end of the Brenner railway

Freight train at the Brenner Pass

The Brenner Railway is a major line connecting the Austrian and Italian railways from Innsbruck and Verona climbing the Wipptal (German for “Wipp Valley”), passing over the Brenner Pass and descending down the Eisack Valley to Bolzano and then down the Adige Valley from Bolzano to Rovereto and from there along the section of the Adige valley called in Italian the “Vallagarina” to Verona. The line is part of the Line 1 of Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T). It is considered a "fundamental" line by the state railways Ferrovie dello Stato (FS).^[1]

History

The line was designed under the Austro-Hungarian Empire before the middle of the nineteenth century to ensure rapid and safe transport between Tyrol and Northern Italy, especially Lombardy–Venetia. It was thus important not only for economic but also for military reasons as Austria was strongly committed to maintaining its borders south of the Alps.

The first section to be built was that low section between Verona to Bolzano, which was opened in two different parts: 23 March 1859 from Verona to Trento and 16 May 1859 from Trento to Bolzano. This work was commenced by the k.k. Nord- und SüdTiroler Staatsbahn (German: "North and South Tyrol State Railways") but at the beginning of 1859 the company was taken over by the new Austrian Southern Railway (German: Südbahn).^[2]

The design of this section was approved on 10 July 1853 by the engineer Alois Negrelli, an employee of the Südbahn, known for having built other alpine lines and for developing a project for the Suez Canal.

Despite the loss of Veneto in the Third Italian War of Independence and the consequent shift of the border between Italy and Austria to Borghetto on the current boundary of Trentino and Verona, which occurred in October 1866, the section from Bolzano to Innsbruck was incomplete, but already under construction and it was opened on 24 August 1867. The 127 km route from Innsbruck to Bolzano took only three years to build. The main designer was the engineer, Karl von Etzel, who died in 1864 and therefore did not see the completion of his work. After the Semmering railway it was the second mountain railway built in Austria. It was also the first line to cross completely over the Alps.

The line south of Borghetto became part of the Società per le strade ferrate dell'Alta Italia (Italian for Upper Italian Railways, SFAI) in 1866^[3] and in the 1885 reorganisation it was absorbed by the Società per le Strade Ferrate Meridionali (Adriatic Network).^[4] The line became part of Ferrovie dello Stato upon its establishment in 1905.

In 1919 Italy acquired Trentino-South Tyrol under the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye and the border moved to Brenner. The line from Trento to Brenner was electrified at 3,700 V at three-phase 16.7 Hz between 1929 and 1934.^[5] Electrification was converted to 3,000 V DC on 30 May 1965.

In preparation for the proposed Brenner Base Tunnel, the Innsbruck bypass was completed in 1994 to improve access to the Lower Inn Valley railway. The bypass consists of a 12.75 kilometre tunnel (Austria's longest), which removed the bulk of the freight trains from Innsbruck. In Italy several new sections have been built, removing sections of line with several short tunnels with small cross sections. These include the 13.159 metre-long Sciliar tunnel opened in 1994, the 7.267 m-long Pflersch tunnel opened in 1999 and the 3,939 m-long Cardano tunnel opened in 1998.

Brenner railway

Legend from Kufstein 75.130 Innsbruck S1   S2   S3   S4   S5  582 metres m AMSL Arlberg and Mittenwald railways 76.725 Bergisel tunnel 662m 78.198 Sonnenburg tunnel 249m 79.646 Innsbruck bypass 80.291 Ahrnwald tunnel 165m 80.809 Schupfen tunnel 35m 81.295 Unterberg-Stefansbrücke S3   S4  716 m AMSL 81.648 Unterberg tunnel 49m 82.662 Patsch tunnel 176m 83.905 Innsbruck Hbf 2 crossover 84.718 Patsch S3   S4  784 m AMSL 85.403 Schönberg tunnel 89m 85.726 Mühltal tunnel 872m 86.936 Moserwiese tunnel 74m 91.847 Matrei tunnel 124m 93.281 Matrei am Brenner S3   S4  995 m AMSL 97.884 Steinach am Brenner S3   S4  1084 m AMSL 101.918 St. Jodok S4  1141 m AMSL 102.427 Sankt Jodok spiral tunnel 480m 104.323 Stafflach tunnel 283m 106.189 Gries tunnel 173m 106.651 Gries am Brenner S4  1255 m AMSL 106.917 Steinach in T. 2 crossover 111.375 Brennersee 1351 m AMSL 111,663 240,083 Brennero/Brenner S4  Border 236.2 Brennerbad (former spa) 1371 m AMSL 13.1 Moncucco/Schelleberg 1242 m AMSL Pflersch tunnel 7.267m Ast spiral tunnel 761m 226.7 Fleres/Pflersch 1130 m AMSL 222.8 Colle Isarco/Gossensaß 1100 m AMSL Eisack bridge I1 span 217.0 Vipiteno/Sterzing 943 m AMSL Campo di Trens/Freienfeld 935 m AMSL Palude di Vipiteno bridge3 spans 208.9 Mules/Mauls 900 m AMSL 204.3 Le Cave/Grasstein 843 m AMSL 200.8 Mezzaselva/Mittewald 798 m AMSL 197.0 Fortezza/Franzensfeste 747 m AMSL 197.0 Puster Valley railway (S.Candido/Innichen) 192.19 Varna/Vahrn 650 m AMSL 188.36 Bressanone/Brixen 577 m AMSL Eisack bridge II 2 spans 184.70 Albès/Albeins 548 m AMSL Funes/Villnöß 539 m AMSL 178.24 Chiusa/KlausenGrödner railway 523 m AMSL 172.43 Ponte Gardena/Waidbruck 422 m AMSL Rötele bridge 1 span Castelrotto/Kastelruth/ 428 m AMSL Schlern tunnel 13.159 m Campodazzo/Atzwang 373 m AMSL Eisack bridge I 2 spans Tunnel VII 55m Tunnel VI 72m Tunnel V 60m Tunnel IV 62m Tunnel III 79m Tunnel II 57m Völsersteig/ Fiè allo Sciliar 340 m AMSL Tunnel I 40m 157.99 Prato all'Isarco/Blumau 315 m AMSL Kardaun tunnel 3.789m Prato Tires tunnel 430m Cardano/Kardaun 283 m AMSL Kardaun bridge 1 span 150.23 Bolzano/Bozen 266 m AMSL Überetsch Railway 148.59 To Merano 142.56 Laives/Leifers 230 m AMSL 139.29 Bronzolo/Branzoll 227 m AMSL 134.17 Ora/Auer 223 m AMSL 128.40 Egna/Neumarkt 217 m AMSL 124.42 Magrè/Margreid–Cortaccia/Kurtatsch 216 m AMSL 118.99 Salorno/Salurn 211 m AMSL 111.62 Mezzocorona 110.50 Trento-Malè railway 104.32 Lavis 95.43 Trento goods station 94.79 Trento 93.01 To Venice 87.22 Mattarello 78.91 Calliano,closed 12.12.2004 71.21 Rovereto 66.91 MoriRovereto-Arco-Riva railway 60.86 Serravalle 54.68 Ala 50.36 Avio 45.48 Borghetto 40.36 Peri 32.77 Dolcè 22.80 Domegliara–S.Ambrogio 16.98 Pescantina 11.65 Verona Parona 6.39 S.Massimo junction/P.C.[6] to Milan and Bologna Adige river 3.37 Verona Porta Nuova 0.00 Verona Porta Vescovo To Venice

Future

Following a sharp increase in freight through the Brenner Pass (largely on road), the railway is currently considered to have insufficient capacity. Moreover, its steep grades, tight radius bends and the need to change the engines at Brenner because of two different electrical systems used in Austria and Italy mean that the average travel speed is low. For these reasons, the creation of a new line is planned from Verona to Munich via Innsbruck. At the heart of this project is a 55 kilometre-long tunnel between Franzensfeste and Innsbruck, known as the Brenner Base Tunnel.

Route

The maximum grade on the track is 31 per thousand. The minimum curve radius is 264 metres. The highest point of the track is Brenner station at 1,371 m, which is also the highest point reached on the standard gauge networks of the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) and the Italian Ferrovie dello Stato (FS) networks.

To overcome the steep climb (796 m between Innsbruck and Brenner) two spiral tunnels were built, using the sides of a valleysat St. Jodok on the Austrian side and the sides of the Pflerschtal (German for "Pflersch Valley") on the Italian side.

At Brenner station, located on the Brenner Pass, there is a monument to the designer, Karl von Etzel. At this station, in addition to the political boundary is found the operational border between the ÖBB and FS networks. The two companies operate different electrical systems, (15,000 V AC at 16.7 Hz in Austria, and 3,000 V DC in Italy), which requires a stop to change electric locomotives. For this reason, for a long time the operation of express trains from Munich to Milan was carried out with diesel railcars. Until 30 May 1965 was also needed a second engine change in Bolzano station, as the Bolzano–Brenner section still operated under three-phase AC electrification.

In recent years the introduction of multicurrent rolling stock that can run on both the Austrian and Italian networks has made it possible, at least in principle, to avoid locomotive changes. However, the need for locomotives to carry equipment for different signalling systems and to have safety approvals for different networks and lines and the need for staff to know operating rules and routes has limited multicurrent operations in practice.

Notes

References

• Rete FS in esercizio (FS operational network) (PDF) (in Italian), Ferrovie dello Stato, retrieved 4 February 2010 
• Facchinelli, L. (1995), La ferrovia Verona–Brennero. Storia della linea e delle stazioni nel territorio (the Verona–Brennero railway, history of the lines and stations in the area) (in Italian), Bolzano: Athesia 
• Kalla-Bishop, P. M. (1971), Italian Railways, Newton Abbott, Devon, England: David & Charles, ISBN 0-7153-5168-0 
• Mori, Edoardo, La ferrovia da Verona a Monaco di Baviera (The railway from Verona to Munich) (in Italian), Calosci Editore 

See also

• List of railway lines in Italy

v t e Berlin–Palermo railway axis Berlin–Halle Halle/Leipzig–Erfurt Erfurt–Nuremberg Nuremberg–Munich Munich–Rosenheim Rosenheim–Kufstein Kufstein–Wörgl Wörgl–Innsbruck Innsbruck bypass Innsbruck–Franzensfeste (Brenner Base Tunnel) Franzensfeste–Verona Milan/Verona–Bologna Bologna–Florence Florence–Rome Rome–Naples Naples–Salerno Salerno–Reggio Calabria(it) Strait of Messina Bridge Messina–Palermo(de)

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Coordinates: 46°18′26″N 11°14′51″E / 46.30722°N 11.24750°E / 46.30722; 11.24750