Brenner Railway

Innsbruck station at the north end of the Brenner railway
Freight train at the Brenner Pass
Map of the Brenner railway

The Brenner Railway is a major line connecting the Austrian and Italian railways from Innsbruck to Verona, climbing up the Wipptal (German for “Wipp Valley”), passing over the Brenner Pass, descending down the Eisacktal (German for “Eisack Valley”) to Bolzano/Bozen, then further down the Adige Valley to Roverto/Rofreit, and along the section of the Adige Valley, called in Italian the “Vallagarina”, to Verona. This railway 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 railway line was designed under the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the mid-19th century to ensure rapid and safe transport between Tyrol and northern Italy, especially Lombardy–Venetia. It was thus strategically 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 the lower section between Verona and Bolzano/Bozen. 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 railway lines and for developing a project of the Suez Canal. The section was opened in two different parts: on 23 March 1859 between Verona to Trento/Trient and 16 May 1859 from Trento/Trient to Bolzano/Bozen. This construction was handled by the k.k. Nord- und SüdTiroler Staatsbahn (German: "North and South Tyrol State Railways"), but the company was taken over by the new Austrian Southern Railway (German: Südbahn) at the beginning of 1859.[2]

Despite the loss of Veneto in the Third Italian War of Independence and its consequent shift of the border between Italy and Austria to Borghetto on the current boundary of Trentino and Verona in October 1866, the upper section from Bolzano/Bozen to Innsbruck was incomplete. The 127-km route from Innsbruck to Bolzano/Bozen took only three years to build. This section had been under construction and was finally opened on 24 August 1867. The main designer and engineer, Karl von Etzel, died in 1865; he was not able to witness the completion of his work. After the Semmering railway, this Brenner Line was the second mountain railway built within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was also the first through line to cross over the Alps.

The section south of Borghetto became part of the Società per le strade ferrate dell'Alta Italia (Italian for Upper Italian Railways, SFAI) in 1866.[3] In the 1885 reorganisation it was absorbed by the Società per le Strade Ferrate Meridionali (Adriatic Network).[4] The line came under the control 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 Austro-Italian border moved to Brenner. The section from Trento/Trient to Brenner was subsequently 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) and aims to remove the bulk of the freight train traffic 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-metre long Pflersch tunnel opened in 1999 and the 3,939-metre 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 traffic 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 locomotive engines at Brenner due to two different electrical systems as 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 lies 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 metres 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 (1371 metres), there is a monument to the designer, Karl von Etzel. This station is situated at the border between Italy and Austria and also 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 Verona and 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, which can be 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

  1. ↑ Ferrovie dello Stato
  2. ↑ Kalla-Bishop 1971, p. 21
  3. ↑ Kalla-Bishop 1971, p. 41
  4. ↑ Kalla-Bishop 1971, p. 52
  5. ↑ Kalla-Bishop 1971, p. 103
  6. ↑ "Posti di comunicazione", that is a crossover.

References

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Brenner railway.

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