The Brenner Rail Tunnel: Italy and Austria united beneath the Alps

On the Italian side, the Virginia and Flavia tunnel-boring machines (TBMs) mechanically excavated the two main tunnels right up to the national border.

On the Austrian side, however, the tunnelling was carried out using traditional methods, involving excavation with explosives. The cross-passage broken through today therefore not only connects two countries and two construction sites, but also two tried-and-tested methods of tunnel excavation.

This significant milestone therefore represents much more than a mere engineering achievement. It symbolises the close collaboration between two countries, engineering excellence and the tireless commitment of all those involved in the project, who are bringing this railway project to fruition with skill and passion.

For the two members of the Management Board of BBT (Brenner Base Tunnel), Martin Gradnitzer and Umberto Lebruto, 28 July therefore marks one of the most important milestones in the history of the Brenner Base Tunnel project: “With the joining of the two main tunnels of the BBT,” the two executives explain, “our project has reached a crucial stage. In future, freight and passenger trains will travel through here between Austria and Italia. This success is a remarkable demonstration of what can be achieved when people work across borders towards a common goal. The project has many names, but above all it bears the mark of the people who built it, day after day.”

This extraordinary achievement would not have been possible without the utmost surveying precision.

One need only consider the excavation of the exploratory tunnel, a project launched from the Wolf and Mules access tunnels using the very latest surveying technologies. When the diaphragm was breached last September 2025, the deviation recorded was just a few centimetres.

These extremely precise measurements then formed the basis for the excavation of the main tunnels.

The true heroes of this historic day are the miners, the foremen, the blasters, the machine operators, the electricians, the surveyors, the geologists, the safety officers and the engineers. People who, for many years, day after day, shift after shift and metre after metre, have worked in the most difficult conditions deep within the mountain.

Now our attention is already turned to the future.

The two TBMs, Wilma and Olga, are about to complete the excavation of the two main tunnels towards Innsbruck.

Once these excavations are complete, all the railway tunnels will be connected without any breaks.

When it comes into service, between 2032 and 2034, this huge railway infrastructure (64 kilometres long) will help to ease congestion on the Brenner motorway, one of Europe’s busiest motorways, and to shift increasing volumes of freight currently transported by road onto the rail network.