RFI launches tender for major new rail bypass worth close to 1 billion euros
Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI) has launched a 970-million-euro tender for the Trento rail bypass in north-western Italy. This bypass is vital, as it is part of the Verona-Fortezza railway line, which will give access to the south entrance of the Brenner Base Tunnel once this piece of infrastructure is completed at beginning of the next decade.
The railway construction project will consist of the realisation of a new, 13-kilometre-long double-track railway line, of which 11 kilometres will be underground. The new section will be connected to the Verona-Brenner line in Roncafort, a neighbourhood north of Trento. Paola Firmi, Head of Technical Department at RFI, was named Special Commissioner for the project after a meeting with all stakeholders involved. The majority of financing – 930 million euros – will happen through the Recovery and Resilience Facility (PNRR).
The Brenner Base Tunnel
When finished, the Brenner Base Tunnel will be 55 kilometres long and will connect Innsbruck, in Austria, with Fortezza, in the Italian autonomous province of Bolzano. The tunnel is a key section of the 425-kilometre-long Brenner railway line, which runs from Munich to Verona. In total, over 230 kilometres of tunnels will be dug for the project. Freight trains will be able to travel at speeds up to 160 kilometres per hour across these lines.
The project is being supervised by BBT, a European public limited company set up for the construction of the tunnel. BBT is co-owned by Austrian railway company ÖBB and Tunnel Ferroviario del Brennero (TFB). TFB, on its part, is owned by RFI and the Italian provinces of Trento, Bolzano, and Verona.
This article was first published on RailFreight.com.
Further reading:
