In the 14th century, 3,000 tons of freight including spices, wine, sugar, oil and cotton were transported over the Brenner Pass every year. The flow of goods over the Brenner increased constantly, so that by the beginning of the 19th century the volume of goods being carried over the Brenner every year, using horse-drawn wagons, had risen to 15,000 tons and then to 60,000 tons only 50 years later. This soon led to capacity bottlenecks and the construction of the Brenner Railway.
The current route was built between 1860 and 1867. A hundred years later, the motorway was built. Since 1974, the Brenner Pass can be crossed on the Austrian A13 and the Italian A22 motorways. After completion of the motorway, ten million tonnes of goods were transported across the Brenner Pass each year; today, around 40 million net tonnes are transported by road.
PROJECT MILESTONES
20.08.2007
| Start of construction on the Mules access tunnel (Italy): 1.8 km, gradient 9.3%, cross-section 92 m², excavated by blasting
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28.04.2008
| Start maschineller Vortrieb Erkundungsstollen Aicha (Italien): 10,5 km, Doppelschildmaschine (6,3 m Durchmesser)
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23.10.2009
| Completion of the Mules access tunnel (Italy)
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04.12.2009
| Start of mechanized excavation on the Aica exploratory tunnel (Italy): 10.5 km, double-shield tunnel boring machine (6.3 m in diameter)
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16.07.2010
| Start of construction in Austria: Sill Gorge exploratory tunnel: 5.4 km, cross-section 26 m², excavated by blasting
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03.11.2010
| Breakthrough on the exploratory tunnel in Aica (Italy)
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04.04.2011
| Start of construction on the Wolf I construction lot (Steinach am Brenner, Austria): Logistics tunnels: Saxener tunnel and Padaster tunnel
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19.09.2011
| Start of excavation on the Ampass access tunnel (Austria): 1,350 m, cross-section 35 m², gradient 10%, excavated by blasting |
07.10.2011
| Start of construction work on the Periadriatic line construction lot (Italy): 3.7 km of main tunnels, 1.5 km of exploratory tunnel, contract amount 53.1 million EUR
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24.06.2011
| Breakthrough on the Padaster tunnel (WOLF I construction lot, Steinach a.Br./Austria)
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24.02.2012
| Breakthrough on the Saxen tunnel (WOLF I construction lot, Steinach a.Br./Austria)
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11.10.2012
| Completion of the Ahrental access tunnel = Breakthrough on the Ahrental access tunnel to the Sill Gorge exploratory tunnel
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01.07.2013
| Completion of the Ampass access tunnel (Austria)
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04.12.2013
| Start of excavation work on the Wolf II construction lot (Austria): Access tunnel: Length 4 km, cross-section 120 m², gradient 10%, spoil removal tunnel 950 m, work on the Padaster valley disposal site
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11.12.2013
| Completion of the Sill Gorge stretch of the exploratory tunnel (Austria)
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22.04.2014
| Start of works on the Patsch shaft (Austria), 180 m, excavated by blasting
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04.09.2014
| Completion of the Patsch shaft (Austria)
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18.09.2014
| Start of excavation work on the Tulfes-Pfons construction lot (Austria): 380 million EUR, 38 km, Construction time 55 months
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31.10.2014
| Start of works on the Isarco river underpass construction lot (Italy): 301 million EUR, 4.2 km of main tunnels, 1.8 km of connecting tunnels
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14.02.2015 | Breakthrough on the 950 m long spoil removal tunnel (Wolf II construction lot, Austria)
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19.03.2015
| First blast on both main tunnels in Ahrental (Tulfes-Pfons construction lot, Austria) in the presence of EU-Commissioner Violeta Bulc and the Ministers of Transport of the 7 Alpine States and Regions
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25.03.2015
| Completion of the construction lot Periadriatic line ( Italy)
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26.09.2015
| Start of TBM excavation on the Ahrental-Pfons stretch of the exploratory tunnel (Austria):17 km, 200 m open gripper tunnel boring machine, 8 m in diameter
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22.12.2015
| Completion of the Wolf access tunnel
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05.01.2016
| Start of excavation work on the Wolf stretch of the exploratory tunnel
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06.12.2016
| Start of excavation work on the Mules 2-3 construction lot: 993 million EUR, 40 km of main tunnels, 15 km of exploratory tunnel, 10 km logistics and connecting tunnels, construction time 7 years
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11.05.2017
| Tulfes- Pfons construction lot: Breakthrough on the east connecting tunnel
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04.07.2017
| Tulfes- Pfons construction lot: Breakthrough on the west connecting tunnel
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20.07.2017
| Tulfes- Pfons construction lot: Breakthrough on the emergency tunnel for the Innsbruck bypass
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04.12.2018
| Breakthrough on the south portal in Fortezza
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02.02.2019
| Start of excavation work on the Pfons-Brenner construction lot: 966 million EUR, 37 km of main tunnels, 9 km of exploratory tunnel, 6 km logistics and connecting tunnels, construction time 6 years
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12.02.2019
| Tulfes- Pfons construction lot: Breakthrough on the Ahrental evacuation tunnel
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29.03.2019
| Start of excavations on the southern part of the exploratory tunnel from Wolf to Brenner
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30.04.2019
| 100 km of tunnels have been excavated
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22.05.2019
| Mules 2-3 construction lot: Start-up of the last of the three TBMs excavating the Brenner Base Tunnel southwards: After Serena (5.5.2018) and Flavia (16.4.2019), Virginia sets off on its approximately 14.3 km long journey. The destination of all three TBMs is the national border at the Brenner Pass
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01.07.2019
| Start of excavations on the Pfons-Brenner construction lot
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29.11.2019
| Half of the excavation work has been completed
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01.03.2020
| Start of operations at Ahrental power station by Innsbrucker Kommunalbetriebe (IKB) and BBT SE
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06.07.2020
| Exploratory tunnel breakthrough in the Steinach am Brenner area
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03.08.2020
| Isarco underpass construction site: Start of excavations below the river
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15.10.2020
| Isarco underpass construction site: Start of excavations below the river
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10.11.2020
| Isarco underpass construction site: First breakthrough below the Isarco river
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08.02.2021
| Isarco underpass construction site: Relocation of the existing rail line completed
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11.03.2021
| Isarco underpass construction site: Start of ground freezing for the first main tube
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28.10.2021
| Start of excavation work on the future north portal Innsbruck - Sill Gorge (east main tunnel tube)
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24.11.2021
| After 3.5 years and about 14.2 km of excavation northwards by TBM Serena, the first tunnel tube in the BBT project to reach the state border at Brenner was the exploratory tunnel, 1,450 metres below the surface.
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04.05.2022
| Start of excavations on the Hochstegen construction lot
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19.05.2022
| The breakthrough between the Mules and the Isarco River Underpass construction lots provides a continuous connection between the south portal of the BBT and the State border at Brenner
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07.07.2022
| Start of excavations on the Sill Gorge-Pfons construction lot
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30.03.2023
| Construction lot H61 Mules 2-3: Arrival of TBM Virginia at the national border at Brenner Pass – after 4 years and 14.2 km of excavation of the west main tunnel northwards.
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02.05.2023
| Construction lot H41 Sill Gorge-Pfons Start of mechanised excavation with TBM Lilia (10.4 m in diameter) for 8.1 km of excavation of the east main tunnel southwards
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04.05.2023
| Construction lot H53 Pfons-Brenner: Start of excavation work on 15.2 km of main tunnel using a TBM, 10 km of main tunnel using drill and blast, 1.3 km of exploratory tunnel, 2.6 km of cross-connecting tunnels, construction to last approx. 6 years, 959 million EUR
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27.06.2023
| Construction lot H41 Sill Gorge-Pfons Start of mechanised excavation with TBM Ida (10.4 m in diameter) for 8.4 km of excavation of the west main tunnel southwards
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04.12.2023
| Construction lot H71 Isarco river underpass: Completion of the construction work
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15.12.2023
| Construction lot H52 Hochstegen: Completion of the construction work
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17.09.2024
| Construction lots H41 Sill Gorge-Pfons and H21 Sill Gorge: First breakthrough of a main tunnel in Austria (east main tunnel)
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18.09.2024
| Construction lot H53 Pfons-Brenner: Start of mechanised excavation with TBMs Wilma (west main tunnel) and Olga (east main tunnel) for approx. 7.5 km of excavation northwards, each 10.4 m in diameter
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05.12.2024
| Construction lot H21 Sill Gorge: Completion of the construction work
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30.01.2025
| Start of construction work on the construction site New Access Road Riol
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02.05.2025
| Construction lot H61 Mules 2-3: Arrival of the TBM Flavia at the national border at Brenner Pass – after 14.3 km of excavation of the west main tunnel northwards. This marks the completion of the TBM-excavation on the Italian side of the BBT.
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20.05.2025
| Construction lots H41 Sill Gorge-Pfons and H21 Sill Gorge: Breakthrough in the west main tunnel
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08.07.2025
| 200 km of tunnels have been excavated
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22.08.2025
| Construction lot H41 Sill Gorge-Pfons Arrival of the TBM Ida after 8.4 km of excavation of the west main tunnel southwards.
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18.09.2025
| Breakthrough of the exploratory tunnel at the State border at the Brenner Pass between the construction lots Mules and Pfons-Brenner. For the first time, there is a continuous underground connection between Italy and Austria.
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06.10.2025
| Construction lot H41 Sill Gorge-Pfons Arrival of the TBM Lilia after 8.1 km of excavation of the east main tunnel southwards.
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OUR HISTORY IN PICTURES
