Alpine railways Rebuilding the Brenner
Driver training is underway on the Kundl - Baumkirchen line, which is due to open in December. Photo: ÖBB
With its punishing gradients, sharp curves, and intensive freight traffic, the Brenner corridor between Germany and Italy poses daily challenges for the many operators that use the route. Erwin Reidinger looks at how significant investment in additional capacity will bring a step-change in performance on this vital transalpine artery.
A
USTRIA’s Kufstein - Innsbruck - Brennero line is a core part of the Trans-European Corridor 10 and a key transalpine link between Germany and Italy. For many years the section between Munich and Verona has been given high priority by the European Union, (EU) and has featured in all previous priority project lists. Between Wörgl and Innsbruck, TEN-T Corridor 10 utilises the Salzburg - Zell am See - Innsbruck - Feldkirch line, part of Austria’s main east-west corridor, to traverse the Inn valley. This section is heavily used by both freight and passenger services, and with more than 300 trains per day vying for paths, this busy railway has almost reached capacity. To eliminate this bottleneck it has
IRJ October 2012
been decided to build two additional tracks all the way from Wörgl to the northern end of the Brenner line near Innsbruck. The process began at the western extremity of the route with the construction of the freight-only 14.9km Innsbruck bypass between Baumkirchen and Gärberbach, which opened in May 1994.
The topography of the Inn valley between Wörgl and Baumkirchen meant building two new tracks alongside the existing line was not an option. The only alternative was to build the 41km line through a series of tunnels along the edge of the valley. The railway is already triple track between Wörgl and Kundl, where the new line diverges and passes
immediately into a 16.1km tunnel. The line emerges west of Jenbach at Stans, where there is a connection with the existing line, before entering another 10.9km tunnel. Beyond the eastern portal at Terfens, the line passes through a final 3.9km tunnel before reaching Baumkirchen station, where it rejoins the existing line from Kufstein to Innsbruck.
The new line is equipped with ETCS Level 2 equipment and the maximum line speed is 220km/h for passenger trains and 160km/h for freight. Operation began in the spring and the line will officially open in December. The line will be used predominantly
by freight trains, and all passenger services, with the exception of those
29
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52