Brenner rail link faces questions over 16 billion euro cost

The planned Brenner-Nordzulauf railway, estimated to cost up to 16 billion euros, is facing questions over whether funding is available and whether new tracks are needed, BR reports. The line would strengthen Bavaria’s rail connection to the Brenner Base Tunnel, which is under construction beneath the Alps.

CSU state secretary Ulrich Lange told BR that rail capacity and competing projects would shape decisions. Bavaria’s existing rail network is due for extensive renovation, while three major construction and expansion projects are also planned, he said.

Lange questioned how much additional capacity toward the Brenner would be needed if signalling and safety systems on the existing route were digitised and the Munich-Mühldorf-Freilassing line were upgraded. He expects planning approval for that project soon, with construction on its first section due to begin in 2027 or 2028. Plans include electrifying 145 kilometres of track and adding a second track between Markt Schwaben and Ampfing. The estimated cost is about 9.3 billion euros.

“What has planning approval has priority,” Lange said. The Brenner-Nordzulauf is still far from receiving approval. He said the federal transport ministry views the route to Freilassing as a way to add capacity and ease pressure on the rail approach to the Alps.

Lange said authorities first needed to assess traffic flows from Munich to Verona and Trieste and address capacity at Munich’s rail hub. The planned Augsburg-Ulm upgrade would strengthen a major east-west rail connection in southern Germany, with funding for planning expected in the 2027 federal budget. The government also plans to fund the start of planning for the Franken-Sachsen-Magistrale, a railway route between Hof and Dresden.

The Brennerdialog citizens’ initiative welcomed the possibility that upgrading existing lines in southeastern Upper Bavaria could be considered instead of a more expensive new route. The group has long argued that improvements to existing tracks would be “faster, cheaper and more sustainable,” its chairman, Lothar Thaler, said. He also welcomed a reassessment of the project’s figures. The group said the Semmering and Koralm tunnels in Austria, and the Gotthard and Lötschberg tunnels to the west, would add capacity for Alpine transit and ease pressure on the Brenner route.

The Bavarian Industry and Chambers of Commerce Association, by contrast, called for the project to receive approval from Berlin. Its chief executive, Manfred Gößl, warned that further delays would send a damaging signal for Bavaria, Germany and Europe. He called for funding to ensure construction could proceed reliably and swiftly, and said Germany must meet its treaty commitments to neighbouring countries to build the northern approach.