The two main tunnel bores of the Brenner Base Tunnel were connected at the Austrian-Italian border on Tuesday, marking a major milestone in one of Europe’s largest rail infrastructure projects.
Workers from both sides met for the first time inside the main tunnels about 1,400 metres beneath the Brenner Pass, operator BBT and the South Tyrol provincial government said on Wednesday.
The breakthrough means excavation of the railway tunnel’s entire 230-kilometre underground network has now been completed, according to the South Tyrol authorities.
“It is a milestone for a united Europe on rails and for people’s mobility,” Daniel Alfreider, South Tyrol’s provincial councillor for infrastructure and mobility, said in a statement.
The breakthrough joins what had previously been two separate construction sites.
The Brenner Base Tunnel, together with new connecting rail lines in Germany, Austria and Italy, is intended to replace the more than 150-year-old winding rail route across the Alps.
For example, the project is expected to cut travel times between the Germany’s Munich and Italy’s Verona by about two hours, reducing the journey to around three and a half hours.
Construction of the tunnel began in 2015. Under current plans, it is due to enter service in 2032.