Brenner railway station

Brenner
Old view of Brenner station
Location	Karl von Etzel-Strasse, 7 39041 Brenner BZ Brenner, South Tyrol, Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol Italy
Coordinates
Operated by	Rete Ferroviaria Italiana
Line(s)	Verona–Innsbruck
Distance	from Verona Porta Vescovo from Kufstein
Platforms	5 through platforms 4 bay platforms
Train operators	Trenitalia Österreichische Bundesbahnen (ÖBB)
Connections	Urban buses
History
Opened	24 August 1867 (1867-08-24)
Location

Brenner railway station (German: Bahnhof Brenner; Italian: Stazione di Brennerocode: it is deprecated ) serves the town and comune of Brenner, in the autonomous province of South Tyrol in northeastern Italy. Opened in 1867, it is 300 m (980 ft) south of the border between Italy and Austria and forms part of the Brenner railway, between Verona, Italy and Innsbruck, Austria.

The station is currently managed by Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI). Italian train services to and from this station are operated by Trenitalia. Both RFI and Trenitalia are whole-subsidiaries of Ferrovie dello Stato (FS), Italy's state-owned rail company. Austrian train services to and from the station are operated by the ÖBB.

Location

The station is situated at Karl von Etzel-Strasse (or Via Karl von Etzel), right in the centre of town.

History

Construction of the Brenner Line from Verona (Welschbern) to Innsbruck began in 1851 and was divided into several stages of completion. On 8.05 am 25 July 1867, the Bozen/Bolzano-Brenner section had been complete and Brenner saw the first train depart from this station for Bozen/Bolzano. Both Brenner and Bozen train stations, however, were not officially opened until 24 August 1867, together with the rest of the final section to Innsbruck.

Some houses in Brenner had been destroyed to make room for a new area, 600 m (2,000 ft) long, for the station building and other rail infrastructure. The arrival of railway opened a new era for the village: it realised the Brenner Pass, already a major crossing across the Alps, as the most significant summit in the vicinity for travellers and tourists. Moreover, the railway enabled more efficient movement of troops for the Austrian Empire to secure its southern regions of modern-day Veneto and Lombardy.

On 26 April 1915, the Treaty of London assigned Italy the South Tyrol, from Ala in the Trentino to Brenner in South Tyrol, if the country switched its side to support the Entente powers against the Central Powers led by the German and Austro-Hungarian empires.

On 10 November 1918, following the German Empire's call for an armistice, Italian troops moved up from Veneto and arrived at Brenner. The Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye was signed on 10 September 1919. Under that treaty, the new border of Italy and Austria (Republic of German-Austria) moved to Brenner, which gained in its significance to become a border station with customs and immigration control

Following the signing of the Schengen Agreement in 1992 and Austria's subsequent entry into the European Union in 1995, customs and immigration posts have been removed at Brenner. Due to Italy's and Austria's different rail electrication systems, however, Brenner station is still a site where Trenitalia and ÖBB change their locomotives on cross-border services.

Features

The passenger building is a modest, well-maintained three-storey structure. At ground level, it houses the ticket office, a waiting room and a station cafe. Upstairs, there are offices for both rail operators, Trenitalia and ÖBB.

The station yard has a total of 12 through tracks: five of them are equipped with platforms and four terminating tracks with bay platforms. All of the platforms are connected by a pedestrian underpass.

Another seven through tracks, which are not equipped with platforms, are used for overtaking and exchange of locomotives. All single system electric locomotives must be changed here at the border, since Austria and Italy use different electrical networks (15kV AC 16 2/3 Hz in Austria, 3000 V DC in Italy). However, the Südtirol Bahn now operate on multi-system locomotives on their Bozen/Bolzano-Innsbruck through service.

Passenger and train movements

There is considerable transit traffic of both passengers and goods through the station. In addition, regional trains from both countries terminate there.

The main domestic origins and destinations for passengers using the station are Verona, Bolzano and Bologna. Passengers also depart for and arrive from other countries, with the main origins and destinations being Innsbruck, Lienz and Munich.

Austria/South Tyrol

• Regional train (Südtirol Bahn Regional-Express) Bozen-Innsbruck: Innsbruck - Brennero/Brenner - Fortezza/Franzensfeste - Bressanone/Brixen - Bolzano/Bozen
• Tyrol S-Bahn Line 4: Brenner - Gries-am-Brenner - Steinach-am-Brenner - Matrei-am-Brenner - Innsbruck
• Regional train (Südtirol Bahn Regional) Brenner-Meran: Brennero/Brenner - Vipiteno/Sterzing - Fortezza/Franzensfeste - Bressanone/Brixen - Chiusa/Klausen - Bolzano/Bozen - Terlano/Terlan - Merano/Meran

Italy

• Regional train (Trenitalia Regional Express or Regional) Brennero/Brenner-Bologna: Brennero/Brenner - Fortezza/Franzensfeste - Bressanone/Brixen - Chuisa/Klausen - Bolzano/Bozen - Ora/Auer - Trento/Trient - Rovereto/Rofreit - Verona - Isola della Scala - Nogara - Bologna

Cross-border

• Night train (DB CityNightLine) Munich-Rome/Milan: Munich (D) - Kufstein (A) - Jenbach (A) - Innsbruck (A) - Brennero/Brenner - Bolzano/Bozen - Verona^ - Bologna - Florence - Chiusi Chianciano - Rome
• Intercity train (ÖBB EuroCity) Munich-Verona/Venice: Munich - Kufstein - Jenbach - Innsbruck - Bolzano/Bozen - Trento/Trient - Rovereto/Rofreit - Verona - (Padua) - (Venice)
• Intercity train (ÖBB EuroCity) Munich-Verona/Bologna: Munich - Kufstein - Jenbach - Innsbruck - Bolzano/Bozen - Trento/Trient - Rovereto/Rofreit - Verona - (Bologna)

^ Train connects at Verona with ÖBB EuroNight Vienna-Milan

Future

In addition to passenger traffic, Brenner has seen an increasing volume of freight traffic over the past decades. The dual-track Brenner railway line is already running at full capacity as of the late 2000s; therefore, transport of freight by road has risen and caused traffic congestion and air pollution on the only major thoroughfare, Brenner Autobahn, between Austria and Italy.

The Brenner Base Tunnel, scheduled to be completed in 2025, would divert all freight traffic between Fortezza/Franzensfeste and Innsbruck via a tunnel underneath Brenner. Local traffic between Fortezza, Brenner and Innsbruck would continue with additional capacity being released on this railway section. The majority of freight traffic, as well as some passenger services, would make use of this tunnel. Journey time between Bozen/Bolzano and Innsbruck would be reduced from 2 hours to 50–55 minutes.

Example of reduction of journey times (if passenger services are to be transferred to the Base Tunnel):

• Bozen/Bolzano to Innsbruck - 2 hours to 50 minutes (via Brenner Base Tunnel)
• Verona to Munich - 5 hours 20 minutes to 4 hours 10 minutes

Images

• 

  FS class 245 locomotive at the station.

• 

  Old station sign.

• 

  View of the station.

• 

  Brenner in 1939.

See also

• History of rail transport in Italy
• Rail transport in Italy
• Railway stations in Italy

External links

Media related to at Wikimedia Commons

• History and pictures of Brenner railway station (Italian)

This article is based upon a translation of the Italian language version as at January 2011.