Today the diaphragm in the tunnel was knocked down of the Brenner Base Tunnel which, with its 64 including the Innsbruck ring road, will be the Longest underground rail link in the world carried out for the Italian part by a consortium of companies led by by Webuild on behalf of the European joint-stock company Brenner Base Tunnel - Brenner Basistunnel BBT SE (50%) Austria - 50% Italy). At a depth of about 1,400 meters under the Brenner Pass, an institutional delegation crossed the symbolically the state border inside the tunnel, along the new European axis that from today physically unites the two countries.

The Brenner Base Tunnel is the heart of the Corridor Scandinavian-Mediterranean of the TEN-T trans-European transport network linking Helsinki (Finland) to Valletta (Malta) and on which the Munich-Verona axis is also inserted. Once completed, will allow passenger trains to travel up to at 250 km/h, reducing travel times between Fortezza and Innsbruck from 80 to only 25 minutes. An infrastructure designed for shift freight and passenger traffic from road to rail, contributing to the decarbonisation of transport in the Alpine area and the reduction of air and noise pollution.

'The completion of the first underground link between Italy and Austria - underlined the CEO of Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI), Aldo Isi, on the occasion of the event - represents a historic milestone for railway engineering and for European mobility, contributing decisively to the development of the Scandinavian-Mediterranean Corridor. The Base Tunnel of the Brenner will be the longest railway tunnel underground to the world, as well as a strategic work that strengthen continental rail interconnection, promoting sustainability and competitiveness. In - recalled Isi - RFI is carrying out the upgrading of the Verona-Fortezza line, the southern access to the Base Tunnel, a key infrastructure that will allow to increase capacity of freight and passenger traffic, reduce the time and improve the regularity of the service, ensuring concrete benefits for travellers and businesses throughout the world. Europe. RFI is proud to contribute to this project, The result of an international collaboration that looks to the future of mobility".

"Today's result - underlined Pietro Salini, CEO of Webuild - is the result of a lot of work made possible by the commitment and expertise of the people from the Webuild group and companies in the supply chain in addressing one of the most complex engineering challenges to the world. We dug under the Alps overcoming conditions geotechnical solutions thanks also to the adoption of advanced technologies, ensuring safety and sustainability at every stage. The tunnel that today unites Italy and Austria is the symbol of the capacity of the Italian industry of infrastructures to carry out strategic projects for a future increasingly green mobility in Europe".