The Brenner Pass, the main rail border crossing between Italy and Austria, will be closed for “extensive work in the railway tunnels”, between 6 and 23 August, as The Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) said. Freight trains will be redirected through the Tarvisio-Villach border crossing, near the countries’ borders with Slovenia.

ÖBB also highlighted that this affects the Rolling Highway (ROLA), which connects Trento with Wörgl and will be closed as well. It is not yet clear which specific works will be carried out, However, as the Italian press state agency ANSA claimed, the costs revolve around 15 million euros.

The Italy-Austria Rolling Highway

The ROLA removes around 1,300 trucks every day from the roads connecting Italy and Austria, for a total of almost 450,000 per year. The Trento-Wörgl connection extends into Germany up to Regensburg. Closing the ROLA for two weeks, during which many Italians and Austrians already fill the roads for their holidays, might further increase the congestion.

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• Italian province keeps incentivising rail freight in Brenner area