Location
The station is situated at ''Karl-von-Etzel-Strasse'' in the centre of town.History
County of Tyrol
Construction of the Brenner Railway between Verona (Bern-im-Wälsch) to Innsbruck began in 1851 under the Austrian Empire's Südbahn. On 25 July 1867, the section between Bozen and Brenner entered operation; the first train to leave for Bozen left Brenner at 8.05 am. Brenner station was officially opened on 24 August 1867, together with the remaining final section to Innsbruck. Some houses in Brenner had been destroyed to make room for a new area, long, for the station building and other rail infrastructure. The arrival of railway opened a new era for the village: it confirmed Brenner Pass, which has already been a major trans-Alpine crossing from the ancient Roman times, as the principal mountain pass for travellers and merchants. Moreover, the railway enabled more efficient movement of troops for the Austrian Empire to secure its southern regions of modern-day Veneto andTransfer to Italy
On 26 April 1915, theSchengen passport-free zone
In 1992, Austria signed the Schengen Agreement and subsequently became a member nation of the European Union in 1995. Border and custom control posts at Brenner station have been removed.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. There are offices upstairs 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 (15 kV AC at 16⅔ 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. Austria/South Tyrol * Regional train (Südtirol Bahn Regio-Express) Bozen-Innsbruck: Innsbruck - Brennero/Brenner - Fortezza/Franzensfeste - Bressanone/Brixen - Bolzano/Bozen *Future
In addition to passenger traffic, Brenner has seen an increasing volume of freight traffic over the past decades. The dual-track Brenner Railway was already running at full capacity as of the late 2000s; therefore, transport of freight by road has risen and consequently caused traffic congestion and air pollution, as Brenner Pass is the region's only major thoroughfare between Austria and Italy. The Brenner Base Tunnel, scheduled to be completed in 2025, would divert all freight rail 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 transferred to the Base Tunnel): *Bozen/Bolzano to Innsbruck - 2 hours currently; 50 minutes via Brenner Base Tunnel *Verona to Munich - 5 hours 20 minutes currently; 4 hours 10 minutes via Brenner Base Tunnel omitting Brenner station onlyGallery
See also
* History of rail transport in Italy * Rail transport in Italy * Railway stations in ItalyReferences
Notes
Further reading
* *External links