The Lower Inn Valley Railway (german: Unterinntalbahn) is a two-track, electrified railway line that is one of the major lines of the Austrian railways. It was originally opened as the '' k.k. Nordtiroler Staatsbahn'' (Imperial and Royal North Tyrolean State Railway). It begins at the German border near the Austrian city of

Kufstein Kufstein (; Central Bavarian: ''Kufstoa'') is a town in the Austrian state of Tyrol, the administrative seat of Kufstein District. With a population of about 19,600 it is the second largest Tyrolean town after the state capital Innsbruck. The grea ...

as a continuation of the Rosenheim–Kufstein line and runs in a generally south-westerly direction through Tyrol along the

Inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway; before the advent of motorized transportation they also provided accommo ...

valley to

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...

. The line is part of the Line 1 of Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T). The line is owned and operated by

Austrian Federal Railways Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

(ÖBB).

History

Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria had ordered its construction in 1853. The line was the first railway in western Austria, opened on 24 November 1858.

New line

Unterinntalbahn, Galerie Terfens, Rohbau

In order to increase the capacity of the track and in preparation for the construction of the

Brenner Base Tunnel The Brenner Base Tunnel (german: Brennerbasistunnel; it, Galleria di base del Brennero) is a railway tunnel under construction through the base of the Eastern Alps beneath the Brenner Pass. Upon completion, it will be the second or third longe ...

a new high-capacity line has been built between

Kundl Kundl is a market town in the Kufstein district in the Austrian state of Tyrol. Geography Kundl is situated 7.70 km west of Wörgl as well as 18.30 km southwest of Kufstein at the southern side of the Inn River and is made up of 4 part ...

1 junction and Fritzen-

Wattens Wattens is a market town of the Innsbruck-Land District in the Austrian state of Tyrol. It is chiefly known as home of the Swarovski crystal glass company. Geography Wattens is located in the Lower Inn Valley of North Tyrol, about east of Innsbr ...

1 junction (at Baumkirchen). It was opened on 9 December 2012 for scheduled traffic. The great majority of this line has been built in tunnel in order not to increase noise pollution in the Inn valley. The new route is designed for mixed traffic up to and is fitted with

ETCS The European Train Control System (ETCS) is the signalling and control component of the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS). It is a replacement for legacy train protection systems and designed to replace the many incompatible s ...

Level 2 signalling system. An extension of the new line from Kundl/Radfeld to

Brannenburg Brannenburg is a municipality in the district of Rosenheim in Bavaria in Germany. There is a train station A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, ...

is in the planning phase.

References

{{coord, 47.2633, N, 11.4010, E, source:wikidata, display=title Railway lines in Austria Railway lines opened in 1858 Buildings and structures in Tyrol (state)