
The Berlin–Palermo railway axis (, ) is project No. 1 of the
Trans-European high-speed rail network (
TEN
Ten, TEN or 10 may refer to:
* 10, an even natural number following 9 and preceding 11
* one of the years 10 BC, AD 10, 1910, 2010, 2110
* October, the tenth month of the year
Places
* Mount Ten, in Vietnam
* Tongren Fenghuang Airport (IATA c ...
-R), which involves the creation of a
high-speed rail
High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail transport network utilising trains that run significantly faster than those of traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated railway track, tracks. While there is ...
line between
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
and
Palermo
Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...
. It is designated as one of the main transport links connecting
Central and
Southern Europe
Southern Europe is also known as Mediterranean Europe, as its geography is marked by the Mediterranean Sea. Definitions of southern Europe include some or all of these countries and regions: Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, C ...
, tracking through
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
,
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
and
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
.
Alignment and sections
From Berlin the line will run to the
Central German Metropolitan Region
The Central German Metropolitan Region () is one of the officially established metropolitan regions in Germany. It is centered on the major cities of Leipzig and Halle, extending over Central German parts of the states of Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia ...
of
Halle/
Leipzig
Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...
, to
Erfurt
Erfurt () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Central Germany (cultural area), Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the Gera (river), River Gera, in the so ...
and to
Southern Germany
Southern Germany (, ) is a region of Germany that includes the areas in which Upper German dialects are spoken, which includes the stem duchies of Bavaria and Swabia in present-day Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, and the southern portion of Hesse ...
at
Nuremberg
Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...
,
Ingolstadt
Ingolstadt (; Austro-Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian: ) is an Independent city#Germany, independent city on the Danube, in Upper Bavaria, with 142,308 inhabitants (as of 31 December 2023). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan ...
and
Munich
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
. Crossing the border with Austria, it will continue through the state of
Tyrol
Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...
along
Kufstein
Kufstein (; ) is a town in the Austrian state of Tyrol, the administrative seat of Kufstein District. With a population of about 20,000 it is the second largest Tyrolean town after the state capital Innsbruck. The greatest landmark is Kufstein For ...
,
Wörgl
Wörgl () is a city in the Austrian state of Tyrol, in the Kufstein district. It is from the international border with Bavaria, Germany.
Population
Transport
Wörgl is a railway junction in the line between Innsbruck and Munich, as well as the ...
and the capital
Innsbruck
Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal 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 Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...
. It will enter Italian
South Tyrol
South Tyrol ( , ; ; ), officially the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol, is an autonomous administrative division, autonomous provinces of Italy, province in northern Italy. Together with Trentino, South Tyrol forms the autonomo ...
, passing
Franzensfeste
Franzensfeste (; ) is a ''comune'' and a village in South Tyrol in northern Italy. It is named after the large Franzensfeste Fortress erected from 1833 to 1838 and Franzensfeste railway station, Franzensfeste station is also known as an important ...
and
Bolzano
Bolzano ( ; ; or ) is the capital city of South Tyrol (officially the province of Bolzano), Northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third largest in historical Tyrol. The ...
, run through
Northeast Italy
Northeast Italy ( or just ) is one of the five official statistical regions of Italy used by the Istituto Nazionale di Statistica, National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), a Italian NUTS level 1 regions, first level NUTS region and a European ...
via
Verona
Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...
and
Bologna
Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...
, through
Central Italy
Central Italy ( or ) is one of the five official statistical regions of Italy used by the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), a first-level NUTS region with code ITI, and a European Parliament constituency. It has 11,704,312 inhabita ...
along
Florence
Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025.
Florence ...
and
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
, and reach
Southern Italy
Southern Italy (, , or , ; ; ), also known as () or (; ; ; ), is a macroregion of Italy consisting of its southern Regions of Italy, regions.
The term "" today mostly refers to the regions that are associated with the people, lands or cultu ...
at
Naples
Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...
and finally shall cross the proposed
Strait of Messina Bridge
The Strait of Messina Bridge () is a proposed suspension bridge across the Strait of Messina, connecting Torre Faro in Sicily with Villa San Giovanni on the Italian peninsula.
The bridge has been controversial due to the impact of earthquake ...
over to
Messina
Messina ( , ; ; ; ) is a harbour city and the capital city, capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of 216,918 inhabitants ...
and Palermo in
Sicily
Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...
.
Germany
The corridor begins at
Berlin Hauptbahnhof
Berlin Hauptbahnhof () (English: Berlin Central Station) is the main railway station in Berlin, Germany. It came into full operation two days after a ceremonial opening on 26 May 2006. It is located on the site of the historic Lehrter Bahnhof, ...
opened in 2006 and runs via the rebuilt
Anhalt Railway (up to
Bitterfeld
Bitterfeld () is a town in the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 July 2007 it has been part of the town of Bitterfeld-Wolfen. It is situated approximately 25 km south of Dessau, and 30 km northeast of Hall ...
) and
Dessau–Leipzig railway to
Leipzig Hauptbahnhof
Leipzig Hauptbahnhof (Leipzig main station, ) is the central railway terminus in Leipzig, Germany, in the district Mitte. At , it is Europe's largest railway station measured by floor area. It has 19 overground platforms housed in six iron train ...
. The line shall continue to
on the
Erfurt–Leipzig/Halle high-speed railway
The Erfurt–Leipzig/Halle high-speed railway is a -long High-speed rail in Germany, high-speed line in Germany between Erfurt and Leipzig and Halle (Saale), Halle, built as part of the Berlin–Munich high-speed railway.
It is listed in German ...
, which opened in December 2015. Likewise, the southern continuation of this route along the
Nuremberg–Erfurt high-speed railway
The Nuremberg–Erfurt high-speed railway is a German high-speed railway, between Nuremberg and Erfurt. The line is listed in Germany's federal transport plan as '' Verkehrsprojekt Deutsche Einheit Nr.'' ("German Unity transport project no") ''8 ...
opened in December 2017.
In the meantime, service is provided by tilting
ICE T
The ICE T or ICE-T, consisting of DB Classes 411 and 415, are German tilting train, tilting electric multiple-unit high-speed trains in service with DB Fernverkehr serving routes within Germany and to Austria.
Development
Following the succe ...
trains running on sections of the
Leipzig–Großkorbetha railway, the
Thuringian Railway
Thuringian is an East Central German dialect group spoken in much of the modern German Free State of Thuringia north of the Rennsteig ridge, southwestern Saxony-Anhalt and adjacent territories of Hesse and Bavaria. It is close to Upper Saxon s ...
, and the winding
Saal Railway via
Jena Paradies station, bypassing Erfurt on their way from Leipzig to
. From
Saalfeld station they cross the
Rennsteig
The () is a ridge walk as well as a historical boundary path in the Thuringian Forest, Thuringian Highland and Franconian Forest in Central Germany. The long-distance trail runs for about from and the valley in the northwest to and the ...
ridge of the
via the
Leipzig–Probstzella railway
The Leipzig–Probstzella railway is a line in the German states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. It runs from Leipzig through the valley of the White Elster via Zeitz, Gera, Triptis, the Orlasenke lowland and Saalfeld to Probstzella. Sinc ...
and the
Franconian Forest Railway
Franconian may refer to:
*anything related to Franconia (German ''Franken''), a historic region in Germany, now part of Bavaria, Thuringia and Baden-Württemberg
*East Franconian German, a dialect spoken in Franconia
*Franconian languages
*Franconi ...
and continue along the
Bamberg–Hof railway
The Bamberg–Hof railway is a -long main line that runs through Bavaria in southern Germany. The line runs from Bamberg via Lichtenfels, Kulmbach, Neuenmarkt- Wirsberg and Münchberg to Hof. The section from Hof to Neuenmarkt now forms par ...
(from
Hochstadt-
Marktzeuln
Marktzeuln is a municipality in the district of Lichtenfels in Bavaria in Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Al ...
) and the
Nuremberg–Bamberg railway
The Nuremberg-Bamberg line is a rail transport in Germany, German railway connecting the Bavarian city of Nuremberg with Bamberg via Fürth, Erlangen, Forchheim. It is part of the northern section of the Ludwig South-North Railway. It runs along t ...
Further to the south, the corridor runs via the
Nuremberg–Ingolstadt high-speed railway
The Nuremberg–Ingolstadt high-speed railway is a high-speed railway running between the cities of Nuremberg and Ingolstadt in Bavaria, Germany. It branches off the Nuremberg–Regensburg railway and runs parallel to the Bundesautobahn 9, A9 Au ...
line opened to
Ingolstadt Hauptbahnhof in 2006 and the
Ingolstadt–Munich line to
München Hauptbahnhof
München Hauptbahnhof or Munich Central Station is the main railway station in the city of Munich, Germany. It is one of the three stations with long-distance services in Munich, the others being Munich East station (''München Ost'') and Munich- ...
. The following section of the
Munich–Rosenheim railway
The Munich–Rosenheim railway is a 65 kilometre-long double-track main line of the Rail transport in Germany, German railways. It connects Munich Hauptbahnhof with Rosenheim station, where it connects with the Rosenheim–Salzburg railway, which ...
has already been upgraded to four-tracks up to
Grafing station in order to separate mainline and suburban traffic. The
Rosenheim–Kufstein railway
The Rosenheim–Kufstein railway (German: ''Bahnstrecke Rosenheim–Kufstein'') is a 32 kilometre-long double-track main line of the German railways. It connects the Munich–Rosenheim and the Rosenheim–Salzburg lines at Rosenheim with the ...
that continues to the Austrian border and
Kufstein station is proposed to get a bypass as part of the
Brenner northern access.
Austria

The heart of the Austrian section is the
New Lower Inn Valley railway
The New Lower Inn Valley railway (German: ''Neue Unterinntalbahn'') is a partially completed double-track high-speed main line of the Austrian railways. It connects the Brenner railway at Innsbruck and the Innsbruck bypass with the line to Kuf ...
through the
Tyrolean Unterland
The Tyrolean Unterland () is that part of the Austrian state of Tyrol east of its capital city, Innsbruck, excluding East Tyrol.
Extent and language
The Tyrolean Unterland should not be confused with the Tyrolean Lower Inn Valley (''Tiroler Unt ...
region. In particular the section between
Wörgl
Wörgl () is a city in the Austrian state of Tyrol, in the Kufstein district. It is from the international border with Bavaria, Germany.
Population
Transport
Wörgl is a railway junction in the line between Innsbruck and Munich, as well as the ...
and
Baumkirchen
Baumkirchen is a community in the district of Innsbruck Land. It lies in the Inn Valley north of the Inn River
The Inn (; ; ) is a river in Switzerland, Austria and Germany. The long river is a right tributary of the Danube, being the third ...
is the most congested line of the whole TEN-network, a result of the Austrian national east-west traffic and the international north-south traffic sharing the same line. The largest section from
Kundl to Baumkirchen is already completed and in operation since December 2012. The shorter section between Kundl and
Kufstein
Kufstein (; ) is a town in the Austrian state of Tyrol, the administrative seat of Kufstein District. With a population of about 20,000 it is the second largest Tyrolean town after the state capital Innsbruck. The greatest landmark is Kufstein For ...
(or
Brannenburg
Brannenburg is a municipality in the district of Rosenheim in Bavaria in Germany. There is a railway station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, wh ...
in
Bavaria
Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...
), including a Wörgl bypass, is being planned. The Austrian section trains will be able to operate at up to .
At the Baumkirchen rail hub, new high-speed curves link with the
Innsbruck bypass
The Innsbruck bypass (German: ''Umfahrung Innsbruck'' or sometimes ''Güterzugumfahrung Innsbruck'', that is ''the Innsbruck freight railway bypass'') is a -long double-track electrified main line of the Austrian railways. It connects the Lower ...
including the Inn Valley tunnel (German: ''Inntaltunnel''), which is already used by freight trains, but still needs to be upgraded for passengers and connected with the existing
Lower Inn Valley Railway for trains calling at
Innsbruck Hauptbahnhof
Innsbruck Hauptbahnhof (German language, German, 'Innsbruck Main Station' or 'Innsbruck Central Station') is the main railway station in Innsbruck, the capital city of the Austrian States of Austria, federal state of State of Tyrol, Tyrol. Open ...
. The Inn Valley tunnel will connect directly with the future
Brenner Base Tunnel
The Brenner Base Tunnel (; ) is a railway tunnel under construction through the base of the Eastern Alps beneath the Brenner Pass. Once completed, the Brenner Base Tunnel will rank as either the second or third longest railway tunnel in the wor ...
() bypassing the existing
Brenner Railway
The Brenner Railway (; ) is a major line connecting the Austrian and Italian railways from Innsbruck to Verona, climbing up the Wipptal ( German for "Wipp Valley"), passing over the Brenner Pass, descending down the Eisacktal ( German for " ...
across the
Alpine divide up to the southern portal at
Fortezza
Fortezza is an information security system that uses the Fortezza Crypto Card, a PC Card-based security token. It was developed for the U.S. government's Clipper chip project and has been used by the U.S. Government in various applications.
E ...
in
Alto Adige
South Tyrol ( , ; ; ), officially the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol, is an autonomous province in northern Italy. Together with Trentino, South Tyrol forms the autonomous region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. The provinc ...
,
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
. Construction of the main bore on the Austrian side began on 19 March 2015. The combined Inn Valley and Brenner Base tunnels will be the longest railway tunnel in the world ().
Italy

From the southern portal of the Brenner Base Tunnel at Fortezza, an upgrade of the long Brenner Railway section to
Verona Porta Nuova is planned, bypassing
Brixen/Bressanone and
Bolzano/Bozen. In the course of several
high-speed rail
High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail transport network utilising trains that run significantly faster than those of traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated railway track, tracks. While there is ...
projects, the following lines have been built or significantly upgraded in
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
:
*In 2009 work was completed on duplicating the
Verona–Bologna line and upgrading it for speeds, including several deviations.
*The
Milan–Bologna high-speed line () was opened on 13 December 2008.
*The
Bologna–Florence high-speed line () was opened on 13 December 2009.
*The
Florence–Rome high-speed line () was completed on 26 May 1992.
*The
Rome–Naples high-speed line was partially opened on 19 December 2005 and completely on 13 December 2009.
*The
Naples–Salerno high-speed line was opened in June 2008.
Since the 2000s, a
Strait of Messina Bridge
The Strait of Messina Bridge () is a proposed suspension bridge across the Strait of Messina, connecting Torre Faro in Sicily with Villa San Giovanni on the Italian peninsula.
The bridge has been controversial due to the impact of earthquake ...
to
Sicily
Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...
has been proposed several times. In 2003, the
second Berlusconi government announced the construction of a combined rail/road bridge with a length of . The project was halted by a resolution of the
Chamber of Deputies
The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures.
Description
Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...
in October 2006,
resumed upon Berlusconi's re-election in 2008, and again discontinued in March 2013. In March 2023, the
Meloni government
The Meloni government is the 68th and current government of the Italian Republic, the first headed by Giorgia Meloni, leader of Brothers of Italy, who is also the first woman to hold the office of Prime Minister of Italy. The government was swor ...
resumed the project.
On the mainland, an upgrade of the
Salerno–Reggio Calabria line is also proposed to increase speeds and capacity. In Sicily, the long railway line from
Messina
Messina ( , ; ; ; ) is a harbour city and the capital city, capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of 216,918 inhabitants ...
to
Catania Centrale and
Palermo Centrale is being substantially upgraded to increase speeds and capacity.
EU coordinator
On 20 July 2005, the European Union appointed coordinators for the five major trans-European rail transport projects to accelerate the realisation of these projects. It appointed the Belgian
Karel Van Miert
Karel Antonius Lucia Maria Van Miert (; 17 January 1942 – 22 June 2009) was a Belgian politician of the Different Socialist Party and official of the European Commission.
Biography
He was born in Oud-Turnhout. He studied at Ghent Universit ...
to coordinate the Berlin–Palermo rail corridor, who upon his death in June 2009 was succeeded by the Irish
Pat Cox
Patrick Cox (born 28 November 1952) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician, journalist and television current affairs presenter who served as President of the European Parliament from 2002 to 2004 and Leader of the European Liberal Democrat ...
.
See also
*
Main Line for Europe
The Magistrale for Europe (German: ''Magistrale für Europa''; French: ''Magistrale européenne'') or Main Line for Europe is a Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T) project for the creation of a high-speed railway line between Paris and Bra ...
*
Scandinavian–Mediterranean Corridor
The Scandinavian–Mediterranean Corridor, shortened as Scan–Med Corridor and known also as Helsinki–Valletta Corridor, is the 5th of 10 priority axes of the Trans-European Transport Network.
Description
The Scan–Med Corridor is the longes ...
*
Helsinki-Valletta Corridor
*
Trans-European corridors
*
Trans-European Transport Network
The Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) is a planned network of roads, railways, airports and water infrastructure in the European Union. The TEN-T network is part of a wider system of Trans-European Networks (TENs), including a telecommun ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berlin-Palermo railway axis
European Union transport policy
High-speed rail in Europe
High-speed railway lines
Proposed rail infrastructure in Europe
Proposed rail infrastructure in Germany
Proposed rail infrastructure in Italy
Strait of Messina Bridge