Tubbings Delivered by Rail Save 45,000 Trucks

A modern railway infrastructure is the basis for sustainable mobility and transport systems. A central lighthouse project is the Brenner Base Tunnel (BBT), which will connect Austria and Italy as a high-performance flat railway under the Alps. 185 kilometres of a total of 230 kilometres of tunnels have already been excavated. Once completed, the tunnel will be 64 kilometres in length, making it the longest underground rail link in the world.

Transporting Building Materials by Rail

Work on the "H53 Pfons-Brenner" construction phase, the last of the overall project and the largest on Austrian project territory, has been underway since 2023. Since September 2024, two tunnel-boring machines have been working their way 7.6 kilometres northwards through the mountain from Steinach. The "factories in the mountain" also place the inner shell of the tunnel, which consists of so-called tubbing rings. Each individual ring consists of six elements and one invert stone. These are manufactured by Max Bögl in Sengenthal, Germany. They arrive at their destination some 365 kilometres away by climate-friendly rail – transported by RCG from the Upper Palatinate directly to the construction site in Steinach am Brenner. A total of 570,000 tonnes of construction material will be transported, including 530,000 tonnes of tubbings and 40,000 tonnes of pearl gravel. A sophisticated logistics solution ensures the smooth supply of materials to the construction site.

Direct Rail Connection for Efficient Logistics

The Wolf siding, in operation since 2016, enables direct delivery of materials by rail. The tubbings are unloaded using gantry cranes before being transported to the tunnel boring machine on heavy goods trucks. This significantly reduces road traffic in the Wipptal valley and ensures sustainable construction site logistics.

Media Event: Experience Logistics up Close

On 27 February 2025, the transport logistics for tunnel construction were presented to journalists at the BBT construction site in Steinach am Brenner. A train was unloaded and the tunnel was inspected. On site were René Zumtobel (Provincial Councillor for Mobility, Transport and Environment), Martin Gradnitzer (CEO BBT SE), Jürgen Raschendorfer (COO PORR) and Christoph Grasl (Member of the Board, ÖBB Rail Cargo Group).

27.02.2025