From Monday 02 until Sunday 08 August 2021, all trains between Brennero/Brenner and Fortezza/Franzensfeste will be suspended, as the tracks between Campo di Trens/Freienfeld and Vipiteno/Sterzing will remain closed during construction works on a railway bridge scheduled by RFI, the rail network operator.
Maintenance and repair works are imperative for any infrastructure – especially on one of Europe’s most vital and heavily frequented transport corridors, the Brennero/Brenner railway line. While a large portion of the regular inspection and maintenance work along the railroad line is carried out at night, some inspection – and especially major construction works – can only take place during daylight hours or may in fact require the tracks to be closed for several days.
August: fewer passengers, fewer freight trains
Experience has shown that August is typically the month with the least freight traffic, the fewest commuters by far and practically no schoolchildren due to the summer holidays, which is why the Italian railway companies have chosen it as the ideal point in time to carry out a series of extensive renovation works on the Castel Pietra/Sprechenstein railroad bridge near Vipiteno/Sterzing.
Incidentally, it was in August 2018 that several sections of the Brennero/Brenner railway line were last closed for a number of days due to construction and maintenance operations. At the time, the works focused on the Brennero/Brenner pass, the Virgolo/Virgl tunnel south of Bolzano/Bozen and the Fleres/Pflersch tunnel but also included projects on the Austrian side, more specifically between Innsbruck and Steinach.
Replacement services for regional and long-distance trains
In consultation with the Italian Government Commissioner’s Office and all the stakeholders involved, the mobility department at the South Tyrolean government is currently in the process of organising replacement bus services and making the necessary arrangements to accommodate passengers and travellers in the best possible way.
Key info at a glance
Regional trains: passenger info
- There will be replacement bus services for all regional trains (100E) between Fortezza/Franzensfeste and Brennero/Brenner. For some regional express trains, the replacement bus service will run all the way to Bolzano/Bozen.
- Buses replacing regional trains will stop outside the railway stations – with the following exceptions:
- Campo di Trens/Freienfeld: buses will stop along the SS 12 road (Strada Statale del Brennero/Brenner-Staatsstraße)
- Chiusa/Klausen: buses will stop at the bus station
- Bolzano/Bozen train station: buses will stop at the Est A/Ost A bus bay (outside the Palazzo Provinciale II/Landhaus II building, directly opposite the main train station)
Please note that some train services will also be cancelled between Fortezza/Franzensfeste and Bolzano/Bozen during this period and that it is not possible to transport bicycles on replacement bus services.
Eurocity (EC) trains: passenger info
- Bus services will be available to replace long-distance, cross-border Eurocity (EC) trains. The service covers the following sections without intermediate stops: Innsbruck–Bolzano/Bozen and Innsbruck–Fortezza/Franzensfeste.
- Stops for buses replacing EC trains:
- Bolzano/Bozen: Via Garibaldi/Garibaldi-Straße (parallel to platform 1A, i.e. “Binario tronco/Stumpfgleis” at Bolzano/Bozen train station)
- Fortezza/Franzensfeste: Via Stazione/Bahnhofstraße
- Innsbruck: Verladestelle (i.e. the ramps where cars are loaded onto the train at Innsbruck station) - During the closure, all Eurocity tickets for journeys between Bolzano/Bozen and Brennero/Brenner that depart and end at Bressanone/Brixen, Fortezza/Franzensfeste or Brennero/Brenner can be used on all regional services (R trains) and on any replacement bus service (100E).
- All Railjet trains between Bolzano/Bozen and Vienna (RJX 184/185) will be suspended without replacement until the works are completed. Services to/from Venice (EC86/EC87) will be redirected via Tarvisio.
Please note that it is not possible to transport bicycles on replacement bus services.