After a court-ordered suspension of the tunnel construction works, all train services between Merano/Meran and Tel/Töll are expected to remain interrupted until the end of the year.
In late November of 2021, retrofitting works on the Monte Giuseppe/Josefsberg and Tel/Töll railway tunnels – part of the electrification of the Venosta/Vinschgau valley railway line – started as planned. But in the spring of 2022, all activities had to be stopped after the contracted company ran into financial difficulties. The project will therefore not be completed by July, as initially scheduled.
Since then, the courts have ordered another two-month suspension of the works – which is why the project cannot be subcontracted to another company. Joachim Dejaco, Director of STA, the company in charge of electrifying the Venosta/Vinschgau valley railway line: “This means that the construction works can be resumed in late summer at the very earliest.” And because parts of the tracks have had to be removed, no trains can travel along this section in the intervening period. Dejaco estimates that the section between Merano/Meran and Tel/Töll can no longer be expected to be put back into operation this year.
Replacement bus services: new departure times from 23 May
The 250B rail replacement service between Merano/Meran and Tel/Töll will be reorganised accordingly, with new departure times applying from Monday 23 May 2022: Peak-time services from Merano/Meran will depart 10 minutes earlier, allowing for more time to make the connection at Tel/Töll train at station even during rush-hour traffic.
For passengers arriving from Bolzano/Bozen, however, this means that there will no longer be a direct connection at Merano/Meran train station and that they will therefore have to expect slightly longer travel times.
In addition, a new service (212B) will be launched between Marlengo/Marling train station and Tel/Töll train station to provide passengers travelling to and from the Venosta/Vinschgau valley with a direct and faster connection.