Brenner Base Tunnel Pollution from this traffic is a major concern. The hope is to relieve this situation by greatly improving the railway connection between North Tyrol and South Tyrol with the new tunnel, which will allow trains to cross the Alps much faster. Currently, speeds in the Brenner region barely exceed due to the steepness of the existing tracks, which cross the pass at an elevation of 1,371 metres above sea level. The travel time from Innsbruck to Bolzano will be reduced from 2 hours to 50 minutes. The project is funded by Austria and Italy, and a contribution by the European
Brenner Pass of above . As a result, air and noise pollution have generated heavy debate in regional and European politics. , about 1.8 million trucks crossed the Europa Bridge per year. In order to ease the road traffic, there are plans to upgrade the Brenner Railway from Verona to Innsbruck with a series of tunnels, including the Brenner Base Tunnel underneath Brenner. While the official groundbreaking of the tunnel had taken place in 2006 (with survey tunnels drilled in the same year), substantial work did not begin until 2011. Funding issues have delayed the tunnel's scheduled date of completion from 2022