Brenner Railway bypass was completed in 1994 to improve access to the Lower Inn Valley railway. The bypass consists of a 12.75-kilometre tunnel (Austria's longest) and aims to remove the bulk of the freight train traffic from Innsbruck. In Italy, several new sections have been built, removing sections of line with several short tunnels with small cross sections. These include the 13.159-metre long Sciliar tunnel opened in 1994, the 7.267-metre long Pflersch tunnel opened in 1999 and the 3,939-metre long Cardano tunnel opened in 1998. Following a sharp increase in freight traffic through the Brenner Pass (largely on road), the railway is
Brenner Railway (Italian for "Upper (Northern) Italian Railways", SFAI) in 1866. In the 1885 reorganisation it was absorbed by the Società per le Strade Ferrate Meridionali ("Adriatic Network"). The line came under the control of Ferrovie dello Stato upon its establishment in 1905. In 1919, Italy acquired Trentino-South Tyrol under the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye and the Austro-Italian border moved to Brenner. The section from Trento/Trient to Brenner was subsequently electrified at 3,700 V at three-phase 16.7 Hz between 1929 and 1934. Electrification was converted to 3,000 V DC on 30 May 1965. In preparation for the proposed Brenner Base Tunnel, the Innsbruck