Brenner railway station and air pollution, as Brenner Pass is the region's only major thoroughfare between Austria and Italy. The Brenner Base Tunnel, scheduled to be completed in 2025, would divert all freight rail traffic between Fortezza/Franzensfeste and Innsbruck via a tunnel underneath Brenner. Local traffic between Fortezza, Brenner and Innsbruck would continue with additional capacity being released on this railway section. The majority of freight traffic, as well as some passenger services, would make use of this tunnel. Journey time between Bozen/Bolzano and Innsbruck would be reduced from 2 hours to 50–55 minutes. Example of reduction of journey times (if passenger services
Brenner Pass Counts of Tyrol within the Holy Roman Empire. Emperor Frederick Barbarossa made frequent uses of the Brenner Pass to cross the Alps during his imperial expeditions of Italy. The 12th-century Brenner Pass was a trackway for mule trains and carts. Modernisation of Brenner Pass started in 1777, when a carriage road was laid out at the behest of Empress Maria Theresa. Modernisation further took place under the Austrian Empire and the Brenner Railway, which was completed in stages from 1853 to 1867. It became the first trans-Alpine railway without a major tunnel and at high altitude (crossing Brenner Pass at