Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI), Italy’s railway infrastructure manager, has launched a EUR 1.5 billion tender for the design and construction of Brenner Base Tunnel southern extension, from Fortezza, where the BBT connects Italian railway network to Austria (at Innsbruck).
The tenders must be submitted by October 12, 2020 and they will be opened on October 13.
The contract involves the construction of a 22.5 km railway connection from Fortezza to Ponte Gardena comprising two twin-bored tunnels connected by a bridge over the Isarco river. The Scaleres tunnel will have a length of 15.4 km, while the Gardena tunnel, 6.3 km.
EUR 1.52 billion is the total value of the investment, of which EUR 1.15 billion is the estimated value for the design and construction works. The project is funded through a planning agreement between the RFI and the Ministry of Transport.
The new Fortezza – Ponte Gardena line will continue the Brenner Base Tunnel, strengthening the Verona – Munich railway axis within the TEN-T Scandinavian-Mediterranean corridor. The BBT, that will run for 64 km between Tulfes/Innsbruck and Fortezza, crossing the Alps, is the main element of the new Brenner railway connection from Munich to Verona.
The new railway section will be opened at the same time with Brenner Base Tunnel, in 2025.
The project was approved in 2017 by the Inter-ministerial Committee for Economic Programme (Cipe) followed by the signing of the agreements with Bolzano Province and with each of the eight municipalities involved in the construction works (Fortezza , Velturno, Bressanone, Varna, Chiusa, Laion, Ponte Gardena, Funes). The agreement with the Environmental Observatory Consortium is already operational and has extended its competence to the first access section.
In October 2018, RFI has signed a legality protocol with the Government Commissariat for the Province of Bolzano to prevent and combat the infiltration of organised crime and to ensure full compliance with the law in public contracts.
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