EU Pledges a Further 700 Million Euros in Funding to Brenner Base Tunnel
Illustration of the Brenner Base Tunnel's future north portal in the Sill Gorge near Innsbruck
Credit/Quelle: BBT SE
The Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T) are the priority projects of the European Union for the large-scale expansion of European infrastructure. The Brenner Base Tunnel is considered a European flagship project for these transport axes and is being built as a cross-border project by the two states of Austria and Italy.
The Scan–Med Corridor is number 5 of the nine priority axes of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) One of the most significant projects on the rail corridor is the Brenner Base Tunnel, including its access routes
Credit/Quelle: BBT SE
Within the framework of the new EU funding programme “Connecting Europe Facility” (CEF), the project company BBT SE, which is responsible for the planning and construction of the tunnel, recently participated in a tender for European co-financing to apply for EU funds. After a positive evaluation of the application, the cross-border Brenner Base Tunnel project was granted 700 million euros in EU funding as a priority project.
EU Finances 50% of the Planning, Exploration and Construction Costs
The two CEOs of the binational project company BBT SE, Martin Gradnitzer and Gilberto Cardola, see it as a great sign of confidence that the EU will once again grant a high funding contribution. To date, the European Union has provided the BBT project with a total of 1.6 billion euros in co-funding, which covered 50 percent of the planning and exploration costs and 40 percent of the construction costs.
With the newly approved co-financing for the expenses incurred from 1 July 2023, the EU share of the construction costs will now be increased by 10 percentage points to 50 percent. The remaining costs will be covered half by Italy and half by Austria. The total project costs for the construction of the Brenner Base Tunnel are currently estimated by BBT SE at around 10.5 billion euros.
