“In mid-September, a boring machine defeated the last meter of rock 4,500 feet under the Brenner Pass in the Alps to connect the world’s longest tunnel dug for railroad track.

Envisioned as an important connecting vein that will one day see trains running from Helsinki, Finland, to Palermo, Sicily, it will slash commuter times across Europe.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker were present when the tunnel was completed, which is hoped to shift large amounts of freight onto rails and off the roads in Italy’s crowded north.

The Brenner Pass Tunnel is one of a series of EU railroad projects that the bloc hopes will reshape travel and freight maps by seriously incentivizing rail travel between Italy and the surrounding countries.

The Benner Tunnel will run from Austria’s town of Tulfes through Innsbruck to the region of Trentino Alto Adige, and will reduce rail commutes between Munich and Verona by two-and-a-half hours.

The second consists of tunnels and high speed rail that will connect Genoa, one of Italy’s largest port cities, with Milano via the city of Tortona, while another running through Valle d’Aosta will reduce the transit time between fashion capitals Milan and Paris by 30%, with stops in Lyon and Susa.”

From Good News Network.