Berlin–Palermo railway axis
The Berlin–Palermo railway axis is project No. 1 of the Trans-European high-speed rail network, which involves the creation of a high-speed rail line between Berlin and Palermo. It is designated as one of the main transport links connecting Central and Southern Europe, tracking through Germany, Austria and Italy.
Alignment and sections
From Berlin the line will run to the Central German Metropolitan Region of Halle/Leipzig, to Erfurt and to Southern Germany at Nuremberg, Ingolstadt and Munich. Crossing the border with Austria, it will continue through the state of Tyrol along Kufstein, Wörgl and the capital Innsbruck. It will enter Italian South Tyrol, passing Franzensfeste and Bolzano, run through Northeast Italy via Verona and Bologna, through Central Italy along Florence and Rome, and reach Southern Italy at Naples and finally shall cross the proposed Strait of Messina Bridge over to Messina and Palermo in Sicily.Germany
The corridor begins at Berlin Hauptbahnhof opened in 2006 and runs via the rebuilt Anhalt Railway and Dessau–Leipzig railway to Leipzig Hauptbahnhof. The line shall continue to Erfurt Hauptbahnhof on the Erfurt–Leipzig/Halle high-speed railway, which opened in December 2015. Likewise, the southern continuation of this route along the Nuremberg–Erfurt high-speed railway opened in December 2017.In the meantime, service is provided by tilting ICE T trains running on sections of the Leipzig–Großkorbetha railway, the Thuringian Railway, and the winding Saal Railway via Jena Paradies station, bypassing Erfurt on their way from Leipzig to Nürnberg Hauptbahnhof. From Saalfeld station they cross the Rennsteig ridge of the Franconian Forest via the Leipzig–Probstzella railway and the Franconian Forest Railway and continue along the Bamberg–Hof railway and the Nuremberg–Bamberg railway
Further to the south, the corridor runs via the Nuremberg–Ingolstadt high-speed railway line opened to Ingolstadt Hauptbahnhof in 2006 and the Ingolstadt–Munich line to München Hauptbahnhof. The following section of the Munich–Rosenheim railway has already been upgraded to four-tracks up to Grafing station in order to separate mainline and suburban traffic. The Rosenheim–Kufstein railway that continues to the Austrian border and Kufstein station is proposed to get a bypass as part of the Brenner northern access.
Austria
The heart of the Austrian section is the New Lower Inn Valley railway through the Tyrolean Unterland region. In particular the section between Wörgl and Baumkirchen is the most congested line of the whole TEN-network, a result of the Austrian national east-west traffic and the international north-south traffic sharing the same line. The largest section from Kundl to Baumkirchen is already completed and in operation since December 2012. The shorter section between Kundl and Kufstein, including a Wörgl bypass, is being planned. The Austrian section trains will be able to operate at up to.At the Baumkirchen rail hub, new high-speed curves link with the Innsbruck bypass including the Inn Valley tunnel, which is already used by freight trains, but still needs to be upgraded for passengers and connected with the existing Lower Inn Valley Railway for trains calling at Innsbruck Hauptbahnhof. The Inn Valley tunnel will connect directly with the future Brenner Base Tunnel bypassing the existing Brenner Railway across the Alpine divide up to the southern portal at Fortezza in Alto Adige, Italy. Construction of the main bore on the Austrian side began on 19 March 2015. The combined Inn Valley and Brenner Base tunnels will be the longest railway tunnel in the world.
Italy
From the southern portal of the Brenner Base Tunnel at Fortezza, an upgrade of the long Brenner Railway section to Verona Porta Nuova is planned, bypassing Brixen/Bressanone and Bolzano/Bozen. In the course of several high-speed rail projects, the following lines have been built or significantly upgraded in Italy:- In 2009 work was completed on duplicating the Verona–Bologna line and upgrading it for speeds, including several deviations.
- The Milan–Bologna high-speed line was opened on 13 December 2008.
- The Bologna–Florence high-speed line was opened on 13 December 2009.
- The Florence–Rome high-speed line was completed on 26 May 1992.
- The Rome–Naples high-speed line was partially opened on 19 December 2005 and completely on 13 December 2009.
- The Naples–Salerno high-speed line was opened in June 2008.
On the mainland, an upgrade of the Salerno–Reggio Calabria line is also proposed to increase speeds and capacity. In Sicily, the long railway line from Messina to Catania Centrale and Palermo Centrale is being substantially upgraded to increase speeds and capacity.