Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni on Thursday hailed as “historic” a breakthrough by workers on a major new underground railway tunnel between Italy and Austria.
Meloni was speaking during a rock-breaking ceremony at the Brenner Base Tunnel, at 65 kilometres, is set to become the longest underground rail connection when completed in 2032.
Once completed, the tunnel beneath the Alps will connect Innsbruck in Austria with Fortezza in Italy, reducing rail travel time by about 60 per cent to just half an hour.
The tunnel project, which will eventually become a high-speed rail line linking the north and south of Europe, is central to a drive by the EU to move freight off roads and onto rail as part of efforts to reduce pollution and boost cross-border trade.
Meloni was joined at the ceremony by the chancellor of Austria Christian Stocker along with Italy’s transport and infrastructure minister Matteo Salvini and his Austrian counterpart Peter Hanke.
Image: Prime minister Giorgia Meloni on her arrival at the Plessi Museum, Brenner, on Thursday. Photo Palazzo Chigi.