Starting tomorrow, 12 July 2024, the railway connecting Udine and Tarvisio, in northeastern Italy, will be closed for 15 days, until 27 July 2024. This will be quite the thorn in the side for various rail freight companies relying on the Tarvisio-Villach border crossing between Italy and Austria. For example, Austrian Rail Cargo Group (RCG) will have to reroute over 200 trains
“Approximately 150 trains need to be rerouted and coordinated in both directions via the Brenner, and around 60 trains via Slovenia on the line between Jesenice and Villa Opicina”, an RCG spokesperson told RailFreight.com. Another possible alternative line for operators would be the one going from Udine to Jesenice via Nova Gorica. Rerouting such a high number of trains from one line to various others might also cause additional capacity issues, as these lines might not be able to fully absorb the new volumes.
The Udine-Tarvisio railway, also known as Pontebbana, is a key line in Italy as it continues to the port complex of Trieste and Monfalcone, the most active in Italy when it comes to rail freight. The 15-day closure was scheduled by the Italian infrastructure manager Rete Ferroviaria Italiana to carry out upgrades concerning technology and infrastructure. This is the second closure in two years for the Pontebbana railway. In July 2022, the line was closed for the whole month due to upgrades along the Carnia-Tarvisio section, an action that negatively affected rail freight volumes in the port of Trieste.