The Rolling Highway (RoLa) connecting Trento, in Italy, and Wörgl, in Austria, has seen 5 per cent fewer freight trains between 2022 and 2023. Last year, only 104,000 trucks were transferred on the railways for this service, while the total available capacity exceeds 300,000. In other words, there currently is a reverse modal shift from the rail to the road occurring along the Brenner axis.
This decrease in freight trains along the RoLa is caused by the difference in costs between using the road and the rail, as Austrian newspaper Tiroler Tageszeitung claimed. Crossing the Brenner via road is so cheap that some trucks decide to pass through there even if it means extending the journey by dozens of kilometres. One solution would be to increase road tolls, which might encourage companies to choose a freight train over a truck.
Moreover, truck drivers’ salaries are another factor incentivising the shift to the road. According to the Austrian newspaper, if these salaries were to be adapted to more standard quotas, road transport across the Brenner axis would cost 20 per cent more. Another issue causing a rail freight decline is the lack of intermodal terminals, especially in Trento and the German region of Bavaria, which is just a few kilometres north of Wörgl.
The Brenner question
The situation along the Brenner axis, shared by Italy and Austria, has recently become a somewhat complicated one. Austria wants more cargo to be moved along the railways, and it already implemented higher road tolls and driving bans for trucks. Italy did not take these measures well, claiming that Austria was acting selfishly and that the available slots for rail freight were not enough. Italy went as far as bringing the issue in front of the EU Court.
The issue of not having enough slots to run trains might get even worse, as the other main border crossing between Italy and Austria, Tarvisio-Villach, will be closed for two weeks until 27 July 2024. This will cause hundreds of freight trains to be diverted through the Brenner line, which might cause further issues. The solutions to all these problems might come with the opening of the Brenner Base Tunnel, which, however, is only scheduled for 2032.