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The construction works of the new Brenner Base gallery should be ended in 2027. The Brenner Tunnel will be made by two single-track tunnels, that will link Fortezza (in Italy) to Innsbruck (in Austria). The Tunnel will be used not only for goods but also for people.
From 2027 onwards, after the Brenner Tunnel will be opened, Trentino will be more accessible for millions of people from Germany and Northern areas; space-time distances will be shortened considerably (only 4 hours will separate the farthest German areas from the Euregio and our main cities).
After the Tunnel inauguration, the historical connection between Bolzano, Trento and Rovereto may become a bottleneck, with heavy criticalities. In fact, today, with less than 100 trains per day, Trento area crossed by the trains is full of criticalities and potential conflicts social and legal -noise, vibrations, etc.). In the future, this area could be crossed by 400 trains and transit through city will be unbearable, unless we move entire neighborhoods: that is why the theme of the access routes is not secondary but essential if we want the Tunnel to expand its full potential in the transfer of goods from the road to the rail (today Brenner Pass implements the lowest modal diversion between all the Alpine passes, that is less than 30% of the goods transported by rail, 70% on rubber).
Access routes will not solve the Problem because, after accessing our region, German and Northern European citizens, once arrived here, will have to easily move in our valleys. Furthermore, how will our citizens move through the valleys throughout the year?
Another import issue in the future will be "sustainability", which can not only meant as environmental but also economic (and not only investment but also management). For instance, large infrastructures could drain many financial resources to the management of capillar mobility services for extremely dispersed peripheral zones. Small house agglomerates, villages certainly surely benefit, in terms of efficiency and effectiveness, in the extra-urban public transport service on wheels: it won’t be be demonized in favor of the rail service, but certainly assessed carefully weighting the negative and positive externalities.
Local public transport “TPL” (both on rail and on wheels) is not effective at 100% on an articulated Alpine territory like Trentino (featured by "dispersed" territory and population). Furthermore, in the near future transnational Brenner tunnel and access routes to our region will increase dramatically the people demand of transport. Specific policies governing the correct modal choice mix in terms of public rubber, railways, private rubber shall be created.
These policies could include incentives to forms of light mobility and erosion of private mobility: for example, companies with more than 10 employees employ 80.000 peoples, and produce 150.000 travels/day: erosion of a 20% through forms of aid to light mobility (e.g.: bike routes) would imply 30.000 trips; providing 30.000 trips on the public transport means would imply an expense of at least 20-30 M€.
Participants will work on solutions for universal transport in the internal areas of Trentino. Is it possible to optimize private means of transport as an alternative to TPL?
A few ideas and proposals have been put on the plate: the creation of new local railways (Garda, Cembra Fiemme Fassa, the Dolomites railway along Valsugana,): to what extent will they be feasible? Will be our administration able to make all these local railways, whose cost is about 1,3 and 1,5 billion euros? Will be these railways the engine of sustainable mobility for the valleys for residents throughout the year?
Bus passengers in Trentino amount to 47 million/year(intended as travelers on urban buses and suburban coaches, the latest totalling about 24 million out of 47). Passengers carried on the railway are 7,5 millions/year: that is passengers from the extra urban area (about 15 millions) are twice the number of passengers transported by the railway, with an expense that is much less than double for the bus service.
Likewise, rail passengers per day, 22.000, is about half of the 45.000 passengers per days that use extra-urban buses.
An integrated mobility policy should be based on the following three pillars:
1) railway mobility: for connections with large transport networks with the strengthening of the connecting stations of Trento and Rovereto;
2) public mobility “on wheels": for secondary connections;
3) private mobility “on wheels": for the last mile (plan for home-work movements, fostering bike use, carpool and car sharing).
