Munich/Innsbruck/Bozen: Alpine residents are demanding EU truck corridor tolls on the Brenner route – news from Bavaria
Heavy goods traffic is a constant contentious issue in the Alps. Possible solution: more traffic on the rails. Affected regions, however, are demanding more from Brussels.
Demand to reduce traffic and environmental pollution Bavaria, Tyrol and South Tyrol, on behalf of 16 Alpine regions, the introduction of a new corridor toll for trucks. In a letter to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) and the transport ministers of Germany, Austria and Italy, the Brenner route is the bottleneck in a cross-Alpine comparison “the most heavily loaded corridor”.
Reduction of traffic and environmental pollution: Corridor toll for trucks on the Brenner Pass
The letter and the associated joint declaration on rail and road traffic are in the German Press Agency Munich before. “An active shift policy and the associated climate goals also include cause-related pricing, the “Tiroler Tageszeitung” reported.
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Rail infrastructure must be improved
In it, the signatories, Bavaria’s Minister of State Melanie Huml (CSU), the Tyrolean Governor Günther Platter and the Bolzano Governor Arno Kompatscher emphasize that the infrastructure offers on the rails must be improved for sustainable transport planning: “There are already free capacities on the rails Disposal. We therefore call on the ministries to take steps towards a uniform road toll on the Brenner route as soon as possible.”
“Massive burden for people and nature”
According to the letter, the construction of the Brenner Base Tunnel and its access routes is crucial in order to provide the capacities on the rails as the volume of freight traffic increases. “Due to the massive burden on people, nature, but also the existing road infrastructure itself, we cannot wait for the Brenner Base Tunnel and its access routes to go into operation.” Appropriate accompanying measures to strengthen the competitiveness of the railways need to be implemented now. The Brenner Base Tunnel should be ready in 2032 at the earliest.
The Alps: an extremely sensitive ecosystem in the heart of Europe
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Seven of the nine corridors of the Trans-European Transport Network pass through the macro-region Alps, it goes on to say. At the same time, the Alps represent an extremely sensitive ecosystem in the heart of the European continent. “Coordinated measures at macro-regional and European level are therefore required to create a functioning transport system on the Alpine corridors.” In order to increase the share of rail as a sustainable and energy-efficient mode of transport, a committed modal shift policy is needed.
This is intended to make rail transport more attractive
To make the rail more attractive must die EU create equal competitive conditions as a basic requirement between the modes of transport, the statement says. A higher attractiveness of rail transport has advantages for greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution and noise, while at the same time there are fewer deaths and traffic jams compared to road traffic. The 16 regions that support the declaration “Rail transport in the Alpine region – together for a sustainable transport and mobility system” include all those bordering the Alps, including Baden-Württemberg and the Austrian federal states of Carinthia, Salzburg, Vorarlberg and Styria.
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