Innsbruck bypass

Innsbruck bypass
South portal of the Inntal Tunnel
Overview
Line number305 01
Technical
Line length14,853
Track gauge1435
Electrification15 kV 16,7 Hz AC
Operating speed160 max.
Maximum incline0,9  %
Route map

0.561
Fritzens-Wattens 2 junction
(L 558 m)
Inn bridge (L 488 m)
2.315
Inntal Tunnel north portal (L 12,696 km)
4.174
ABS Fritzens-Wattens 13
9.966
Fritzens-Wattens 14 crossover
10.050
To Brenner Base Tunnel (as prepared)
13.242
ABS Fritzens-Wattens 15
15,011
Inntal Tunnel south portal
Brenner railway from Innsbruck
15.414
Innsbruck 1 junction
(L 716 m)

The Innsbruck bypass (German: Umfahrung Innsbruck or sometimes Güterzugumfahrung Innsbruck, that is the Innsbruck freight railway bypass) is a 14.853-kilometre (9.229 mi)-long double-track electrified main line of the Austrian railways. It connects the Lower Inn Valley railway with the Brenner railway, bypassing Innsbruck. It was opened on 29 May 1994. The line is at a major part of the rail freight network of Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB).

The bypass is part of the Line 1 of Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T). It was intended to increase the capacity of the line and to reduce the noise created by freight trains on the city of Innsbruck. It cost an estimated €211 million to build.[1]

The Deutsche Reichsbahn (German Imperial Railways) built a local bypass of Innsbruck station during World War II in 1944, which was demolished in 1945.[2]

Major components of the Bypass Innsbruck are:

  • the grade-separated Fritzens-Wattens 2 junction,
  • the 488 metre-long bridge over the Inn,
  • the 12,696 metre-long Inntal (Inn valley) tunnel
  • the Innsbruck 1 junction
  1. ^ Petrovitsch, Helmut (1994). "Inbetriebnahme der Umfahrung Innsbruck (Commissioning of the Innsbruck bypass)". Schienenverkehr aktuell (Modern railways) (in German) (7): 2–3.
  2. ^ "Betriebsaufnahme der Umfahrung Innsbruck (Entry into operation of the bypass Innsbruck)". Eisenbahn-Modelleisenbahn Österreich (Model Railway Magazine Austria) (in German) (7): 1. 1994.