The Brenner Base Tunnel project has been awarded €1.2 billion by the European Commission (EC) from its Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) initiative.
In one of the larger CEF funding packages, the grant will pay for half of the cost of the exploratory tunnel and 40 per cent of the cost of the two main rail tunnels.
The four-and-a-half-year tunnelling programme, which is being delivered by a Strabag/Salini-Impregilo joint venture, is currently underway.
The €380 million contract will create 38 kilometres of new railway tunnels through the Brenner Pass.
A combination of blasting, drilling and tunnel boring machine (TBM) will be used to construct a 9-kilometre rescue tunnel to Tulfes, two connecting tunnels totalling nine kilometres and a 15-kilometre exploratory tunnel from Ahrental towards Steinach am Brenner.
The BBT is at the centre of the 2,200 kilometre Berlin – Palermo railway and once open, will cut the overall journey time by two-and-a-half hours.
