Trans-Alpine Freight Traffic

Brenner motorway and Brenner railway, Nösslach bridge, source: Alpenstraße AG

The Alps are an area under constant pressure:

as an obstacle to transport between the centre of Europe to the north and Italy to the south;
as an ecologically sensitive region, where transport impacts powerfully on people and the environment.

In 2007 121,4 million tonnes of freight were carried through the Austrian Alps. About two thirds of them went by road.

the Brenner is Austria's main trans-Alpine pass, carrying 48,2 million tonnes;
73 percent of Brenner traffic is road traffic;

The Federal Ministry is keen to provide as much information on this subject as possible. To that end it has cooperated for many years with the governments of Switzerland and France. Figures are recorded and collected using standardised methods, and data are exchanged at regular intervals.

Switzerland's Federal Office for Spatial Development (ARE) publishes annual figures on total trans-Alpine freight traffic, partly on the basis of data supplied by the Federal Ministry. All three Alpine nations conduct a five-yearly survey which asks comprehensive questions about transport movements.

In addition, you can find a comprehensive presentation of statistics about Transalpine freight transport in the internet ( www.http://www.zurich-process.org).