About this journey

Rosenheim station, which first opened on 31 October 1857 on the line toward Kufstein and Innsbruck, sits at the point where the route south begins its long climb toward the Alps. From 1982 the Rosenheimer Kurve allowed through services to pass without reversing, keeping corridor trains moving directly onto the Brenner Railway. The line is electrified at 15 kV 16.7 Hz, a standard shared across the German and Austrian mountain network.

The Brenner Railway itself has deep roots: construction began in 1851 under the Austrian Empire's Südbahn, and the line through the Brenner Pass opened fully in 1867. The pass had already functioned as a principal trans-Alpine crossing since Roman times, and the railway confirmed that role for travellers and freight alike. Following the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye in 1919, the border shifted, leaving Brenner station some 300 m south of its original position inside Italian territory. The station at the summit stands at 1,371 m above sea level, with 12 through tracks and five passenger platforms. It is now managed by Rete Ferroviaria Italiana, with ÖBB operating the Austrian services. The Brenner Base Tunnel, scheduled for completion in 2032, will eventually divert freight traffic underground, substantially reducing journey times across the pass the railway has served since 1867.