Brenner Tunnel: ÖBB will not pay

People ♦ Published: February 22, 2011; 00:21 ♦ (Vindobona)

The Austrian Federal Railways will only accept to build the tunnel for € 10bn, if the costs are passed on to the state.

Brenner Tunnel: ÖBB will not pay / Picture: © Vindobona.org

The Austrian Federal Railways, which are in a difficult situation, do not intend to pay for the long-planned Alpine connecting tunnel between Italy and Austria by themselves. "The federal government will have to commit to take over one hundred percent of construction and operating costs", according to ÖBB boss Christian Kern.

Kern said he is not willing to "expose the company to…