Minister for Mobility Hanke after Brenner Demonstration: Relieve Tyrol, manage traffic, continue dialogue Professional preparation and coordinated deployment ensured a safe process at Brenner – Hanke thanks emergency services and ASFINAG for professional conduct
Following the demonstration on the Brenner motorway (A13) on Saturday, which proceeded peacefully and orderly, the Minister for Mobility Peter Hanke thanks all participating emergency organisations, authorities and the ASFINAG teams for their professional work.
The Federal Minister shows great understanding for the burdens on the Tyrolean population along the Brenner corridor. The impact of transit traffic on people, the environment, and infrastructure has been a major burden for years. Therefore, it continues to require consistent measures to sustainably improve the quality of life for people along the transit axis.
"Since taking office, I have used all opportunities at national and international levels to improve the situation at Brenner together with the state of Tyrol in the short, medium, and long term. We stand by the existing measures, support the shift of traffic to rail, and will invest around 150 million euros in noise protection along the Brenner corridor in the coming years," emphasises Minister for Mobility Peter Hanke.
Government stands by Tyrolean anti-transit measures
Austria, together with Tyrol, continues to advocate at the European level for the legal safeguarding of the existing Tyrolean measures. The pending proceedings before the European Court of Justice are currently awaited. Simultaneously, the Brenner remains a European challenge that can only be resolved in the long term through dialogue with neighbouring states Germany and Italy.
"My goal is clear: to further reduce the traffic burden on the population, manage transit traffic in the best possible way, and at the same time ensure supply security, competitiveness, and traffic safety. This requires decisive action at the national level and close cooperation at the European level," emphasises Hanke.
The Minister also refers to the ongoing investments in rail infrastructure and the Brenner Base Tunnel as a central European traffic project. Together with further measures for traffic management and digitalisation, the foundation for a sustainable shift of freight transport to rail will be laid.
Traffic chaos averted thanks to professional preparation and accompaniment on site
Finally, Hanke thanks all involved for their responsible handling of today's exceptional situation.
"My special thanks go to the official emergency services, the employees of ASFINAG, and all organisations who contributed under demanding conditions to ensure that both the demonstration and the traffic around this extraordinary day could be handled safely and orderly," concluded the Minister for Mobility.