No more upper limit

Tyrolean transit drama: slot system as a “one-liner”

The avalanche of trucks rolls and rolls: with 2.5 million trucks, more heavy goods vehicles drive over the Brenner Pass than over all Swiss Alpine passes combined.

(Bild: Christof Birbaumer (Archivbild))

Trucks that digitally book time slots for transit: This is supposed to help Tyrol in the transit issue against attacks from its neighbors. Without a simultaneous upper limit for HGVs, this would be a dangerous "one-liner", warns Fritz Gurgiser, an anti-transit campaigner from the very beginning.  

Bookable time slots for transit trucks passing through Tyrol: the provincial government has been promoting this model for Tyrolean truck transit traffic since spring 2023. After a visit to the Hamburg port terminal, LH Anton Mattle is more convinced than ever that it will also work at the Brenner Pass - and at the same time appease neighbors Italy and Bavaria, who are stressing about the Tyrolean measures to prevent even more traffic chaos: Block clearance, night driving bans, sectoral driving bans - they all have to go if Italy's Lega transport minister Matteo Salvini has his way.

State treaty a long way off
Not much has happened since the tripartite summit in Kufstein 2023 with LH Mattle, Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) and South Tyrolean Governor Arno Kompatscher (SVP). An international treaty between Germany, Austria and Italy is needed - and that is a long way off.

The digital traffic management system would make the approximately 400-kilometre stretch between Munich and Verona easier to plan for the transport industry, reduce traffic jams and thus relieve the burden on the population and the environment.

Verkehrslandesrat René Zumtobel

Bild: Christof Birbaumer

"Attempt to fix 2.5 million trucks"
For Tyrol's anti-transit campaigner Fritz Gurgiser , the findings have not changed even after LH Mattle's visit to the port of Hamburg: "Never before in Tyrol's long transit history has there been a clearer attempt to cement the existing 2.5 million transit trucks per year at the Brenner Pass. It's not about relieving Tyrol, but about squeezing out the last reserves of the route for truck transit."

Anti-transit campaigner Fritz Gurgiser

(Bild: Birbaumer Christof)

According to Gurgiser, the potential analysis carried out by a Bavarian planning office on behalf of the South Tyrolean state government aims to do just that and wants to "equalize" truck traffic on the Brenner Pass without specifying an upper limit in terms of numbers.

Softening the night driving ban
The approach outlined, "according to which the night-time ban on trucks and block handling are to be abolished so that capacity can be increased at night in line with transit - as is repeatedly demanded by hauliers north and south of the Brenner Pass, is also "highly dangerous for Tyrol". It's a capital genuflection to the haulage lobby," says Gurgiser.

Not another word about one million trucks 
The EU's obligation to avoid detour traffic in the Alpine region or to achieve a better distribution of traffic is being ignored. Gurgiser: "It is completely absurd on the one hand, and transit-worthy on the other, when the head of the Tyrolean government, of all people, no longer says a word about the target of one million transit trucks per year, but has blindly allowed himself to be lured into the 'pro-transit trap' and still does not realize how he is being abused."

"Control truck transit on certain days"
Despite the massive criticism, Transport Director René Zumtobel remains committed to the project: "The digital traffic management system would make the approximately 400-kilometre route between Munich and Verona easier to plan for the transport industry, reduce congestion and thus relieve the burden on the population and the environment. With the specified time slots, we could control truck transit, particularly on busy travel days or at roadworks, and thus avoid traffic delays. I hope that the new EU Transport Commissioner will support this pilot project, which is the first of its kind in Europe, as the EU also wants to achieve the climate and transport targets it has set itself."