AUSTRIA: Weekly Brenner rail deliveries are moving 480 tonnes of concrete additive from Gmunden to Steinach, with the programme expected to replace about 1,480 truck journeys by 2029.

A crane stands beside an access tunnel at the Brenner Base Tunnel construction site in Austria.
An access tunnel at the Brenner Base Tunnel construction site in 2019; illustrative image, not the current H53 delivery operation. Photo: Smiley.toerist, CC BY-SA 4.0.

ÖBB Rail Cargo Group says the service began in January 2026 for building-materials producer Rohrdorfer. The partners plan to move around 40,000 tonnes of Fluasit to the Brenner Base Tunnel’s H53 construction lot over the full delivery period.

Fluasit is produced at Rohrdorfer’s cement plant in Gmunden and is used in concrete for demanding applications. The 25-kilometre H53 lot is the largest Austrian construction section identified in the logistics programme, and deliveries are scheduled to continue until the lot is completed in 2029.

CemTainers connect rail with the construction site

Rohrdorfer’s project account explains that Fluasit is used mainly in sprayed concrete and the tunnel’s inner linings. Four wagons currently carry four purpose-built CemTainers each from Gmunden to Steinach am Brenner.

At the unloading point, cranes transfer the containers directly from the wagons to trucks for the final metres to the mixing plant. The empty units are then returned to rail for the journey back to Gmunden. This arrangement keeps the rail line clear while accommodating the construction site’s limited operating space.

Innofreight and Siloriedel developed the CemTainers and their supporting structure, while Weber Beton Logistik handles the short road transfer. RCG is responsible for the rail movement as part of its long-term logistics relationship with Rohrdorfer.

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H53 work continues toward the Brenner border

Brenner Base Tunnel project owner BBT SE says H53 has been under construction since May 2023. The €959 million lot includes sections of both main tunnel tubes, the final southbound exploratory tunnel section and multiple cross-passages.

The Brenner shipments form one part of a much larger rail programme. In 2025, RCG transported about 1.16 million tonnes of raw materials and construction products for Rohrdorfer, using plant sidings and several wagon systems. RCG estimates those rail services reduced emissions by approximately 5,015 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent compared with road transport.

The projected reduction of 1,480 truck journeys applies to the complete Fluasit delivery period through 2029; it is not a result already achieved.

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