Lower Inn Valley Railway

The Lower Inn Valley Railway runs for 77 kilometres along the Inn valley between Kufstein on the German border and Innsbruck. It is a two-track, electrified main line built in the 19th century and now carries both passenger and freight trains. The line was the first railway opened in western Austria, opened in 1858 after Emperor Franz Joseph I ordered its construction in 1853. The route is part of the Trans-European Transport Networks and is owned and operated by Austrian Federal Railways. A new high-capacity line has been built between Kundl and Fritzen-Wattens to increase capacity and prepare for the Brenner Base Tunnel. Most of this new line runs in tunnel to reduce noise pollution in the valley. Trains travel through scenic countryside and alongside the Inn river. The new line allows speeds up to 250 kilometres per hour and uses advanced signalling. Plans exist to extend the new line further north towards Brannenburg.