The effects of road transit traffic in the Alps and other sensitive regions have exceeded bearable limits for humans, animals and plants for a long time.

On peak days the French Maurienne valley is crossed by a lorry every 12 seconds.

Overall nearly 10 million trucks cross the Alpine arc between Nice and Lubljiana every year.

This avalanche of lorries is not just an alpine problem – it is unfortunately very present in other places such as the Pyrenees (more than 17,000 lorries per day), the port town of Hamburg (port access road with more than 20,000 lorries) and many other roads in the whole of Europe which have become pure lorry corridors.

If we want to really breathe again in_ Europe we have to begin to strike a new path in the Alps, Vosges and Pyrenees right now. Pointless transport has to be stopped. Transport is only sustainable if it fulfils minimum social, economic and ecological criteria. Without today's social and environmental dumping practices a major part of transport would simply not even be necessary.

A truly sustainable transport policy not only prevents unnecessary transports. The necessary transport is facilitated by the most environmentally friendly transport modes and the different transport means are combined in a truly optimal way: rail and ship for long-distance transport and lorries for final deliveries.

Such a transport policy not only relieves humans, animals and plants all over Europe but also means that there will be real quality of life for all. Let's go for it!

Roads through the Alps

Modern roads all over the mountains

At the beginning of the 19th century numerous historic passes were made into roads. A busy coming and going of coaches started until the construction of railways almost put traffic , via passes , to a standstill.

Only after the triumphant rise of motorised transport in the 20th century did the Alpine passes once again begin to be of interest for politicians and engineers.

In 1972 the Brenner road was the first straight transalpine motorway to be opened to traffic. In September 1980 the Gotthard motorway was opened. Its road tunnel (16.3 km), however, only has two lanes.

The other road tunnels in the Alps also only have two lanes: Fréjus/Mont Cenis (12.9 km), Grosser St. Bernhard (5.8 km), San Bernadino (6.6 km), Tauern (5.4 km) and Pyhrn (8.3 km).

Some of the roads leading to the road tunnels have four lanes. Development schemes exist for most of the remaining two lane roads and tunnels.

Source: Alpine Initiative: "Es kocht in den Alpen. Was Transitverkehr und KöchInnen in den Alpen anrichten", Zurich 1992

Transalpine railways

Rail routes pierce the Alps

In 1867 the first train crossed the Alps. The railway over the Brenner pass between Austria and Italy used the lowest pass in the Central Alps (1,379 meters above sea-level) and could be built without costly tunnel constructions.

Four years later, in autumn 1871, the first railway tunnel through the Alps was opened: the 13.6 km long Fréjus tunnel between Modane in France and Bardonnechia in Italy near the Mont Cenis, a historic pass in the Grajian Alps.

In 1882 the 15 km long Gotthard tunnel (CH) was put into operation. After the turn of the century the tunnels through the Lötschberg mountain (14.6 km) and the Simplon pass (19.8 km) in Switzerland pierced two Alpine chains in a row.

Besides these four big railways an equal number of small transalpine lines have been built: Tenda, Bernina, Tauern and Pyhrn.

At the end of the 20th century France/Italy (Mont Cenis), Germany/Austria/Italy (Brenner) and Switzerland (Gotthard and Lötschberg) plan new base tunnels on the four most important axes. The tunnels without big slopes or inclines are to significantly shorten the travel times of passengers and increase the capacities of freight transport.

Source: Alpine Initiative: "Es kocht in den Alpen. Was Transitverkehr und KöchInnen in den Alpen anrichten", Zurich 1992