Brenner and Gotthard Alpine Passes Face Summer 2026 Traffic Disruptions

Brenner Pass Gotthard Tunnel traffic jams summer 2026 Alpine transit

Heavy vehicle traffic on the Brenner Autobahn is set to increase in 2026, with ASFINAG reporting 1.26 million trucks passing the Schönberg toll station in the first half of the year – a rise of 3.57 % – and total traffic climbing to about 6.57 million vehicles. The aging Lueg Bridge on the A13 will operate as a single‑lane crossing from 1 January 2025, with full replacement scheduled for completion by the end of 2030, prompting further congestion for freight and tourist traffic.

In parallel, the Brenner railway line between Innsbruck and Verona will be closed from 17 July to 1 August 2026 for essential repairs, halting up to 100 daily train services. Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) and the Südtirol Transport Structures AG say the works are needed to address wear from snow, frost and growing traffic. New high‑speed Frecciarossa connections from Munich to Milan and Rome are slated to start at the end of 2026.

South of the Alps, the Gotthard Tunnel in Switzerland is expected to become a bottleneck from 1 August 2026. The Touring Club Schweiz (TCS) forecasts traffic queues up to 13 km and wait times exceeding three hours during the first week of August, with additional nightly closures planned for September and October for maintenance work. These disruptions affect millions of motorists traveling between northern and southern Europe during the peak summer travel period.

Entities: ASFINAG · Austria · Brenner Autobahn · Brenner Pass · European Court of Justice · Gotthard Tunnel · Italy · Lueg Bridge · Tirol · ÖBB

Claims

What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.

[○ 1 SOURCE] 1.26 million trucks passed the Schönberg toll station on the Brenner Autobahn in the first half of 2026. (ASFINAG data reported by APA.)
[○ 1 SOURCE] The Gotthard Tunnel is forecast to experience traffic queues up to 13 km and wait times exceeding three hours between 1 August and 8 August 2026. (Touring Club Schweiz (TCS) forecasts.)
[○ 1 SOURCE] The Lueg Bridge on the A13 will operate as a single‑lane crossing from 1 January 2025, with full replacement planned for completion by the end of 2030. (ASFINAG statements.)
[○ 1 SOURCE] The Brenner railway line between Innsbruck and Verona will be closed from 17 July to 1 August 2026 for construction work. (Österreichische Bundesbahnen (ÖBB) and Südtirol Transport Structures AG.)
[○ 1 SOURCE] Additional night closures of the Gotthard Tunnel are scheduled for September and October 2026 for maintenance. (TCS and ADAC reports.)
[○ 1 SOURCE] Total traffic on the Brenner Autobahn rose by about 150,000 vehicles to 6.57 million in the first half of 2026. (ASFINAG data reported by APA.)
[○ 1 SOURCE] Up to 100 trains run daily on the Brenner line before the 2026 closure. (Südtirol Transport Structures AG.)
[○ 1 SOURCE] New direct high‑speed Frecciarossa services from Munich to Milan and Rome are expected to start at the end of 2026. (Deutsche Bahn (DB) information.)