Welcome to southern Austria. While the Gotthard railway links the north sea ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam with Italy (Milan and Genoa in particular) the Brenner links the north German ports of Hamburg, Bremerhafen and Bremen with Italy (Verona and points south). The Brenner, like the Semmering, can claim to have had a pass in operation before the 18th century. The  railway that followed was built  after the Semmering, but before the  Gotthard. It was constructed without a base tunnel and so reaches 1,300m at the summit and suffers gradients of 3%. In terms of freight traffic the line is only exceeded by the Gotthard, and ties with the Semmering at 10 million tons a year. Over half of this is inter-modal. Traction is: OBB classes 1016, 1044, 1116 (Taurus) 1144 and 1142. Traction is changed (still!) at Brennero / Brenner except for an elite number of Euroloks from Siemens and Bombardier. We start at the lovely Tyrolian city of Innsbruck, explore the city and its trams and ultra modern Hunterburgbahn funicular and the "mountain" tram to Fulpmes. We conclude at Brenner / Brennero where we watch the RoLa trains being loaded. The mountain countryside is spectacular and our Austrian cameraman knows where to get the best views!. RT 61 mins