Vinschgau railway resumes service under new electrification

The roughly 60 km Vinschgau railway between Merano and Malles in South Tyrol has been undergoing electrification since 2023, with installation of a 25 kV AC (50 Hz) overhead line together with ETCS Level 2 signaling and GSM-R communications. After a final multi-month closure of the Merano–Laas section (late October 2025 to end of March 2026), train service resumed gradually from 29 March 2026. Electrification is intended to enable a continuous half-hourly service using new, longer Alstom Coradia Stream trains. Update (28 Apr 2026): The decision to electrify dates from December 2014, and work began as early as 2016, according to the report. Since 29 March 2026 trains between Merano and Laas have run as a trial service with diesel railcars at hourly intervals; the half-hourly service is due from mid-April as far as Laas and from mid-June as far as Malles, and electric operation is to start in June according to a train driver (of the 15 Coradia Stream trains ordered, none had reached Merano by Easter). Progress Rail has also introduced ERTMS Level 2 for South Tyrol's transport agency STA, including a track management, train detection and traffic management system; Merano–Malles is thereby Italy's first regional railway with ERTMS Level 2. (LOK Report, 10 Apr 2026 and 28 Apr 2026)