Tunnels in Austria – which ones are tolled and what does it cost?

The Karawanken tunnel (7,864 m) links the Austrian A11 with the Slovenian A2 and is one of the main border crossings between the two countries. The tolled section runs between the St. Jakob im Rosental junction and the national border inside the tunnel.

A single trip costs €9.

It is charged separately on each side of the border: heading south you pay on the Austrian side (ASFINAG) and can buy the ticket online in advance; coming back north you pay at the Slovenian Hrušica toll point (operator DARS), on site only.

For frequent border crossers there is a monthly pass. It covers 14 trips within 30 calendar days from the date of issue. Unused trips expire after that period. The pass is tied to the registration number and costs €40.40. This is the only tolled ASFINAG section without an annual pass.

The Arlberg is the longest road tunnel in Austria (13,972 m) and the main link between Tyrol and Vorarlberg. The tolled section runs between the St. Anton am Arlberg and Langen am Arlberg junctions.

The A9 Pyhrn motorway runs through two separately tolled tunnels – Bosruck (5,509 m) and Gleinalm (8,320 m). Bosruck lies between the Spital/Pyhrn and Ardning junctions, Gleinalm between St. Michael and Übelbach. Both sit on the same route, but tens of kilometres apart, so the toll is charged at each one separately.

ASFINAG does offer a combined ticket, which is more convenient and slightly cheaper than two separate trips.

The A10 is the main route through the central Alps, running from Salzburg towards Carinthia and Slovenia. Two separately tolled tunnels lie on this stretch – Tauern (6,546 m) and Katschberg (5,898 m). They are, however, charged under one combined toll. The tolled section runs between the Flachau and Rennweg junctions.

There is also a partial trip option for €7.50. It covers one of the shorter sections: St. Michael – Rennweg, St. Michael – Flachau or Zederhaus – Flachau. Useful if you leave the route before one of the tunnels.

The A13 Brenner is a 35-kilometre stretch linking Innsbruck with the Italian border. The toll applies along the whole motorway, regardless of the vignette you hold.

A night tariff applies on the A13. Between 22:00 and 5:00 the rates for vehicles over 3.5 tonnes are higher. For cars the price is the same at any hour.

One trip in one direction, valid for a year from purchase. If you buy the ticket online, at the barrier you only slow down to 15 km/h in the green lane – the camera reads your plate and the barrier opens automatically.

Unlimited trips on the chosen section for a year. Cheaper per trip than a single ticket if you use the section regularly. Not available on the A11 Karawanken.

FLEX is the ASFINAG system that lets you drive the tolled motorway sections in Austria without buying a ticket before each trip. A one-off registration of your registration number together with a payment card is enough – every trip is detected automatically by the cameras at the barriers and settled monthly, without stopping and without picking a ticket in advance.

How does registration work?

Registration happens online, on the ASFINAG website: you give your vehicle registration number and the details of the payment card to be charged.

From activation onwards you do not have to remember to buy tickets or log into any portal before setting off – just drive through the tolled section and the system recognises the vehicle by its plate.

You register the payment card once, and the toll is charged automatically after every trip through any tolled section. The cost will never exceed the price of the annual pass. It does not work on the A11 Karawanken only.

Which sections does FLEX cover?

Available only to people living and working in Austria. It covers unlimited trips for 365 days. Not available on the A11 Karawanken.

Holders of a free vignette (on the basis of a disabled parking badge under § 29b) receive an automatic free annual pass for all tolled ASFINAG sections, except the A11 Karawanken.

Structures currently under modernisation:

• Pfänder (A14) – night work Monday to Thursday, speed limit of 60 km/h, completion planned for October 2026.
• Roppener (A12) – work resumed from April to September 2026, modernisation of the northern tube.
• Brentenberg (A10) – partial night closures from April to June 2026 after a lorry fire in January 2026.
• Semmering tunnel chain (S6) – modernisation in stages until the end of 2029.
• Absberg and Laaerberg (S1, Vienna) – work until July 2026.

ASFINAG is running several large road projects that will affect driving through Austria in the coming years:

• Landeck tunnel (A12) – construction of a parallel escape tunnel, a full closure is planned from autumn 2026.
• Tauern and Katschberg tunnels (A10) – the largest tunnel renovation project in ASFINAG's history, planned for 2027–2033. During that time traffic will run in one tube only, with a speed limit of 60–80 km/h.
• Plabutsch – modernisation announced in the ASFINAG construction programme for 2026–2031.
• S10 – further extension to the Czech border at Wullowitz.

Before setting off it is worth checking the current state of the works on the ASFINAG website, especially if your route runs along the A10 or A12.

Austria is running one of the most ambitious railway programmes in Europe. Three projects form the so-called New Southern Line, meant to connect Vienna with Venice through the Alps:

• Koralmtunnel (33 km) – opened in December 2025, the sixth longest railway tunnel in the world. It cut the Graz–Klagenfurt journey from over 3 hours to about 45 minutes.
• Semmering Basistunnel (27.3 km) – under construction since 2012, opening planned for 2030. Once running it will cut the Vienna–Graz journey to about 1 hour 50 minutes.
• Brenner Basistunnel (55 km) – will link Innsbruck with Fortezza in Italy, opening planned for December 2032.

Once all three projects are finished, Austria will have the fastest railway link across the Alps.