Before the Øresund bridge opened, it was pretty easy to cycle up to the old ferry port and wheel your bike aboard a craft. Such bike-friendly ferry routes were once the norm for these sister cities, Copenhagen in Denmark and Malmö in Sweden, divided by the Øresund Strait. This summer an old 18 meter long ferry is plying the waters again.
This summer the probably most bike-obsessed nations in the world give cyclists a dedicated way to cross the maritime border that divides them. The bike ferry M/S Elephanten is shuttling some 36 cyclists and their bikes between Dragør in Denmark and Limhamn in Sweden.
The route has existed before, but ceased to operate in 1999 ahead of the bridge across the Sound opening in July 2000, News Øresund reports. While Copenhagen and Malmö have been joined ever closer together since the opening of the Oresund Bridge in 2000, cyclists have been somewhat left behind, even if bikes are allowed on the train beneath the bridge for the price of child ticket.
Last summer when four bikers tried illegally to use the bridge’s 25,738-foot long span, the police closed the bridge.
M/S Elephanten is a converted fishing boat, built in 1940, which will make three trips a day in each direction in June, July and August. The crossing is estimated to take one hour.
Bring Your Bicycle on a Ferry from Denmark to Sweden this Summer, written by Admin