On Monday June 17, 2024, Danish King Frederik X inaugurated the first element of a future 18-kilometer (11-mile) rail-and-road tunnel under the Baltic Sea linking southern Denmark to northern Germany
The Fehmarn Belt tunnel construction site at Roedbyhavn will contribute to the transport sector’s green transition. Work on the construction pit for the tunnel portal on the Danish side started in 2020 and on the German side the following year. Work on the tunnel portal itself started in 2022.
The direct link between northern Germany and Danish Lolland will be the world’s longest road and rail tunnel and a major connection between central Europe and Scandinavia.It will shorten the travel time between Lolland and Fehmarn from 45 minutes by ferry (excluding waiting and boarding time) to 10 minutes by car and seven minutes by train. The electrified high-speed rail line will be capable of reaching 200 km/h (125 mph).
A factory casting the tunnel elements will produce a standard element approximately every second week for some three and a half years. Production of 79 standard and 10 special elements will be required in total, and the Fehmarn link is expected to open in 2029.
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The project’s cost was initially estimated at €5.5 billion. By 2010, when Denmark and Germany signed the treaty to build the bridge, this had grown to €7.4 billion. The tunnel will be financed by Denmark, which will collect a toll from the crossing. Germany will pay a further €800 million to connect the crossing to its motorway network.
Sund & Baelt, the company building the Fehmarn link, claims it will be the longest submersible tunnel, including an electrified train track. Each special element of the tunnel will include a ‘basement’ area for technology. This will make the construction process and maintenance of the finished tunnel easier. The tunnel elements are manufactured using industrial series production, which makes the construction process considerably more efficient.
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The tunnel will replace a heavily travelled ferry service from Rødby and Puttgarden, currently operated by Scandlines, a route known in German as the Vogelfluglinie and in Danish as Fugleflugtslinjen.
The Fehmarnbelt link is an important component in the future European transport network and will make an important contribution to the green transition of the transport sector. Enabling traffic to use the shortest and fastest route will reduce CO2 emissions and free up capacity on roads and railways. Switching the transport of freight from lorries to environmental-friendly electric trains will also be more attractive.
Future Road and Rail Tunnel Linking Denmark to Germany, written by Tor Kjolberg