Project
Beginning at least as early as 2000, German and Danish transportation planners pushed for a "fixed link" – either a bridge or a tunnel – across the Fehmarn Strait. A bridge was widely regarded, for years, as the most likely scheme, and it was somewhat surprising when the Danish project planners selected an immersed tunnel design in late 2010.
When the Danish Folketing (parliament) ratified the project in March 2009, its cost was estimated at DKK 42 bn (EUR 5 bn). This cost included 1.5 billion euro for other improvements such as electrifying and improving 160 km of railway from single-track to double-track on the Danish side.
New bridges at Fehmarn Sound (1 km) and Storstrøm (slightly more than 3 km long) would be needed. However according to the treaty, the Fehmarn Sound Bridge does not have to be replaced, and the Storstrøm Bridge will also not be replaced. Also, the double-track railway construction in Germany may be delayed by up to seven years, according to the treaty.
The Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link and its double-tracks will shorten the rail journey from Hamburg, Germany to Copenhagen from four hours and 45 minutes to three hours and 15 minutes. According to current plans there will be one passenger train and two freight trains in each direction per hour. Hence, there will probably be congestion and delays on the German side of the bridge, with this much traffic, if the track widening is delayed.
The highway between Copenhagen and Hamburg is already a motorway except for 25 km in Germany (35 km before 2008). The rest is a two-lane expressway. The highway will be widened to a motorway except for at the Fehmarn Sound bridge.
This project is comparable in size to that of the Øresund Bridge or the Great Belt Bridge. According to a report released on 30 November 2010 by Femern A/S (a subsidiary of the Danish state-owned Sund & Bælt Holding A/S), the company tasked with designing and planning the link between Denmark and Germany, the corridor for the alignment of the link has now been determined and will be sited in a corridor running east of the ferry ports of Puttgarden and Rødbyhavn.
The Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link will be financed by state-guaranteed loans, which will be paid by the road and train tolls. Denmark will be solely responsible for guaranteeing the funding of the project at an estimated cost of DKK 35 billion or EUR 4.7 billion and German participation will be limited to the development of the land-based facilities on the German side. The government of Denmark will own the fixed link outright, will be allowed to keep tolls after the loans have been repaid, and will enjoy any employment opportunities at the toll station. The fees are also planned to pay for the Danish railway upgrading.
On the German side, the road will be upgraded to four lanes and the railway to double track and, according to the treaty, paid by the German tax payers rather than by user tolls.
The European Union has designated this project as one of the 30 prioritised transport infrastructure projects (TEN-T) and will support the project with a contribution, probably around 5–10%.
Read more about this topic: Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link
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