Project History
On 29 June 2007 an interim agreement was reached in Berlin between the Danish and German authorities (represented by their Transport Ministers) to proceed with the construction of the fixed link. Details provided by Danmarks Radio state that the Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link will run 19 km (12 mi) from a point about 2 km (1 mi) east of Rødby in Denmark to Puttgarden on the island of Fehmarn which is already connected by bridge to the German mainland. Construction will start in 2015 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2021.
On 3 September 2008, the ministers of transportation from Denmark and Germany, Carina Christensen and Wolfgang Tiefensee, signed the treaty for the construction of the Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link at a ceremony held in Copenhagen. On 26 March 2009 the construction was ratified by the Danish parliament, and the German parliament approved the scheme on 18 June 2009.
In December 2010, it was announced that a tunnel would be used rather than bridges
In January 2011, a large majority of the parties in the Danish Parliament voted to support a tunnel-solution. However, national approval procedures in both countries need to be completed and, in Germany, this involves the application for a plan approval process. In Denmark, the project will require the passage in parliament of a Construction Act, and it is expected that all appropriate legislation will be completed by 2013. Construction of the tunnel was planned to begin in 2014 and expected to last until 2020.
However, on 16 December 2011, the German government announced it was postponing development of the railway link to the Fehmarn Tunnel until after 2015. According to a report in Der Nordschlewiger, German Traffic Minister Peter Ramsauer has decided to reduce planned government investment in new infrastructure in Germany by 25 per cent due to the economic crisis. It is not immediately clear what effect the postponement will have on the overall Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link project.
Read more about this topic: Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link
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