Page 24 - Hafen Hamburg | Broschüre | Port of Hamburg Magazine 4.2020

■ INFRASTRUCTURE PORT
18
km length
project that will better connect Sweden to the (North- ern) German market, given that Germany has always been among Sweden’s most important trading part- ners for both imports and exports. Even if almost an- other ten years will go by before the crossing is ready, the very fact that it is going to come is already leading to a certain optimism and expectations. “Precisely in Corona-times, that is something we can really do with,” he said.
All goods that are shipped today from Sweden right through Denmark into Germany, will in future be able to use the Fehmarn Belt ‘short cut’, reducing demand on the Danish domestic network. For freight trains between Malmö (Sweden) / Copenhagen (Denmark) and Hamburg this will remove the 160-kilometre de- tour on the Jutland route. For road transport too, the Elbe conurbation will be 160 kms nearer. That will save time, reduce costs and emissions.
BETTER INFRASTRUCTURE
“Apart from the tunnel, the road and rail connections will be upgraded on both the German and Danish sides,” states Denise Juchem, spokesperson for the Danish project company Femern A/S. On the German side this includes the four-lane development of the B207 federal road between Heiligenhafen and Putt- garden, as well as the twin-track upgrade of the rail- way line between Lübeck and Puttgarden, including electrification of the entire 88-kilometre section.
“On the Danish side, the rail link between Ringsted
and Rødbyhavn is already under construction,” she added. Further infrastructure measures have already been completed, such as the new railway line be- tween Ringsted and Copenhagen. “Through the addi- tionally planned construction of an immersed tunnel at Fehmarn Sound, bridge closures there resulting from bad weather can in future be avoided. At pres- ent, this can be very problematic for trucking,” ex- plained the Femern A/S spokesperson.
Further advantages are clear: “The fixed link will not only strengthen rail transport, but also make it green- er, since the railway will be using electric current,” said the Danish Transport Minister Benny Engel- brecht. For rail travellers between Hamburg and Co- penhagen the transit time will drop from 4.5 hours to well under three. “In addition, trucking will be almost an hour faster and more flexible, and the trip cheaper for many car drivers,” said Engelbrecht in praise of the project. The EU Commission has given the project priority and is supporting the construction phase fi- nancially.
The tunnel’s effects will be felt as far as Berlin and the Ruhr region, to Gothenburg and Stockholm (Swe- den) and even to Oslo (Norway) and Finland: “We are hopefully coming closer to our goal to shift more freight from road to rail,” added Dr. Arno Probst, Chairman of the Fehmarn Belt Business Council (FB- BC). According to his thinking, new companies will al- so settle along the A1 axis. Cooperation between uni- versities and research establishments among
24 | Port of Hamburg Magazine | December 2020
FEHMARN BELT TUNNEL FACTS
The 18-kilometre immersed tunnel will connect Lolland in Denmark and Fehmarn in Germany.
In the tunnel: 2 electrified tracks in separate tubes 4 lanes with hard shoulders in separate tubes
Construction method: 79 standardized tunnel elements, each 217 metres long, weighing 73,000 tons
Opening: Planned for 2029
Transit time: 7 minutes by train moving at 200 km/hour
10 minutes by car moving at 110 km/hour
Current ferry crossing: 45 minutes without waiting or loading time
Cost: 7.1 billion euros (Status 2015), financial responsibility rests with Denmark https://femern.com/de/bauvideo