History has it that the Fehmarn connection is being built because Sweden wanted to create a cohesive, efficient, and green transport corridor through Denmark to Germany. After many years focused on realizing the Fehmarn connection, thoughts and discussions on how we can best utilize the Fehmarn connection are beginning to take up more space.
The Fehmarn connection creates a new, capacity-strong railway link between Copenhagen and Hamburg. This results in redundancy for railway traffic, as there will be two routes – via the Great Belt and via Fehmarn – to Germany, meaning that the railway becomes more reliable and attractive. With Fehmarn, travel times will also be shorter, creating opportunities for new traffic.
Increased traffic to Denmark
Rail traffic for passengers as well as goods to and through Denmark is expected to increase. Both Snälltåget and SJ plan to increase their traffic to Denmark and in the future further towards Fehmarn, which is a sign of this development. This means that the availability of attractive and climate-friendly train journeys directly from city center to city center of major cities is improved.
But more international trains will also increase the pressure on the railway around Copenhagen and the Øresund. For between Copenhagen and Malmö, there will still be a stretch of about 53 km with just one railway connection, which is a vulnerability and bottleneck in the European railway corridor.
Already needed today
Currently, the Swedish authority, Trafikverket, is conducting an analysis of capacity and redundancy for transport over the Øresund, where it also looks comprehensively at proposals for a new fixed Øresund connection. There is already a need today for an additional connection for both passenger and freight trains to create redundancy and reliability, and in the long term, there is also a need for additional railway capacity. Only one proposal has been presented that can create both redundancy and increased capacity for freight and passenger trains, namely a connection between Copenhagen and Landskrona, called Europasporet.
The proposal involves a immersed tunnel in the same manner as the Fehmarn connection with cars and trains in the same tunnel, so the tunnel factory in Rødby can be reused. The financing model is also the same as Fehmarn, where those who use the connection in the future pay for it through tolls. The connection can create shorter travel times, relieve the current railway stretch, and add new railway capacity in Copenhagen, so the possibilities with the Fehmarn connection can be utilized.
Timely prudence
Trafikverket will present its analysis before the summer, after which a joint Danish-Swedish effort on transport over the Øresund and a new Øresund connection should be initiated. This work should be based on which challenges one wants to solve and which opportunities one wants to create with a new Øresund connection. How can we fully utilize the potential of the Fehmarn connection? How can we create opportunities for more international train connections? How can we create robust and resilient infrastructure over the Øresund – also for military transport? How can we increase railway capacity and create redundancy for both freight and passenger trains over the Øresund?
It is timely prudence that Denmark and Sweden jointly begin to discuss these issues and prepare for a new Øresund connection.
