Less bus traffic will be needed for the Fehmarn project, is the expectation from Skørringe Turistbusser (Tourist Busses).
The Fehmarn project employs more than just the construction industry. There is also a need for people to be transported from A to B, which is why car rental companies, bicycle dealers, taxi drivers, and bus companies are among the suppliers for the billion-dollar construction project.
One of the suppliers is the Lolland bus company Skørringe Turistbusser. The bus company drives employees to and from the construction site from where they live. In addition, the bus company runs tours inside and outside the construction site when prominent guests visit, such as ministers.
– We have been active since before the project started. We were asked if we wanted to drive, says the owner of Skørringe Turistbusser, Jan Martin Jørgensen.
Despite the Fehmarn activities, Jan Martin Jørgensen describes the business scope as very small.
– It is not half a per cent of the total business, as he says.
Fears more will drive themselves
Skørringe Tourist Busses’s main business is to organize, plan and carry out bus trips and travel and tourist driving for various groups. One example being for Halstedhus Boarding School.
– Here in January, we have started many ski trips for many different boarding schools. It is a big month for us. We have a few thousand students, and we have to drive north to Sweden and Norway, so the bus is full, says Jan Martin Jørgensen.
Despite the fact that the construction of the Fehmarn link is still many years away, he does not foresee that there will be many more tasks related to the Fehmarn construction this year or in the coming years.
– No, I don’t think there will be any more assignments for us. We hope for the same, but I am afraid of less if the employees start driving more themselves, says Jan Martin Jørgensen.
– It is difficult to live on Lolland without a car, he adds.
Affected by high fuel prices
The bus company owner could otherwise easily use more tasks now that the company no longer runs scheduled services, and on top of the year 2022, when the fuel costs have entailed high costs.
– The fuel increases have cost us over 100,000 euros extra, says Jan Martin Jørgensen.
Overall, however, the volume of orders in 2022 has been reasonable for the bus company, which employs 25 employees and 20 substitutes.
Skørringe Turistbusser has been family-owned since the company’s beginnings in 1945. Jan Martin Jørgensen is the third generation and could fully take over the company in March 2022 when his father, Niels Jørgensen, retired.
