When cars and trains emerge from the Fehmarn Belt tunnel, they will still need to continue from Fehmarn to the German mainland. But the new tunnel on this part of the route could be further away than previously expected.
This is reported by Zeit.de.
A new plan from the German government puts the expected opening of the Fehmarn Sound tunnel at no later than 2035, Zeit reports, citing dpa. Until now, the expected opening had been 2031/2032, according to the state authorities in Schleswig-Holstein.
The later timeframe has prompted a reaction from Schleswig-Holstein Transport Minister Claus Ruhe Madsen.
- We cannot afford any further delays to this important project, he says, adding that he will now raise the matter with the transport minister in Berlin.
The Fehmarn Sound tunnel is separate from the 18-kilometre link between Rødbyhavn and Fehmarn. It will cross the smaller sound south of the island of Fehmarn and, according to Deutsche Bahn’s project description, will be 2.2 kilometres long with four road lanes and two railway tracks.
Today, all traffic between the island and the German mainland uses the Fehmarn Sound Bridge. Load studies have shown that the bridge will not be able to handle the future volume of road and rail traffic. The new immersed tunnel is therefore planned to take over through traffic.
The bridge itself will remain. Once the tunnel is completed, it will be used by pedestrians, cyclists and slow-moving road traffic, while trains will run beneath the sound.
