Region Zealand’s committee for regional development, education, public transport and international cooperation is not very convinced that heavy freight trains can run from Scandinavia to Southern Europe via the Fehmarnbelt connection when the tunnel is planned to be completed in 2029. It appears from the minutes of the latest committee meeting on 5 September.
Probably not ready in 2029
In 2020, it was decided to build the Femersund tunnel, which should be ready with the opening of the Fehmarn connection in 2029. However, the timetable for the establishment is challenged, as the project is technically and naturally difficult and will probably not be ready in 2029, the meeting minutes state .
It is part of the state treaty between Denmark and Germany from 2008 that the two countries must each ensure that the road and rail connections leading to the Fehmarnbelt tunnel are upgraded so that they can cope with the expected increase in traffic in 2029.
Deutsche Bahn’s plan B
As previously described here in FemernReport, Deutsche Bahn, the developer of the new Femernsund tunnel, is working with a plan B. It involves upgrading and electrifying the Femernsund bridge so that cars and passenger trains can pass over that road until the tunnel once is ready for use. And that plan is not ideal, Region Zealand believes.
The single-track railway and two-track road over the Femernsund bridge will cause congestion challenges in the period leading up to the completion of the Femernsund tunnel, writes the committee for regional development, education, public transport and international cooperation in the meeting report from 5 September.
“Ambitious” schedule
It also appears from the report from Region Zealand that the Danish Ministry of Transport generally assesses Deutsche Bahn’s timetable for the railway facility from Lübeck to Puttgarden as “ambitious”.
It assumes that there are no delays in the process for authority approvals, which were the cause of delays on the Fehmarn connection, the minutes state.
Approvals are the Achilles heel
Precisely the process of authority approvals, hearings and possible lawsuits with suspensive effect is the Achilles’ heel for the German part of the facilities that will lead to the Fehmarnbelt tunnel. Only in December 2022 was the final legal sentence set by the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig. This has meant that the German construction works started much later than in Denmark.
The Schleswig-Holstein transport and business minister, Claus Ruhe Madsen (outside the parties), has also expressed reservations in relation to Deutsche Bahn’s timetable for the Femernsund construction.
