The EU has already contributed 8.4 billion Danish Kroner to the financing of the Fehmarn Tunnel, corresponding to just under 15 percent of the budgeted expense. This exercise could be repeated with an additional Øresund connection. The two Danish members of the European Parliament, Marianne Vind from the Social Democrats and Asger Christensen from the Liberal Party, will work towards this if they are re-elected in the European Parliament election on June 9th.
Danish support for Swedish desire
The two EU parliamentarians were together with the Conservative candidate, Niels Flemming Hansen, on a day trip to Lolland on Tuesday. The visit also included a tour of the tunnel construction site and the segment factory in Rødbyhavn. Here, the two parliamentarians expressed their support for the Swedish desire to establish an additional fixed link between southern Sweden and Zealand.
The EU aims to shift as much freight transport as possible from trucks to railways. And this requires more capacity across the Øresund.
Metro would free up capacity for freight trains
Marianne Vind, a member of the European Parliament for the Social Democrats, also supports the need for an additional Øresund connection. She would like to see this in the form of a metro line from Malmö to Copenhagen. Besides bringing the two cities closer together, this would also free up railway capacity:
– Most passengers across the Øresund disembark in either Copenhagen or Malmö, so a metro could reduce the need for regional trains across the Øresund, and then there would be room for more freight trains, says Marianne Vind.
Crucial for trade and security
Whether the additional Øresund connection becomes a metro between Copenhagen and Malmö or a new road and rail tunnel between Landskrona and Copenhagen as proposed by Europasporet, the EU should support the project, says Asger Christensen:
– Infrastructure is crucial for both trade and security, and if the capacity is strained, something must be done about it, says Asger Christensen, a member of the European Parliament’s transport committee for the Liberal Party.
Can be built in Rødbyhavn
If it ends up with a model like the one proposed by Europasporet, the tunnel segments could be manufactured at the newly permanent segment factory in Rødbyhavn.
– That would make perfect sense, says Asger Christensen.
