Scheduled to open to the public in 2029, the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel will connect the 11.1 miles of the Baltic Sea between Denmark and Germany, reducing train travel time from approximately four and a half hours to two and a half hours.
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Taking a ferry across the strait currently takes about 45 minutes, while once the tunnel is completed, the journey will take seven minutes by train (traveling at around 200 kilometers per hour) and 10 minutes by car (traveling at over 100 kilometers per hour). It will connect the German island of Fehmarn and the Danish island of Lolland along the Fehmarn Belt, making it the longest combined road and rail tunnel in the world, featuring two double-lane highways (separated by a service tunnel) and two electrified railway tracks. The land route for trucks and freight trains between Sweden and Central Europe will be shortened by 160 kilometers compared to the current route. According to CNN, approximately 3,000 people are needed to construct the tunnel over a duration of about eight and a half years, located more than 40 meters beneath the Baltic Sea, requiring an amount of steel equivalent to about 50 Eiffel Towers. Debuting after more than a decade of planning, construction began in 2020 with a new port in Lolland that will host the factory where the 89 massive concrete sections that will compose the tunnel will be built; however, actual work on the tunnel itself will not start until 2023. |
Road section of the tunnel Credit: Femern A / S |
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Road section of the tunnel Credit: Femern A / S |
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