Underwater railway tunnel
Construction of the first section of the world's longest underwater railway tunnel linking Denmark and Germany has been completed
Denmark and Germany are one step closer to being linked by the world's longest underwater rail and road tunnel.
King Frederik X of Denmark opened the first section of a futuristic 18-kilometre tunnel under the Baltic Sea on Monday. It will connect southern Denmark with northern Germany and contribute to the environmental "green transition" of the transport sector.
The Fehmarnbelt tunnel line, which is expected to open in 2029, will also reduce the number of people currently traveling by ferry, as it will shorten travel time from 45 minutes by ferry to less than seven minutes by train.
The tunnel will connect the Danish island of Lolland to the German island of Fehmarn, in addition to other stations on land to Central Europe and the Nordic countries.
It will be the largest submerged tunnel in the world and will include a two-track railway and a four-track highway.
The first part of the tunnel, 217 meters long, will be immersed in a seabed trench on the Danish side later this year.
Sund & Baelt, the company building the Fehmarn link, says it will be the longest submersible tunnel. It will also include an electrified train track. It is expected that cars will be able to cross the Baltic Sea in 10 minutes on the four corridors and trains will do so in seven minutes.
In 2011, it was decided to build a link between the southern Danish island of Lolland and the northern German island of Fehmarn as a submerged tunnel. Work on the Danish side began in July 2022, and a year later work on the German side began.
The tunnel will consist of 89 massive concrete blocks being built at a special facility in Roedbyhavn on Lolland, the largest construction site in Northern Europe.
Its construction budget exceeds 7 billion euros ($7.1 billion), and approximately 2,500 people will work directly in building the project.
Users will pay transit costs that will be decided by the Danish government at a later date.
Source: websites