Denmark is responsible for building the 18-kilometre tunnel and the hinterland connection on the country itself while Germany will oversee the tunnel's links to road and rail. Adjustments to the railway line are one of the main reasons for the delay. Deutsche Bahn is building an 88-kilometre route, 55 kilometres of which are brand new, supplemented by extensive noise protection measures. Originally, cars, trains and lorries would have crossed the existing Fehmarnsund Bridge to Fehmarn. However, planners deemed the bridge to be unfit for purpose. Thus, plans were laid for a two-kilometre tunnel through the Fehmarn Sound. Although only two out of ten sections of the German rail link from Lübeck to Puttgarden have planning permission, construction of the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel is already well underway. Cornett pointed out: "The schedule has come under considerable pressure from the Danes." This is due to delays completing a special ship to lower the concrete parts of the tunnel to the seabed.
Delayed Fehmarnbelt Tunnel holds great opportunities for Hamburg
The billion-euro Fehrmarnbelt Tunnel has been delayed after Deutsche Bahn announced that the hinterland link will not be completed in 2029. The new tunnel will remove a bottleneck and cut the train journey time from Hamburg to Copenhagen to two and a half hours while the journey from Fehmarn to Lolland will take only ten minutes by car. The new link will vastly improve links between Scandinavia and Central Europe.
"Of course, the Danes think it's a shame that Germany cannot meet the original deadline. But there is also understanding," said Lars Friis Cornett, Germany Director of Femern A/S, the Danish project company behind the tunnel. Speaking at event held by the Billbrookkreis e.V. association in October, Cornett said: "We must not forget that the German rail link to the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel has changed fundamentally compared to the start." His remarks refer to 2009, when Germany and Denmark signed a treaty on the new link.
Cause of delays
Successful Öresund Bridge
The Fehmarnbelt link is a formidable project and poses several challenges. Tugboats bring parts for the immersed tunnel to the Baltic Sea, where they are lowered into a previously excavated tunnel trench on the seabed and lined up and connected. Around 16,000 objections to the project were filed in Germany, while Denmark received 42 comments on the environmental impact assessment, several of which were positive. This is due to Denmark's experience with major projects such as the Öresund Bridge between Copenhagen and Malmö, Cornett said, adding: "In Denmark, we simply know how valuable such infrastructure projects are once they are completed."
Opportunities for Hamburg Metropolitan Region
The fixed link holds great opportunities for the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. "The improved link to Scandinavia will enable the region to become northern Europe's logistics hub," said Bernhard Jurasch, Chair of the Billbrookkreis e.V. association. The network of companies near Billbrook had invited people to a presentation on the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel. Jurasch stressed: "The tunnel will place the metropolitan region more firmly at the centre of a European north-south development axis with positive effects for skilled workers and tourism as well."
More co-operation in business and science
The tunnel will benefit science and innovation and increase networking between universities, research centres and startups. It will likely open up many economic opportunities for port industries and trade. Cornett noted: "We are already hearing from Danish and German business development organisations that commercial sites along the Hamburg-Copenhagen route have almost disappeared before they are even completed."
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