Denmark's Fehmarnbelt tunnel will slash travel times between Scandinavia and Central Europe. Denmark and Germany are one step closer to being linked by the world's longest underwater rail and road tunnel. Danish King Frederik X inaugurated the first element of a future 18-kilometre tunnel under the Baltic Sea on Monday.
It will link southern Denmark to northern Germany and contribute to the transport sector's green transition. The Fehmarnbelt link, which is expected to open in 2029, will also cut travel from the present 45-minute ferry crossing to as little as seven minutes by . It will link Roedby on the Danish side to Puttgarten in , with onward connections by road and rail to central Europe and the Nordic countries.
Frederik unveiled a plaque at the entrance of the first 217-metre section of the tunnel, which will be submerged into a seabed trench on the Danish side later this year. He dropped a at his effigy into a time capsule containing objects donated by those who built the concrete elements. Sund & Baelt, the company building the Fehmarn link, claims it will be the longest submersible .
It will also include an electrified train track. Cars are expected to be able to cross the Baltic Sea in 10 minutes on the four lanes and trains will do that in seven minutes. In 2011, it was decided that a link between the southern Denmark island of Lolland and the northern German isle of Fehmarn should be built as an immersed tunnel.
Work on the side was commissioned in July 2022, an.
