Fehmarnbelt rail link has high priority

When the link opens, it will increase capacity for freight and passenger services and shorten the journey between German and Scandinavia by 160 km compared to existing connections via the Danish-German land border and the Great Belt.

The Fehmarnbelt cuts across the line between Palermo in Sicily and Stockholm in Sweden and has been identified by the EU as one of the rail corridors in need of better freight transport facilities. As the overall objective is to develop a more sustainable European transport system, the EU wishes to make rail freight more attractive and competitive and consequently encourage a shift from lorries to trains.

The link across the Fehmarnbelt was originally planned as a dual-track electrified railway with a speed of 160 km per hour for passenger trains and 120 km per hour for freight trains. It will also carry a four-lane motorway.  As a consequence of the preparatory work for the fixed link,  it has been decided to upgrade speeds to 200 km per hour for passenger trains and 140 km per hour for freight trains.

118 trains every day
By 2025, the transport ministries in Germany, Schleswig-Holstein and Denmark plus Deutsche Bahn A/G and Femern A/S agree that the Fehmarnbelt rail link is expected to operate 78 freight trains and 40 passenger trains per day. Passenger traffic is expected to comprise 18 international, 18 regional and up to four night trains.

Capacity as well as journey times will improve significantly compared to today. While the current train journey between Copenhagen and Hamburg takes 4½ hours, the new service will cover the distance in three hours, resulting in time savings of 33 per cent.

Today's rail freight services across the Fehmarnbelt account for a minute share of the market, i.e. around 5 per cent. The link's opening in 2020 will significantly improve the railway’s competitiveness and present opportunities for increasing market share. In particular, international freight traffic between Scandinavia and Continental Europe will benefit from the improvements to rail infrastructure.

Passenger traffic is expected to grow by several hundred per cent following the link’s opening.  Today's 350,000 passengers per annum are predicted to rise to 1.4 million, i.e. an increase of 300 per cent.

Benefits to society
Analyses prior to the decision to plan and construct a fixed link across the Fehmarnbelt show that there are major national, regional, and European benefits to be gained from the project.

Improved competitiveness: The link will strengthen the competitiveness of businesses on both sides of the Fehmarnbelt, including the Øresund region in Denmark/Sweden and Northern Germany. As it becomes cheaper and easier for such businesses to market their products and services throughout Europe, this will also benefit consumers.

Socio-economic gains: The economic gains from increased flexibility and faster travelling time are calculated at approximately € 2 billion. Of this, around € 0.7 billion will accrue to Denmark with the remainder going to other European countries. In addition, there will be longer-term economic gains from stronger competition, improved competitiveness, increased productivity and lower costs. Such gains are calculated at around € 0.4 billion over and above the direct economic gains.

Environmental benefits: It is estimated that the link will result in a reduction of CO2 emissions of more than 200,000 tonnes per year compared to the current ferry services, assuming that the ferries cease to operate. This equates to the annual CO2 emissions from energy consumption in a large Danish provincial town.