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BRIDGE

Denmark wants the $20bn Aarhus-Copenhagen sea bridge built for trains (as well as cars)

Denmark's government wants a planned bridge over the Kattegat sea between Aarhus and Copenhagen to carry trains as well as cars, more than doubling the cost to as much as 136bn Danish Kroner ($20bn).

Published: 19 January 2020 09:38 CET
Denmark wants the $20bn Aarhus-Copenhagen sea bridge built for trains (as well as cars)
A visualisation of the bridge. Photo: Ministry of Transport
The country's transport ministry on Sunday published its preliminary feasibility studies into the bridge and confirmed that it had decided to push ahead with the project, 
 
Transport Minister Engelbrecht said the bridge made sense “from a climate perspective”, in a press release issued with the announcement. 
 
“Imagine how a Kattegat connection could reduce the number of domestic flights due to the significantly shorter travel times between Jutland and Zealand,” he said in the statement.  
 
The previous centre-right government in 2018 announced that it wold spend 60m Danish kroner on a study into the bridge. 
 
 
 
Earlier studies estimated that the bridge could cost between 58bn and 136bn Danish Kroner, depending on whether it carried trains or not. The feasibility study will report its final conclusions in 2021. 
 
The link will probably consist of two separate bridges, one 18.3km link between Hou, south of Aarhus, and the island of Samsø, and another linking Samsö to Røsnæs on Zealand. 
 
But the investigation is also looking at a longer single bridge linking the Sjællands Odde peninsular on Zealand to Djursland, north of Aarhus. 
 
The proposal has generated opposition from conservationists who argue that building a motorway linking to the bridge on the Røsnæs peninsular would destroy an area of great natural beauty. 
 

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TOUR

Queues on Øresund Bridge as Danes return from long weekend

Danes returning from a long weekend in Bornholm and holiday cottages in Skåne caused a 2km queue on Tuesday morning, adding to Swedes' irritation at being cut out a Nordic tourism deal.

Published: 2 June 2020 10:37 CEST
Queues on Øresund Bridge as Danes return from long weekend
There was a 6km queue after Pentecost on May 24. Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT/Scanpix
Copenhagen police reported the queue in a tweet at around 8am on Tuesday.  
 
The temporary border checks on the small artificial island of Peberholm (Pepparholm in Swedish), where the bridge over from Sweden turns into a tunnel, makes it much slower to get across the Öresund, meaning queues build up quickly whenever there is heavy traffic. 
 
“The police are in place and are trying to get people through the checks as quickly as possible,” security officer Thomas Hjermind told Ritzau at 9am. “The queue is 2km long. But the traffic is moving.”
 
The long weekend around Whit Sunday and Whit Monday in Denmark has meant that many have travelled into Sweden — some to get the ferry across to Bornholm, others to stay in summer cottages in Skåne and elsewhere. 
 
Police told Ritzau that the queue was mainly formed of Danes on their way back from holiday in Sweden, together with a few Swedish cross-border workers. 
 
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Since Denmark imposed border controls on March 14, Danes have been able to travel to Sweden unhindered while Swedes have only been allowed into Denmark if they have a “worthy purpose”. 
 
 
Danes are supposed to go into quarantine for 14 days on their return, but this is voluntary and it seems that few do. 
 
Last Friday, Denmark's government announced that it was ready to allow tourists from Norway, Germany and Iceland into the country, but not those from Sweden.
 
“It seems absolutely crazy. Total double standards,” Christer Mårtensson, 61, from Hjärup in Skåne told Denmark's BT tabloid. 
 
“If the authorities are so afraid of the Swedes being infected don't they think that the Danes can take the infection back with them?” he added. 
 
“It doesn't make sense. It's pure populism, and it seems as if Mette Frederiksen is just trying to improve her popularity on at home.” 
 
While Sweden as a whole has higher infection rates than Denmark, Region Skåne has a lower rate
than in Copenhagen area. 
 
According to Sweden's Kvällsposten newspaper, there have been 17.8 coronavirus-related deaths per 100,000 inhabitants in Copenhagen, and just 13.3 in Skåne. 
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