Lolland, Denmark: The tunnel is under construction beneath the Baltic Sea between Denmark and Germany, set to drastically cut travel times and strengthen Scandinavia’s links with central Europe.
The 18km (11 miles) Fehmarnbelt tunnel, which will be the world’s longest pre-fabricated road and rail tunnel, is an extraordinary engineering feat.
Rather than burrowing through bedrock like most underwater tunnels, the project involves placing 90 massive, pre-fabricated segments, known as ‘elements,’ on top of the seafloor and connecting them, similar to assembling Lego bricks.
The main construction site is located at the northern entrance to the tunnel on Lolland Island in southeastern Denmark. This facility spans more than 500 hectares (1,235 acres) and includes a harbor and a factory for manufacturing the tunnel’s elements.
Each of the 217m (712ft) long, 42m wide elements is reinforced with steel and concrete, and each weigh over 73,000 tonnes. These elements are towed behind tugboats, sealed with ballast tanks for buoyancy, and carefully lowered 40 meters into a trench on the seafloor with pinpoint precision using underwater cameras and GPS.
The project is led by Femern, the state-owned Danish company, and is expected to cost around €7.4 billion ($8.1 billion), with significant funding from Denmark and €1.3 billion ($1.417 billion) from the European Commission.
Once completed, the tunnel will replace the 45-minute ferry ride between Rødbyhavn in southern Denmark and Puttgarten in northern Germany, reducing travel time to just 10 minutes by car or 7 minutes by train.
The Fehmarnbelt tunnel will feature five parallel tubes, two for railway lines, two for roads with two lanes in each direction, and a maintenance and emergency corridor.
This new route will not only link Denmark and Germany more efficiently but also reduce travel time between Copenhagen and Hamburg by 50 percent, from 5 hours to 2.5 hours. It is also seen as a ‘greener’ transportation solution, bypassing western Denmark and cutting the travel distance by 160 km, thus reducing carbon emissions.
The tunnel is part of a broader European Union plan to strengthen cross-continent travel links and reduce reliance on flying. The project has been a source of significant local anticipation.
When the tunnel opens in 2029, over 100 trains and 12,000 cars are expected to use it daily. Revenues from toll fees will be used to repay state-backed loans taken for its construction, a process expected to take around four decades.
Despite facing opposition from ferry operators and environmental groups like Nabu (Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union), concerned about the ecological impact on sensitive habitats, the project was greenlit by a German court in 2020. To mitigate its environmental footprint, a 300-hectare wetland nature and recreational area is planned, created from dredged sand and rock.
The Fehmarnbelt tunnel is set to bring substantial economic benefits to Lolland Island, one of Denmark’s poorest regions, with hopes for boosted jobs, business growth, and tourism. Local residents are eagerly awaiting the economic opportunities the tunnel will bring to the area.
Once finished, the Fehmarnbelt tunnel will stand as a testament to engineering innovation and a critical piece of infrastructure connecting Scandinavia with the rest of Europe.
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