The Bornholm Tunnel ( da, Bornholmtunnelen, sv, Bornholmstunneln) is a proposed
railway tunnel which would be built between the island of
Bornholm
Bornholm () is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea, to the east of the rest of Denmark, south of Sweden, northeast of Germany and north of Poland.
Strategically located, Bornholm has been fought over for centuries. It has usually been ruled by ...
, belonging to
Denmark, and
Scania in
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
. The tunnel would provide a
fixed link
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
to the island, both using direct trains running from
Copenhagen and with a
motorail service to transport automobiles. The tunnel would be long and provide a one-hour transit time for cars, including loading and unloading, and a two-hour service by rail to Copenhagen via the
Ystad Line
The Ystad Line ( sv, Ystadbanan) is a long railway line between Malmö and Ystad in Scania, Sweden. At Ystad, the line connects with the Österlen Line, which continues onwards to Simrishamn.
History
Plans for a railway between Malmö and ...
and the
Øresund Line. The latter could be further reduced with construction of
high-speed rail
High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail system that runs significantly faster than traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated tracks. While there is no single standard that applies worldwide, lines ...
in southern Scania.
Present traffic
Today the island is served by ferries operated by
Bornholmslinjen from
Rønne, the main town on the island, to Ystad in Sweden,
Køge in Denmark and
Sassnitz in Germany. Travel time from Ystad to Rønne is two and a half hours with conventional ferries and one hour twenty minutes with fast ferries, with three to eight daily sailings combined. From Rønne to Køge takes five and a half hours and has a single daily sailing, while from Rønne to Sassnitz is seasonal and offered three to ten times per week and takes three and a half hours.
DSB DSB may refer to:
Science, technology and devices
* DsbA, a bacterial member of the Dsb (disulfide bond) family of enzymes
* Double strand break, a break in both DNA strands, part of DNA repair
* in telecommunications, double-sideband transmission ...
operates three daily train services branded as Intercity Bornholm from
Copenhagen Central Station to
Ystad Station
Ystad Station ( sv, Ystad station) is a railway station which is the terminal station of both the Ystad Line and the Österlen Line. The station is located in Ystad in Skåne County, Sweden, and is served by the Skåne Commuter Rail and DSB.
...
, where passengers transfer to the ferries. The last direct DSB service will operate on 9 December 2017, after that local train services are to be used.
Danish Air Transport operates flights from
Bornholm Airport
Bornholm Airport ( da, Bornholms Lufthavn) is a Danish airport located 2.7 nautical miles (5 km) southeast of Rønne, on the island of Bornholm. The airport is operated by Statens Luftfartsvæsen (''The Danish Civil Aviation Administratio ...
to
Copenhagen Airport.
Cost
Costs for running the ferry service are DKK 400 million per year, of which DKK 150 million are subsidies. If the same user payment and subsidies was used to finance the tunnel, with a running time of 30 years, it would allow investments for DKK 10 billion. Estimates for the cost of the tunnel vary from DKK 5 to 50 billion.
Politics
The Danish organization Foreningen Bornholmtunnel and the Swedish organization Föreningen Stöd Bornholmstunneln collaborate to raise awareness about the importance of a tunnel between Bornholm and Scania. The Bornholm province decided in April 2013 not to pay for a detailed investigation
Politisk nej til tunnel-undersøgelse
/ref>
References
External links
Foreningen Bornholmtunnel
Föreningen Stöd Bornholmstunneln
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Buildings and structures in Bornholm
Railway tunnels in Denmark
Railway tunnels in Sweden
Proposed tunnels in Denmark
Proposed tunnels in Sweden
Rail transport in Skåne County
Connections across the Baltic Sea
Proposed railway tunnels in Europe