Saturday, March 22, 2025

The £6.2 billion Fehmarnbelt Tunnel linking Denmark and Germany will revolutionize European travel, cutting journey times with unmatched speed and connectivity.

A monumental undersea tunnel project worth £6.2 billion is set to transform the road and rail networks across Europe. The Fehmarnbelt tunnel, currently under construction, will connect central Europe with Scandinavia, drastically reducing travel times. Spanning 18 kilometers, this tunnel will form a vital link between Denmark and Germany, slashing the journey from 45 minutes by ferry to just 10 minutes by car or seven minutes by train.

The tunnel will feature two lanes of traffic in each direction and two electrified rail tracks capable of reaching speeds of up to 125 mph. Scheduled for completion by 2029, the Fehmarnbelt tunnel will claim the title of the largest road and rail tunnel in the world, as well as the longest immersed tunnel.

In March 2025, the first concrete sections of the tunnel were shipped from the Rødbyhavn factory on Lolland Island. Each section measures 217 meters in length and weighs a staggering 73,000 tons—equivalent to the weight of 10 Eiffel Towers. A total of 79 standard-length sections, along with 10 shorter ones, will be placed on the seafloor between Lolland Island and Fehmarn Island, reaching depths of up to 40 meters beneath the Baltic Sea.

These massive tunnel sections will be towed to their designated sites and carefully lowered into a pre-dredged trench. After being sealed with watertight joints, the sections will be encased in gravel, sand, and stone to complete the tunnel.

Despite the scale of the project, environmental concerns have emerged regarding its potential impact. Femern A/S, however, has emphasized its commitment to environmental preservation, promising to create new natural areas to offset the effects on marine and coastal ecosystems.