From Denmark to Germany in 7 minutes: the construction of the world's longest underwater road has started

Denmark and Germany are one step closer to being connected by the world's longest underwater rail and road tunnel. The tunnel will reduce travel time from the current 45-minute ferry crossing to just seven minutes by train.

On Monday, King Frederik X of Denmark inaugurated the first part of the future 18-kilometer-long tunnel under the Baltic Sea. It will connect southern Denmark with northern Germany and contribute to the green transition of the transportation sector, Euronews reports.

The Fehmarnbelt rail link is expected to open in 2029. The tunnel will connect Rødby on the Danish side with Puttgarden in Germany, with further connections by road and rail to Central Europe and the Nordic countries.

The first section of the tunnel is ready to be sunk.

The king unveiled a plaque at the entrance to the first 217-meter section of the tunnel, which will later be submerged in a trench on the seabed on the Danish side. He threw a coin into a time capsule containing items donated by those who built the concrete elements.

The company building the tunnel claims that it will be the longest underwater tunnel. It will also have an electrified railroad track. It is expected that cars will be able to cross the Baltic Sea in 10 minutes and trains in 7 minutes on four lanes.

In 2011, it was decided that the connection between the island of Lolland in southern Denmark and the island of Themar in northern Germany should be built in the form of a buried tunnel. The works on the Danish side were put into operation in July 2022, and on the German side - exactly a year later.

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