The Fehmarnbelt Fixed Link between Denmark and Germany and the Brenner Base Tunnel between Austria and Italy are both record-breaking European mega projects that will play a vital role in the future European transport network.
On Wednesday 21st September, representatives from the project companies, and members of the two regional development organisations, STRING and Brenner Corridor Platform, signed an agreement on mutual co-operation.
Both projects have been designated priority projects by the EU Commission, as they aim to remove bottlenecks that impede trade, growth and cross-border cooperation, and promote faster, more efficient and environmentally friendly transport of passengers and freight across Europe.
The Fehmarnbelt Fixed Link and the Brenner Base Tunnel face different technical obstacles; one crosses a sea and the other a mountain range, but they share many of the same challenges that very large infrastructure projects experience when it comes to interaction with the surrounding communities and compliance with the legal and regulatory framework in two different countries.
The agreement will allow the two projects to share experiences and learn from each other. This applies to both technical and scientific innovations, communication initiatives and joint projects by the employees of the two projects, where cooperation will be mutually beneficial.
The Fehmarnbelt Fixed Link is a planned 18 km immersed tunnel between Rødbyhavn in Denmark and Puttgarden in Germany, making it the longest immersed tunnel in the world. It comprises a four-lane motorway and dual track electrified railway. The project also includes upgraded rail and motorway connections from Ringsted to Rødby in Denmark and from Puttgarden to Lübeck in Germany. More information available here: http://femern.com/
The Brenner Base Tunnel is a 64 km dual track railway tunnel through the Brenner Pass. The BBT will be the longest underground railway connection in the world. It will run from Innsbruck in Austria to Fortezza in Italy, replacing the current railway. More information available here: https://www.bbt-se.com/
STRING is a political cross-border partnership between Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein in Germany, the Capital Region of Denmark, Region Zealand, and the City of Copenhagen in Denmark, and Region Skåne in Sweden. Its aim is to to maximise the impact of the new infrastructure between Copenhagen and Hamburg in terms of growth, jobs and ensuring a climate-friendly development in our corridor. More information available here: http://www.stringnetwork.org/
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