The large-scale infrastructure investment endowed in the fixed Fehmarn Belt link and the adjacent infrastructure will doubtlessly result in a new dynamic in Northern Europe. It is however the opinion of the STRING partners that the ambitions for the quality of the connection should be raised, and it is their recommendation that it should take no more than 2,5 hours to travel from Hamburg to Copenhagen by train, compared to the anticipated 3,5 hours.
The five partners of the STRING cooperation aim to coordinate their efforts to assure that the infrastructure investments in the region are utilised in the best way possible. As such, STRING has commissioned two high-level infrastructure reports examining the status of the high-speed networks in Northern Europe and bottlenecks in the infrastructure between Scandinavia and Central Europe – and proposed a number of recommendations.
The vision of the STRING partners is to create a strong, green growth region between the Öresund region and Hamburg, and it is as such their recommendation that the Swedish, Danish and German governments jointly formulate unanimous quality standards and coordinate infrastructure investments between Scandinavia and Central Europe.
Investments in the hinterland in the years to come will be the crucial backbone of the the new north European mega-region between the Öresund region and Hamburg. It is therefore of the highest importance to create a modern infrastructure, able to support a financial growth as well as integration – not least to Copenhagen Airport.
On the 27th of September 2012, the STRING politicians gathered in Hamburg for a high-level meeting, where they agreed upon a number of recommendations concerning the coming corridor between the southern parts of Sweden and the northern parts of Germany.
The STRING partners will now contact the Swedish, Danish and German governments in order to facilitate a dialogue concerning a total solution. The STRING partners will also work to secure the highest possible levels of EU funding for this vital European corridor.
Some of the STRING recommendations for creating a new infrastructure in the corridor between the Öresund region and Hamburg are as follows:
1) Doubletrack and full re-build of the German railway system from the day of the opening of the fixed link in 2021 – and not years after.
2) Further investments in the train connections between Lübeck and Hamburg, the so called S4 solution in order to ensure capacity for long distance, fast trains between Scandinavia and Hamburg.
3) Improvements of the Storestrøm and Fehmarnsund connections
4) A new fixed link across Öresund is the next step
The vision of the STRING partners is to create a strong, green growth region between the Öresund region and Hamburg, and it is as such their recommendation that the Swedish, Danish and German governments jointly formulate unanimous quality standards and coordinate infrastructure investments between Scandinavia and Central Europe.
The Chairman of STRING; Vibeke Storm Rasmussen, was on the 3d of October interviewed on Danish television about the 2,5 hour ambition from Öresund to Hamburg. Click here to see the interview (in Danish only).
Steen Bach Nielsen of Region Zealand was also interviewed in the danish newspaper Berlingske Tidene on the STRING issues. Click here to read the interview (in Danish only)