Deutsche Bahn has denied forecasts by the Federal Court of Auditors regarding the costs of the planned Fehmarnbelt link in the amount of 3.5 billion euros. "The costs incurred in the report of the Federal Court of Auditors are simply wrong and lack any basis," the group said. The cost of rail connection would be according to current planning at 1.7 billion euros. "In addition, the plans foresee a risk buffer of 1.1 billion euros for any increase in construction costs and unknown risks," it said.
The Fehmarnbelt is an 18-kilometer-wide waterway in the western Baltic Sea. The project plans to pass under a tunnel. The estimated cost of 7.4 billion euros for the actual structure is taken over by Denmark. The opening is not expected until 2028. On the German side, especially the rail connection is costly. So 55 kilometers are to be built new, bundled with the route of the highway 1.
Schleswig Holstein's Minister President Günther sticks to the project
Opponents of the project had repeatedly criticized the considerable cost increases in the past. At the conclusion of the State Treaty between Germany and Denmark in 2008 for the construction of the Baltic Sea tunnel, Germany had still assumed costs of 817 million euros for the hinterland connection.
However, this amount was based on initial plans to expand only the existing single-track stock road. Subsequently, the project had been extended, "in particular, to increase acceptance among those affected by the measure," as the Court of Auditors writes. "In the meantime, 55 kilometers of the planned 88 extension kilometers are to be newly built, bundled with the route of the Federal Highway 1."
In a report to the Budget Committee of the Bundestag, the Court of Auditors estimated costs of approximately 3.5 billion euros. First, the editorial network Germany had reported about it.
Despite the new forecast of the Court of Auditors, Schleswig-Holstein's Prime Minister Daniel Günther (CDU) sticks to the construction. "The project is and remains one of the most important infrastructure projects in the north," said Günther. This is also what Denmark sees. "It remains that we want to take advantage of the new opportunities that arise from the project."
Video of the project of the century: Tunnel between Denmark and Germany
Femern A / S
