Oresund Bridge
Encyclopedia
The Øresund or Öresund Bridge is a combined twin-track railway
and dual carriageway
bridge-tunnel
across the Øresund strait.
The bridge connects Sweden
and Denmark
, and it is the longest road and rail bridge in Europe
. The Øresund Bridge also connects two major Metropolitan Area
s: those of the Danish capital city
of Copenhagen
and the major Swedish city of Malmö
. Furthermore, the Øresund Bridge connects the road network of Scandinavia
with those of Central
and Western Europe
.
The international European route E20
crosses this bridge-tunnel via the road, and the Öresund Railway Line
uses the railway. The construction of the Great Belt Fixed Link
– which connects Zealand to Funen
and thence to the Jutland Peninsula
– and the Øresund Bridge have connected Western
and Central Europe
to Scandinavia. The Øresund Bridge was designed by the Danish architectural practice Dissing+Weitling.
The justification for the additional expenditure and complexity related to digging a tunnel for part of the way – rather than simply raising that section of the bridge – was to avoid interfering with airliner
s from the nearby Copenhagen International Airport
, and also to provide a clear channel for ships in good weather or bad, and to prevent ice floes from blocking the strait. The Øresund Bridge crosses the border between Denmark and Sweden, but in accordance with the Schengen Agreement
and the Nordic Passport Union
, there are usually no passport
inspections. There are random customs
checks at the entrance toll booths for entering Sweden, but not for entering Denmark.
The Øresund Bridge received the 2002 IABSE
Outstanding Structure Award
.
, one artificial island
, and a tunnel
, it is sometimes called the "Öresund Link" or the "Öresund Connection" (Danish: Øresundsforbindelsen, Swedish: Öresundsförbindelsen).
The phrase The Sound Bridge is occasionally heard, using the historic English name for the strait.
of Denmark and Crown Princess Victoria
of Sweden met midway across the bridge-tunnel to celebrate its completion on 14 August 1999. Its official dedication took place on 1 July 2000, with Queen Margrethe II
, and King Carl XVI Gustaf
as the host and hostess of the ceremony. The bridge-tunnel was opened for public traffic later that day. On 12 June 2000, two weeks before the dedication, 79,871 runners competed in a half marathon
from Amager
, Denmark, to Skåne, Sweden.
In spite of two schedule setbacks – the discovery of 16 unexploded World War II
bombs lying on the seafloor and an inadvertently skewed tunnel segment – the bridge-tunnel was finished three months ahead of schedule.
Initially, the crossing was not used as much as expected, probably because of the high tolls. Since 2005, there has been a rapid increase in traffic. This may have been caused by Danes buying homes in Sweden – to take advantage of lower housing prices in Malmö – and commuting to work in Denmark. In 2008, to cross by car cost DKK
295, SEK
325, or €
36.30, although discounts up to 75% are available for regular users. In 2007, almost 25 million people travelled over the Øresund Bridge: 15.2 million by car and bus, and 9.6 million by train. By 2009, the figure had risen to a total of 35.6 million travellers by car, coach or train.
At 7845 m (25,738 ft), the bridge covers half the distance between Sweden and the Danish island of Amager, the border between the two countries being located 5.3 km (3.3 mi) from the Swedish end. The structure has a mass
of 82,000 tonne
s and supports two railway tracks beneath four road lanes in a horizontal girder extending along the entire length of the bridge. On both approaches to the three cable-stayed bridge
sections, the girder is supported every 140 m (459 ft) by concrete piers. The two pairs of free-standing cable supporting towers are 204 m (669 ft) high allowing shipping 57 m (187 ft) of head room under the main span. Even so, most ship's captains prefer to pass through the unobstructed Drogden Strait above the Drogden Tunnel. Its 491 m (1,611 ft) cable-stayed main span is the longest of this type in the world. A girder and cable-stayed design was chosen to provide the rigidity necessary to carry heavy rail traffic, and also to resist large accumulations of ice.
christened Peberholm
(Pepper Islet). The Danes chose the name to complement the natural island of Saltholm
(salt islet) just to the north. They also made Peberholm a designated nature reserve. Built from Swedish rock and the soil dredged up during the bridge and tunnel construction, Peberholm is approximately 4 km (2.5 mi) long, with an average width of 500 m (1,640 ft). It is also 65 ft (19.8 m) tall.
s each – interconnected in a trench dug in the seabed. Two tubes in the tunnel carry railway tracks; two more carry roads while a small fifth tube is provided for emergencies. The tubes are arranged side by side.
The public transport
rail system is operated jointly by the Swedish SJ
and the Danish via DSBFirst
on a commission by Skånetrafiken
and other county traffic companies (that also sell tickets) and the Danish transport agency. A series of new dual-voltage trains were developed which link the Copenhagen area with Malmö and southern Sweden as far as Gothenburg
and Kalmar
on selected schedules. SJ operate the X2000
and InterCity
trains over the bridge with connections to Gothenburg
and Stockholm
. DSB operate trains to Ystad
that connect directly to a ferry to Bornholm
. Copenhagen Airport
at Kastrup
is served by its own train station close to the western bridgehead. Trains operate every 20 minutes over the crossing and once an hour during the night in both directions. An additional couple of Øresundstrains are operated at rush hour, and 1–2 per hour and direction SJ trains and DSB trains every other hour. Freight trains also use the crossing.
The rail section is double track
standard gauge
(1435 mm; 4 ft 8 in) and capable of high-speeds up to 200 kilometres per hour (124.3 mph), but slower in Denmark, especially in the tunnel section. There were challenges related to the difference in electrification and signalling
between the Danish
and Swedish railway networks
. The solution chosen is to switch the electrical system, from Swedish 15 kV, 16.7 Hz
to Danish 25 kV, 50 Hz AC
right before the eastern bridgehead at Lernacken in Sweden. The line is signalled according to the standard Swedish system across the length of the bridge. On Peberholm, the line switches to Danish signalling which continues into the tunnel.
Sweden runs railways with left-hand traffic and Denmark with right-hand traffic. Initially, the switch is made at the Malmö Central Station
, which was a terminus at that time. To enable through-running trains after the 2010 inauguration of the Malmö City Tunnel
connection, a flyover
have been built north of Malmö (in Burlöv) that passes the two tracks heading north under the two south-bound. The railway network in Malmö thus uses the Danish standard.
The connection will be entirely user financed. The owner company is owned half by the Danish government and half by the Swedish government. This owner company has taken loans guaranteed by the governments to finance the connection, and the user fees are the only incomes for the company. After the increase in traffic, these fees are enough to pay the interest and begin paying back the loans, which is expected to take about 30 years.
The tax payers have not paid for the bridge and the tunnel. However, tax money has been used for the land connections. Especially on the Danish side, the land connection has domestic benefit, mainly connecting the airport to the railway network. The Malmö City Tunnel has the benefit of connecting the southern part of the inner city to the rail network and allowing many more trains to and from Malmö.
r (DKK), Swedish kronor
(SEK) and euro
(EUR):
Rail transport
Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail tracks. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on a prepared surface, rail vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks they run on...
and dual carriageway
Dual carriageway
A dual carriageway is a class of highway with two carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation...
bridge-tunnel
Bridge-tunnel
A fixed link, fixed crossing, or bridge-tunnel is a persistent, unbroken road or rail connection across water that uses some combination of bridges, tunnels, and causeways and does not involve intermittent connections such as drawbridges or ferries.The Confederation Bridge was commonly referred to...
across the Øresund strait.
The bridge connects Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, and it is the longest road and rail bridge in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. The Øresund Bridge also connects two major Metropolitan Area
Metropolitan area
The term metropolitan area refers to a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories, sharing industry, infrastructure, and housing. A metropolitan area usually encompasses multiple jurisdictions and municipalities: neighborhoods, townships,...
s: those of the Danish capital city
Capital City
Capital City was a television show produced by Euston Films which focused on the lives of investment bankers in London living and working on the corporate trading floor for the fictional international bank Shane-Longman....
of Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
and the major Swedish city of Malmö
Malmö
Malmö , in the southernmost province of Scania, is the third most populous city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg.Malmö is the seat of Malmö Municipality and the capital of Skåne County...
. Furthermore, the Øresund Bridge connects the road network of Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
with those of Central
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
and Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
.
The international European route E20
European route E20
The European route E 20 is part of the United Nations International E-road network.It runs roughly west-east through Ireland, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Sweden, Estonia and finally Russia. The length is . The road is not continuous, at three points, a sea crossing is required. ...
crosses this bridge-tunnel via the road, and the Öresund Railway Line
Oresund Railway
Oresund Line is a railway between Copenhagen in Denmark and Malmö in Sweden via the Oresund Bridge. On the Swedish side the railway infrastructure is managed by Swedish Transport Administration, on the Danish side the railway infrastructure is managed by Banedanmark.The railway line continues from...
uses the railway. The construction of the Great Belt Fixed Link
Great Belt Fixed Link
The Great Belt Fixed Link is the fixed link between the Danish islands of Zealand and Funen across the Great Belt. It consists of a road suspension bridge and railway tunnel between Zealand and the island Sprogø, as well as a box girder bridge between Sprogø and Funen...
– which connects Zealand to Funen
Funen
Funen , with a size of 2,984 km² , is the third-largest island of Denmark following Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy, and the 163rd largest island of the world. Funen is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 454,358 inhabitants . The main city is Odense, connected to the...
and thence to the Jutland Peninsula
Jutland Peninsula
The Jutland Peninsula or more historically the Cimbrian Peninsula is a peninsula in Europe, divided between Denmark and Germany. The names are derived from the Jutes and the Cimbri....
– and the Øresund Bridge have connected Western
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
and Central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
to Scandinavia. The Øresund Bridge was designed by the Danish architectural practice Dissing+Weitling.
The justification for the additional expenditure and complexity related to digging a tunnel for part of the way – rather than simply raising that section of the bridge – was to avoid interfering with airliner
Airliner
An airliner is a large fixed-wing aircraft for transporting passengers and cargo. Such aircraft are operated by airlines. Although the definition of an airliner can vary from country to country, an airliner is typically defined as an aircraft intended for carrying multiple passengers in commercial...
s from the nearby Copenhagen International Airport
Copenhagen Airport
Copenhagen Airport is the main international airport serving Copenhagen, Denmark and the Oresund Region. It is located on the island of Amager, south of Copenhagen city centre, and west of Malmö city centre on the other side of the Oresund Bridge. The airport lies mainly in the municipality...
, and also to provide a clear channel for ships in good weather or bad, and to prevent ice floes from blocking the strait. The Øresund Bridge crosses the border between Denmark and Sweden, but in accordance with the Schengen Agreement
Schengen Agreement
The Schengen Agreement is a treaty signed on 14 June 1985 near the town of Schengen in Luxembourg, between five of the ten member states of the European Economic Community. It was supplemented by the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement 5 years later...
and the Nordic Passport Union
Nordic Passport Union
The Nordic Passport Union allows citizens of the Nordic countries: Denmark , Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Iceland to travel and reside in other Nordic countries without a passport or a residence permit.- Establishment :...
, there are usually no passport
Passport
A passport is a document, issued by a national government, which certifies, for the purpose of international travel, the identity and nationality of its holder. The elements of identity are name, date of birth, sex, and place of birth....
inspections. There are random customs
Customs
Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting and safeguarding customs duties and for controlling the flow of goods including animals, transports, personal effects and hazardous items in and out of a country...
checks at the entrance toll booths for entering Sweden, but not for entering Denmark.
The Øresund Bridge received the 2002 IABSE
International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering
The International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering is a non-profit organisation with mission to promote the exchange of knowledge and to advance the practice of structural engineering worldwide in the service of the profession and society, taking into consideration technical,...
Outstanding Structure Award
Outstanding Structure Award
The Outstanding Structure Award is an award presented by the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering to the Engineer, Architect, Contractor, and the Owner in recognition of the most remarkable, innovative, creative or otherwise stimulating structure completed within the last...
.
Name
In Sweden and Denmark the bridge is most often referred to as Öresundsbron and Øresundsbroen, respectively. The bridge company itself insists on Øresundsbron, a compromise between the two languages. This symbolises a common cultural identity for the region, with some of the people considering themselves "Öresund citizens" once the Øresund Bridge was completed. Since the crossing is actually composed of a bridgeBridge
A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...
, one artificial island
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
, and a tunnel
Tunnel
A tunnel is an underground passageway, completely enclosed except for openings for egress, commonly at each end.A tunnel may be for foot or vehicular road traffic, for rail traffic, or for a canal. Some tunnels are aqueducts to supply water for consumption or for hydroelectric stations or are sewers...
, it is sometimes called the "Öresund Link" or the "Öresund Connection" (Danish: Øresundsforbindelsen, Swedish: Öresundsförbindelsen).
The phrase The Sound Bridge is occasionally heard, using the historic English name for the strait.
History
The construction of the Øresund Bridge began in 1995, and was finished 14 August 1999. Crown Prince FrederikFrederik, Crown Prince of Denmark
Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark, Count of Monpezat, is the heir apparent to the throne of Denmark. Frederik is the elder son of Queen Margrethe II and Henrik, the Prince Consort.-Name and christening:...
of Denmark and Crown Princess Victoria
Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden
Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, Duchess of Västergötland is the heiress-apparent to the Swedish throne. If she ascends to the throne as expected, she will be Sweden's fourth queen regnant .-Early life:...
of Sweden met midway across the bridge-tunnel to celebrate its completion on 14 August 1999. Its official dedication took place on 1 July 2000, with Queen Margrethe II
Margrethe II of Denmark
Margrethe II is the Queen regnant of the Kingdom of Denmark. In 1972 she became the first female monarch of Denmark since Margaret I, ruler of the Scandinavian countries in 1375-1412 during the Kalmar Union.-Early life:...
, and King Carl XVI Gustaf
Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
Carl XVI Gustaf is the reigning King of Sweden since 15 September 1973, succeeding his grandfather King Gustaf VI Adolf because his father had predeceased him...
as the host and hostess of the ceremony. The bridge-tunnel was opened for public traffic later that day. On 12 June 2000, two weeks before the dedication, 79,871 runners competed in a half marathon
Half marathon
A half marathon is a road running event of . It is half the distance of a marathon and usually run on roads. Participation in half marathons has grown steadily recently. One of the main reasons for this is that it is a challenging distance, but does not require the same level of training that a...
from Amager
Amager
Amager is a Danish island in the Øresund. The Danish capital, Copenhagen, is partly situated on Amager, which is connected to the much larger island of Zealand by five bridges.-History:...
, Denmark, to Skåne, Sweden.
In spite of two schedule setbacks – the discovery of 16 unexploded World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
bombs lying on the seafloor and an inadvertently skewed tunnel segment – the bridge-tunnel was finished three months ahead of schedule.
Initially, the crossing was not used as much as expected, probably because of the high tolls. Since 2005, there has been a rapid increase in traffic. This may have been caused by Danes buying homes in Sweden – to take advantage of lower housing prices in Malmö – and commuting to work in Denmark. In 2008, to cross by car cost DKK
Danish krone
The krone is the official currency of the Kingdom of Denmark consisting of Denmark, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. It is subdivided into 100 øre...
295, SEK
Swedish krona
The krona has been the currency of Sweden since 1873. Both the ISO code "SEK" and currency sign "kr" are in common use; the former precedes or follows the value, the latter usually follows it, but especially in the past, it sometimes preceded the value...
325, or €
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
36.30, although discounts up to 75% are available for regular users. In 2007, almost 25 million people travelled over the Øresund Bridge: 15.2 million by car and bus, and 9.6 million by train. By 2009, the figure had risen to a total of 35.6 million travellers by car, coach or train.
The bridge
Mass
Mass can be defined as a quantitive measure of the resistance an object has to change in its velocity.In physics, mass commonly refers to any of the following three properties of matter, which have been shown experimentally to be equivalent:...
of 82,000 tonne
Tonne
The tonne, known as the metric ton in the US , often put pleonastically as "metric tonne" to avoid confusion with ton, is a metric system unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. The tonne is not an International System of Units unit, but is accepted for use with the SI...
s and supports two railway tracks beneath four road lanes in a horizontal girder extending along the entire length of the bridge. On both approaches to the three cable-stayed bridge
Cable-stayed bridge
A cable-stayed bridge is a bridge that consists of one or more columns , with cables supporting the bridge deck....
sections, the girder is supported every 140 m (459 ft) by concrete piers. The two pairs of free-standing cable supporting towers are 204 m (669 ft) high allowing shipping 57 m (187 ft) of head room under the main span. Even so, most ship's captains prefer to pass through the unobstructed Drogden Strait above the Drogden Tunnel. Its 491 m (1,611 ft) cable-stayed main span is the longest of this type in the world. A girder and cable-stayed design was chosen to provide the rigidity necessary to carry heavy rail traffic, and also to resist large accumulations of ice.
Peberholm
The bridge joins the Drogden tunnel on the artificial islandArtificial island
An artificial island or man-made island is an island or archipelago that has been constructed by people rather than formed by natural means...
christened Peberholm
Peberholm
Peberholm , Swedish Pepparholm, is a small artificial island located in the Danish part of the Øresund. It forms part of Tårnby municipality. It was created as part of the Øresund Bridge connecting Denmark with Sweden...
(Pepper Islet). The Danes chose the name to complement the natural island of Saltholm
Saltholm
Saltholm is a Danish island in the Øresund, the strait that separates Denmark and Sweden. It is located to the east of the Danish island of Amager in Tårnby municipality and lies just to the west of the sea border between Denmark and Sweden. It is 7 km long and 3 km wide, covering an...
(salt islet) just to the north. They also made Peberholm a designated nature reserve. Built from Swedish rock and the soil dredged up during the bridge and tunnel construction, Peberholm is approximately 4 km (2.5 mi) long, with an average width of 500 m (1,640 ft). It is also 65 ft (19.8 m) tall.
Drogden Tunnel
The connection between the artificial island of Peberholm and the artificial peninsula at Kastrup on Amager island – the nearest populated part of Denmark – is through the Drogden Tunnel (Drogdentunnelen). The 4050 m (13,287 ft) long tunnel comprises a 3510 m (11,516 ft) undersea tube tunnel plus 270 m (886 ft) entry tunnels at each end. The tube tunnel is made from 20 prefabricated reinforced concrete segments – the most massive in the world at 55,000 tonneTonne
The tonne, known as the metric ton in the US , often put pleonastically as "metric tonne" to avoid confusion with ton, is a metric system unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. The tonne is not an International System of Units unit, but is accepted for use with the SI...
s each – interconnected in a trench dug in the seabed. Two tubes in the tunnel carry railway tracks; two more carry roads while a small fifth tube is provided for emergencies. The tubes are arranged side by side.
Rail transport
Public transport
Public transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...
rail system is operated jointly by the Swedish SJ
SJ AB
SJ is a government-owned passenger train operator in Sweden. SJ was created in 2000, out of the public transport division of Statens Järnvägar, when the former government agency was divided into six separate government-owned limited companies.-Overview:SJ's operations fall broadly into subsidised...
and the Danish via DSBFirst
DSBFirst
DSBFirst is a Danish-British railway company that since January 2009 is an operator on the Oresundtrains, serving Denmark and southern Sweden. The company is an alliance between Danish DSB and British FirstGroup, its headquarters being located in Malmö, southern Sweden. From december 11 2011...
on a commission by Skånetrafiken
Skånetrafiken
Skånetrafiken is the regional public transportation authority and operator in Skåne län, in the south of Sweden.Skånetrafiken was founded in 1999 when the two counties Kristianstads län and Malmöhus län were merged into one region. During this merger the two respective transport authorities were...
and other county traffic companies (that also sell tickets) and the Danish transport agency. A series of new dual-voltage trains were developed which link the Copenhagen area with Malmö and southern Sweden as far as Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
and Kalmar
Kalmar
Kalmar is a city in Småland in the south-east of Sweden, situated by the Baltic Sea. It had 62,767 inhabitants in 2010 and is the seat of Kalmar Municipality. It is also the capital of Kalmar County, which comprises 12 municipalities with a total of 233,776 inhabitants .From the thirteenth to the...
on selected schedules. SJ operate the X2000
X 2000
X 2000 is the brand name of Sweden's tilting 200 km/h high-speed train class X2, which was constructed by Kalmar Verkstad in Kalmar, Sweden and operated by SJ. It was launched in 1990 as a first-class only train with a meal included in the ticket price, and free use of the train's fax machine...
and InterCity
InterCity
InterCity is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe...
trains over the bridge with connections to Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
and Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
. DSB operate trains to Ystad
Ystad
Ystad is a "locality", or town, and the seat of Ystad Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden, with 17,286 inhabitants .Settlement dates back to the 11th century and the town has become a busy ferryport, local administrative centre and tourist attraction...
that connect directly to a ferry to Bornholm
Bornholm
Bornholm is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea located to the east of the rest of Denmark, the south of Sweden, and the north of Poland. The main industries on the island include fishing, arts and crafts like glass making and pottery using locally worked clay, and dairy farming. Tourism is...
. Copenhagen Airport
Copenhagen Airport
Copenhagen Airport is the main international airport serving Copenhagen, Denmark and the Oresund Region. It is located on the island of Amager, south of Copenhagen city centre, and west of Malmö city centre on the other side of the Oresund Bridge. The airport lies mainly in the municipality...
at Kastrup
Kastrup
Kastrup is a suburb of Copenhagen, on the east coast of Amager in the Tårnby Municipality.Kastrup is best known as the site of Copenhagen Airport. In Danish, the airport is often called Kastrup Lufthavn or Københavns Lufthavn, Kastrup .Scandinavian Airlines System has its Denmark offices in Kastrup...
is served by its own train station close to the western bridgehead. Trains operate every 20 minutes over the crossing and once an hour during the night in both directions. An additional couple of Øresundstrains are operated at rush hour, and 1–2 per hour and direction SJ trains and DSB trains every other hour. Freight trains also use the crossing.
The rail section is double track
Double track
A double track railway usually involves running one track in each direction, compared to a single track railway where trains in both directions share the same track.- Overview :...
standard gauge
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
(1435 mm; 4 ft 8 in) and capable of high-speeds up to 200 kilometres per hour (124.3 mph), but slower in Denmark, especially in the tunnel section. There were challenges related to the difference in electrification and signalling
Railway signalling
Railway signalling is a system used to control railway traffic safely, essentially to prevent trains from colliding. Being guided by fixed rails, trains are uniquely susceptible to collision; furthermore, trains cannot stop quickly, and frequently operate at speeds that do not enable them to stop...
between the Danish
Rail transport in Denmark
The rail transport system in Denmark consists of about 2,600 km of railway lines, of which only the Copenhagen S-train network and the main line Helsingør-Copenhagen-Padborg are electrified...
and Swedish railway networks
Rail transport in Sweden
Rail transport in Sweden uses a network of 13,000 km of track, the 20th largest in the world. Construction of the first railway line in Sweden began in 1855. The major operator is the state-owned SJ AB....
. The solution chosen is to switch the electrical system, from Swedish 15 kV, 16.7 Hz
15 kV AC
The AC railway electrification system is used in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden and Norway. The high voltage enables high power transmission with low losses powering traction motors available since the beginning of the 20th century...
to Danish 25 kV, 50 Hz AC
25 kV AC
The 25 kV Alternating current railway electrification system is commonly used in railways worldwide, especially for high-speed rail.-Overview:This electrification system is ideal for railways that cover long distances and/or carry heavy traffic...
right before the eastern bridgehead at Lernacken in Sweden. The line is signalled according to the standard Swedish system across the length of the bridge. On Peberholm, the line switches to Danish signalling which continues into the tunnel.
Sweden runs railways with left-hand traffic and Denmark with right-hand traffic. Initially, the switch is made at the Malmö Central Station
Malmö Central Station
Malmö Central Station is a terminus railway station on the Southern Main Line in Malmö, Sweden opened in 1876. It serves approximately 55 000 passengers every day, making it the second busiest in Sweden behind Stockholm Central Station-History:...
, which was a terminus at that time. To enable through-running trains after the 2010 inauguration of the Malmö City Tunnel
City Tunnel, Malmö
The City Tunnel is a 17-kilometre rail link in Malmö, Sweden, running between Malmö Central Station and the Öresund Line . The tunnel portion of the project extends for a length of six kilometres under the city centre...
connection, a flyover
Overpass
An overpass is a bridge, road, railway or similar structure that crosses over another road or railway...
have been built north of Malmö (in Burlöv) that passes the two tracks heading north under the two south-bound. The railway network in Malmö thus uses the Danish standard.
Costs
The cost for the entire Øresund Connection construction, including motorway and railway connections on land, was calculated at DKK 30.1 billion (~US$5.7bn) according to the 2000 year price index, with the cost of the bridge paid back by 2035. In 2006 Sweden began spending a further SEK 9.45 billion on the Malmö City Tunnel as a new rail connection to the bridge; completed in December 2010.The connection will be entirely user financed. The owner company is owned half by the Danish government and half by the Swedish government. This owner company has taken loans guaranteed by the governments to finance the connection, and the user fees are the only incomes for the company. After the increase in traffic, these fees are enough to pay the interest and begin paying back the loans, which is expected to take about 30 years.
The tax payers have not paid for the bridge and the tunnel. However, tax money has been used for the land connections. Especially on the Danish side, the land connection has domestic benefit, mainly connecting the airport to the railway network. The Malmö City Tunnel has the benefit of connecting the southern part of the inner city to the rail network and allowing many more trains to and from Malmö.
Toll charge
In June 2011, the toll for driving the fixed link was as follows (one way trip without discount) in Danish kroneDanish krone
The krone is the official currency of the Kingdom of Denmark consisting of Denmark, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. It is subdivided into 100 øre...
r (DKK), Swedish kronor
Swedish krona
The krona has been the currency of Sweden since 1873. Both the ISO code "SEK" and currency sign "kr" are in common use; the former precedes or follows the value, the latter usually follows it, but especially in the past, it sometimes preceded the value...
(SEK) and euro
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
(EUR):
| Vehicle | DKK | SEK | EUR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Motorcycle | 160 | 190 | 22 |
| Standard car | 295 | 360 | 40 |
| Motorhome/car+caravan | 590 | 720 | 80 |
| Minibus (6–9 metres) | 590 | 720 | 80 |
| Bus (longer than 9 metres) | 1450 | 1750 | 199 |
| Lorry/truck (9–20 metres) | 1010 | 1220 | 138 |
| Lorry/truck (over 20 metres) | 1515 | 1830 | 207 |
| Train ticket | 78 | 110 | 9 |
External links
- Official website
- Live traffic flow on the bridge (java).
- Øresund bridge project information from Road Traffic Technology
- Video celebrating 10 years of the Bridge
- Impossible Bridges: The Øresund Bridge (National Geographic television channel documentary, 2006)