Vogelfluglinie
Encyclopedia
Transport corridor
A transportation corridor is a tract of land in which at least one main line for transport, be it road, rail or canal, has been built...
between 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...
, 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 Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
As the Danish and German names (literally: bird flight line
As the crow flies
"As the crow flies" or beelining is an idiom for the shortest route between two points; the geodesic distance.An example is the great-circle distance between Key West and Pensacola, at either end of the U.S...
) imply, the corridor is also an important bird migration route between arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
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,...
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...
.
Ferry link
The core of the connection is the 19 kilometres (11.8 mi) ferry link between RødbyRødby
Rødby is a town and a former municipality on the island of Lolland in Denmark. The former Rødby municipality covered an area of 120 km², and had a total population of 6,590...
(Denmark) and Puttgarden
Puttgarden
Puttgarden is a ferry harbour and a village on the German island of Fehmarn. It lies on an important route between Germany and Denmark known as the Vogelfluglinie which crosses the 18 km strait, the Fehmarnbelt, to Rødby on the island of Lolland....
(Germany). The line is operated by the jointly Danish and German state-owned Scandlines
Scandlines
Scandlines is a major German-Danish ferry operator.It consists of a parent company, Scandlines AG, and under this parent company a German subsidiary named Scandlines Deutschland GmbH and a Danish subsidiary named Scandlines Danmark A/S...
. Ferries take 45 minutes and operate twice an hour, 24 hours a day. The ships act as car
RORO
Roll-on/roll-off ships are vessels designed to carry wheeled cargo such as automobiles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, trailers or railroad cars that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels...
and train ferry
Train ferry
A train ferry is a ship designed to carry railway vehicles. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with railway tracks, and the vessel has a door at the front and/or rear to give access to the wharves. In the United States, train ferries are sometimes referred to as "car ferries", as...
simultaneously.
The projected Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link will eventually replace the ferries. Danish-German negotiations on June 29, 2007 culminated in an agreement to complete the link by 2018, essentially on the basis of Danish funding.
Landside connections
The road connection consists of:- European route E47European route E47European route E 47 is a highway going from Lübeck in Germany over Copenhagen, Denmark to Helsingborg, Sweden, which is also known under the name Vogelfluglinie and Sydmotorvejen. The road has motorway standard all the way except for in Germany, the part inside Helsingør , and there are also...
on the Danish side. - Autobahn A1 (European routes E 47European route E47European route E 47 is a highway going from Lübeck in Germany over Copenhagen, Denmark to Helsingborg, Sweden, which is also known under the name Vogelfluglinie and Sydmotorvejen. The road has motorway standard all the way except for in Germany, the part inside Helsingør , and there are also...
and E22European route E22The European route E 22 is one of the longest European routes. It has a length of about . Many of the E-roads have been extended into Asia since the year 2000; the E 22 was extended on 24 June 2002.-United Kingdom:...
) on the German side, and the two-lane BundesstraßeBundesstraßeBundesstraße , abbreviated B, is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.-Germany:...
207/E 47European route E47European route E 47 is a highway going from Lübeck in Germany over Copenhagen, Denmark to Helsingborg, Sweden, which is also known under the name Vogelfluglinie and Sydmotorvejen. The road has motorway standard all the way except for in Germany, the part inside Helsingør , and there are also...
on the northernmost section. An additional 10 km (6.2 mi) of motorway will be completed by 2008, still leaving the last 25 km (15.5 mi) a two-lane road.
The rail connection consists of: of 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 :...
from 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...
to Vordingborg
Vordingborg
Vordingborg is a municipality in Region Sjælland on the southeast coast of the island of Zealand in south Denmark. The municipality includes the island of Masnedø, and covers an area of 621 km². It has a total population of 46,600...
; maximum speed 140 to 180 km/h (87 to 112 mph); electrified for 64 km (39.8 mi) to Ringsted
Ringsted
Ringsted, a city in Ringsted municipality, is in the middle of the Danish island of Zealand. The municipal population is about 31,000 and the city population is 21,151 .Ringsted is approximately 60 km from Copenhagen.-Modern hotspot:...
of single track
Single track (rail)
A single track railway is where trains in both directions share the same track. Single track is normally used on lesser used rail lines, often branch lines, where the traffic density is not high enough to justify the cost of building double tracks....
from Vordingborg to Rødby
Rødby
Rødby is a town and a former municipality on the island of Lolland in Denmark. The former Rødby municipality covered an area of 120 km², and had a total population of 6,590...
; maximum speed 120 km/h (74.6 mph) of single track from Puttgarden to Lübeck of double track from Lübeck to Hamburg, electrified.
Passenger services between Copenhagen and Hamburg number three to five EuroCity
EuroCity
EuroCity, abbreviated EC, denotes an international train service within the European inter-city rail network. In contrast to trains with the "IC" label, "EC" trains are international trains that meet certain criteria. The EuroCity label replaces the older Trans Europ Express name for...
s a day in each direction, operated with DBAG Class 605 trains of Deutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn AG is the German national railway company, a private joint stock company . Headquartered in Berlin, it came into existence in 1994 as the successor to the former state railways of Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany and the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany...
and Danish IC3
IC3
The IC3 is a Danish-built high-comfort medium/long distance diesel multiple-unit train. The sets were built by ABB Scandia . This train model has been operating in Denmark and Sweden since 1989...
trains. Since completion of the Great Belt Bridge freight train
Freight train
A freight train or goods train is a group of freight cars or goods wagons hauled by one or more locomotives on a railway, ultimately transporting cargo between two points as part of the logistics chain...
s are not directed via Rødby-Puttgarden any more, but via 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 Jutland
Jutland
Jutland , historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German...
which is 160 km (99.4 mi) longer. Same applies to the CityNightLine
CityNightLine
CityNightLine AG was a Swiss night train service. CNL had right of passage grants in Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland and Denmark. It served stations in Belgium, France, Italy and the Czech Republic...
train between Copenhagen and Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
/Dortmund
Dortmund
Dortmund is a city in Germany. It is located in the Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia, in the Ruhr area. Its population of 585,045 makes it the 7th largest city in Germany and the 34th largest in the European Union....
/Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
/Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
.
These current bridges and tunnels are part of the connection:
- Masnedsund BridgeMasnedsund BridgeMasnedsund Bridge is a road and railway bascule bridge that crosses Masnedsund between the islands Masnedø and Zealand in Denmark....
, Denmark (rail) - Storstrøm BridgeStorstrøm BridgeStorstrøm Bridge is a road and railway arch bridge that crosses Storstrømmen between the islands of Falster and Masnedø in Denmark....
, Denmark (rail) - Frederick IX BridgeFrederick IX Bridge250px|right|thumb|Frederick IX BridgeThe Frederick IX bridge spans the Guldborgsund strait between the islands of Falster and Lolland in Denmark. It joins the larger part of Nykøbing Falster with the smaller part of the town on Lolland...
, Denmark (rail) - Farø BridgesFarø Bridges300px|thumb|The Farø Bridges from above: Zealand to the left, Falster to the right and Bogø at the top The Farø Bridges are two road bridges that connect the islands of Falster and Zealand in Denmark by way of the small island of Farø which is approximately mid-way across the Storstrømmen sound...
, Denmark (motorway) - GuldborgsundGuldborgsundGuldborgsund is the strait between the Danish islands of Lolland and Falster that connects Smålandsfarvandet in the north with Bay of Mecklenburg in the south. It is navigable for craft of up to 6 metres draught in its northern part and is used for commercial traffic to Nykøbing Falster...
Tunnel, Denmark (motorway extension opened in late 2007) - Fehmarn Sound bridgeFehmarn Sound bridgeThe Fehmarn Sound Bridge connects the German island of Fehmarn in the Baltic Sea with the German mainland near Großenbrode.-Description:The long road and rail suspended deck arch bridge together with associated earthworks crosses the wide Fehmarn Sound. Construction began in 1958 and the bridge...
, Germany (two-lane road and rail)
History
Proposals for a more direct "bird flight line" date back from the 1920s. Construction was started on the Danish side in 1941 after the Nazi occupation force pushed the matter, but work was halted again in 1946. After World War IIWorld 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...
, Warnemünde was included in the territory of East Germany. Political divisions made traffic between Denmark and West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
via Warnemünde inconvenient.
From 1951 to 1963 a ferry line from Gedser
Gedser
Gedser is a town at the southern tip of the Danish island of Falster in the Guldborgsund Municipality in Sjælland region. It is the southernmost town in Denmark. The town has a population of 809...
to Großenbrode
Großenbrode
Großenbrode is a municipality in the district of Ostholstein, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated on the Baltic Sea coast, opposite Fehmarn, approx. 8 km east of Heiligenhafen. Until 1963 it had a ferry connection to Gedser in Denmark. After World War II there was no ferry...
operated as a temporary solution. In addition, traffic between Copenhagen and Hamburg would either be directed over the Great Belt
Great Belt
The Great Belt is a strait between the main Danish islands of Zealand and Funen . Effectively dividing Denmark in two, the Belt was served by the Great Belt ferries from the late 19th century until the islands were connected by the Great Belt Fixed Link in 1997–98.-Geography:The Great Belt is the...
ferry, 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 Jutland
Jutland
Jutland , historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German...
or the Gedser
Gedser
Gedser is a town at the southern tip of the Danish island of Falster in the Guldborgsund Municipality in Sjælland region. It is the southernmost town in Denmark. The town has a population of 809...
-Warnemünde
Warnemünde
Warnemünde is a sea resort and northmost district of Rostock in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, situated on the Baltic Sea in the northeast of Germany at the estuary of the river Warnow.- History :...
ferry. Construction of the "bird flight line" was restarted in 1949 and completed in 1963.