Zealand's Link to the Continent
On June 14, 1998, one of the world's largest bridge links opened on the west coast of Zealand near the town of Korsør. Queen Margrethe II was here to cut the ribbon shortly before driving across the 18km-long (11-mile) Great Belt Bridge. After 10 years of construction, Zealand is linked to the mainland of Europe via Funen, which already has a bridge link to Jutland on the mainland. From Jutland, you can drive south into Germany.
The bridge has cut traveling time across the Belt by more than 1 hour compared to the ferries, which ceased operations with the opening of the bridge. At a speed of 105kmph (65 mph), crossing the Great Belt into Funen now takes only 10 minutes. By contrast, crossing by ferry took 1 hour, not including the waiting time at the port and embarkation and disembarkation from the ferries. For crossing the bridge, a one-way fare for a private car costs 200DKK ($34/£18). About 23,000 cars now cross the bridge each day.
The rail link across the Great Belt was opened in 1997, and since then Danish State Railways has seen a 60% rise in passenger volume on trains across the Great Belt.
Besides joining east and west Denmark, the bridge link across the Great Belt represented the first stage of an improved infrastructure between Scandinavia and the rest of Europe. The Øresund Fixed Link between Denmark and Sweden opened in 2000, establishing even more vital links between Copenhagen and Malmø, southern Sweden's largest city. With three million people living within a 50km (31-mile) radius of the link, the region has the largest population concentration in Scandinavia.
For more information about the bridge, call tel. 33-93-52-00.
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