A test drilling in Malmö's Västra Hamnen has reached 40 meters depth to examine the bedrock for a potential metro to Copenhagen. The work is part of a pre-study aimed at halving travel time between the cities. No formal decisions have yet been made on the project.
On Monday, the drill reached 40 meters depth in Västra Hamnen in Malmö during a test boring for the planned Öresund metro. The aim is to assess how difficult it will be to build a subway station there by mapping the bedrock. "It looks about as we expected and that's good," says Conny Ragnarp, project manager at Malmö city.
Although no formal decisions have been made on a new Öresund connection, a pre-study for a metro between Malmö and Copenhagen is underway. The metro is to run every 90 seconds and halve the travel time between the cities. The idea is that it will take over some passenger traffic from the Öresund Bridge, freeing up space for increased freight traffic. "It will be a faster connection for commuters while Swedish imports and exports can take place by rail to a greater extent," says Katrin Stjernfeldt Jammeh (S), chair of Malmö's municipal executive board.
If the project gets the green light, the metro is expected to be ready in about 20 years. Meanwhile, lobbying is ongoing in Landskrona for another fixed link to Denmark, called the Europaspåret.