EUROPE: Proposals to extend the København metro to Malmö and develop an integrated regional rail network form an integral part of the Øresund 2070 vision unveiled during the Øresundshuset regional conference at Almedalen on June 30.
According to the President of Skanska Sweden Pierre Olofsson and his counterpart from the technical consultancy Sweco, Åsa Bergman, ‘the Øresund region is a growth engine, not only for Sweden and Denmark but for the whole Northern Europe’. Following an analysis of the region’s challenges up to 2070, the two companies have prepared ‘a series of concrete proposals’ for investment to maintain and develop the region’s competitive position.
With the region’s population expected to grow by a million inhabitants over the next half century, Skanska and Sweco say this will place ‘higher demands on the transport system’, requiring investment in transport and housing plus ‘increased integration across the Strait’ to create conditions for growth and employment. To optimise the relationship between transport and housing, they envisage that much of the urban development should be concentrated in a ‘densified’ København – Malmö – Lund – Helsingborg corridor.
Skanska and Sweco suggest that investment should be focused on public transport and cycling, to reduce the need for car use, calling for more fixed links across the Øresund and the development of a regional rail hub at København Airport. Road and rail tunnels of 15 km and 9 km respectively are planned between Helsingborg and Helsingør, carrying both passenger and freight services. These could be built by 2025 under a 30-year PPP concession, at an estimated cost of SKr25bn. The tunnel could carry an orbital rail link connecting the current ‘Lille Nord’ route from Hillerød to Helsingør with Helsingborg, Hässleholm and Åhus.
Further south, Skanska and Sweco recommend an extension of the København metro network from Kastrup to Malmö, and greater integration of regional rail services to offer direct links between suburbs in both countries. Tram routes would be created in København, Helsingbørg, Lund and Malmö by around 2030.
A separate fixed link would carry high speed trains linking Sweden and Norway with mainland Europe, while the current Øresund link would be expanded to accommodate bicycles, connected to a 300 km network of ‘super bike paths’. A multi-level node at København Airport would provide connections between international air services, high speed and regional trains and the metro.
