The ferry will run across the Øresund strait between Dragør near Copenhagen to Limhamn, west of Malmö city centre.

Dragør’s municipal council last week gave the green light to allow a shipping company to run the pilot project, which will ferry cyclists across the strait in the historic M/S Elephanten, a converted shipping boat built in 1940. It will hold 36 passengers, with the journey taking about one hour to complete.

“It’s very exciting for Dragør, if all the practicalities fall into place. Now we have the chance to present Dragör as a central cycling destination close to Copenhagen, and I’m sure we will see a greatly increased amount of new visitors,” Dragør’s mayor Eik Dahl Bidstrup said in a press release.

When the ferry starts operating this summer it will bring back memories of the days when car-carrying catamarans travelled between the two towns before they were rendered obsolete by the opening of the Øresund Bridge in 2000.

The idea of launching a new cycle ferry on the route was originally conceived for the summer of 2016, but a suitable vessel was not found on time. The new ferry will run for an initial trial period between June and August.

Bikes can also be taken on the passenger trains across the Øresund Bridge, though cyclists must pay the equivalent of a child’s ticket for their bike.