Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

CROSS-BORDER WORKERS

Öresund Bridge between Denmark and Sweden to close for emergency services exercise

The Öresund Bridge linking Denmark and Sweden will be closed to motorway traffic from 7:45pm until 11pm on Thursday evening.

Published: 17 March 2022 10:35 CET
A file photo of the Öresund Bridge
A view at the Oresund Bridge with the flags of Sweden, left, and Denmark in the foreground 01 July 2000. The bridge-tunnel link between Denmark and Sweden was inaugurated Saturday by Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden. The rail-and-road link connects the Danish capital Copenhagen with southern Sweden across the 16-kilometer wide Oresund strait. Soeren Bidstrup/Scanpix Nordfot . EPA PHOTO/NORDFOTO/SOEREN BIDSTRUP (Photo by SOEREN BIDSTRUP / SCANPIX DENMARK / AFP)

Emergency services are to conduct exercises in the tunnel section of the crossing as well as on the motorway, meaning it will be closed to cars, operator Øreseundsbron confirmed on Twitter.

Trains will still operate during the period, but on a reduced schedule. Rail passengers are advised to use Rejseplanen.dk or the Skånetrafiken app for travel updates.

Authorities are to practice their response to a major accident in the tunnel during the exercise, in which emergency services and rail personnel as well as around actors from Denmark and Sweden will take part.

Five such exercises have previously been conducted on the Öresund Bridge since it opened in 2000.

Around 20,000 vehicles and 200 trains use the crossing daily, connecting Danish capital Copenhagen with Malmö in Sweden.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

TRANSPORT

Denmark confirms latest extension of Germany border controls

Denmark’s temporary controls on the border with Germany have again been extended for a new six-month term.

Published: 12 April 2024 14:34 CEST
Denmark confirms latest extension of Germany border controls

The latest extension to the border controls was confirmed by Danish Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard in a ministry press statement on Friday.

The existing borders controls would have expired in May had they not been extended.

“The safety and security of Danes is a core priority for the government. It is the view of the government that the current level of threat makes it necessary to retain the temporary border controls with Germany,” Hummelgaard said in the statement.

Although technically a temporary measure, the Danish border controls have been extended many times and have been in place in some form since 2016.

Although Denmark’s border controls have been continually extended, they were relaxed in May last year.

The relaxed rules mean that fewer motorists are now stopped for checks at the border when entering Denmark from Germany, compared to early 2023 and before. Instead, border controls are made in line with police assessments on where they are most needed.

Denmark’s repeated decisions to extend the controls have however raised concerns in the EU, which has initiated a review of whether the measure is legal.

Under the rules of the Schengen agreement, countries can place temporary border controls under exceptional circumstances. After a six-month period, the temporary checks must be renewed. 

Denmark initially introduced border checks with Germany in early 2016, citing the refugee crisis of late 2015 as justification. It later referred to a more general “security and migration situation” as cause for continually extending the controls, pointing to what it said was a threat of organised crime and terrorism.

SHOW COMMENTS