Denmark open to Malmö metro link if Sweden foots the bill
Politicians in Denmark are in favour of a new metro line linking Danish capital Copenhagen and southern Swedish city Malmö - if Sweden agrees to pay for it.
In February this year, Danish politicians approved the route of the new M5 metro line, choosing the route which crosses the island of Amager which would make a metro line between Copenhagen and Malmö logistically possible.
Politicians on both side of the Öresund are in favour of the idea, with Copenhagen city mayor Sophie Hæstorp Andersen describing a Malmö metro as a "gamechanger" in comments to Denmark's Politiken newspaper.
Malmö's mayor, Katrin Stjernfeldt Jammeh, is also in favour of a new metro line between Malmö and Copenhagen, which would halve the 40 minute travel time between the two cities and lessen the strain on the existing train route over the Öresund bridge.
Stjernfeldt Jammeh believes that it may be possible to finance the build with assistance from the EU, as well as income from ticket sales on trains across the Öresund bridge.
Despite this, the final bill would most likely rack up to billions of Danish kroner.
Denmark is already building a new train tunnel to Fehmarn in Germany, which will further increase the number of freight trains crossing the Öresund bridge when it is completed in around six years' time.
However, with Denmark fully financing the Fehmarn tunnel at a cost of 35 billion Danish kroner, the interest for Danish politicians in taking on another expensive international infrastructure project is low - unless Sweden agrees to pay.
"If the Swedish state wants to pay for the Öresund metro to be built, we could get going more quickly without having to compromise on the other metro lines we'd like to develop in Copenhagen," Hæstorp Andersen told Politiken.
The final decision will be up to negotiation by the Danish and Swedish governments, although Danish transport minister Thomas Danielsen told Politiken that a metro to Malmö is not a particularly high priority.
"It would most likely be a large, expensive project and our focus for the moment is to establish a metro in southern Copenhagen as well as a metro line to Lynetteholm, which are both already large projects."
Michael Vindfelt, the mayor of Frederiksberg - which lies within Copenhagen but is its own municipality - agrees, telling Politiken that it is an "even better idea" to expand the Copenhagen metro to other areas of the Danish capital first.
"There's already enough to be getting on with," he said.
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In February this year, Danish politicians approved the route of the new M5 metro line, choosing the route which crosses the island of Amager which would make a metro line between Copenhagen and Malmö logistically possible.
Politicians on both side of the Öresund are in favour of the idea, with Copenhagen city mayor Sophie Hæstorp Andersen describing a Malmö metro as a "gamechanger" in comments to Denmark's Politiken newspaper.
Malmö's mayor, Katrin Stjernfeldt Jammeh, is also in favour of a new metro line between Malmö and Copenhagen, which would halve the 40 minute travel time between the two cities and lessen the strain on the existing train route over the Öresund bridge.
Stjernfeldt Jammeh believes that it may be possible to finance the build with assistance from the EU, as well as income from ticket sales on trains across the Öresund bridge.
Despite this, the final bill would most likely rack up to billions of Danish kroner.
Denmark is already building a new train tunnel to Fehmarn in Germany, which will further increase the number of freight trains crossing the Öresund bridge when it is completed in around six years' time.
However, with Denmark fully financing the Fehmarn tunnel at a cost of 35 billion Danish kroner, the interest for Danish politicians in taking on another expensive international infrastructure project is low - unless Sweden agrees to pay.
"If the Swedish state wants to pay for the Öresund metro to be built, we could get going more quickly without having to compromise on the other metro lines we'd like to develop in Copenhagen," Hæstorp Andersen told Politiken.
The final decision will be up to negotiation by the Danish and Swedish governments, although Danish transport minister Thomas Danielsen told Politiken that a metro to Malmö is not a particularly high priority.
"It would most likely be a large, expensive project and our focus for the moment is to establish a metro in southern Copenhagen as well as a metro line to Lynetteholm, which are both already large projects."
Michael Vindfelt, the mayor of Frederiksberg - which lies within Copenhagen but is its own municipality - agrees, telling Politiken that it is an "even better idea" to expand the Copenhagen metro to other areas of the Danish capital first.
"There's already enough to be getting on with," he said.
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