Storebælt Bridge a state money machine

Sep 18, 2014

Over the next 50 years, the state will rake in 379 billion kroner from the Storebælt Bridge, according to a new social-economic analysis by the Transport Ministry and the bridge operators Sund & Bælt.

That figure amounts to every Dane becoming 67,000 kroner richer because of the bridge – a 14 percent social-economic return every year. In particular, Funen has reaped great rewards from the connection as it takes about 12 minutes to drive across the bridge in car, compared to the hour-long ferry trip of yesteryear.

“The permanent connection over Storebælt Strait binds Denmark together and strengthens our union,” Magnus Heunicke, the transport minister, said in a press release.

“The analysis shows that the benefits are spread throughout the nation, even though the greatest rewards naturally befall Funen, which has seen its travel time to the capital close to halved.”

READ MORE: Colossal Scandinavian project aims to connect Copenhagen and Oslo

No lower toll prices
The analysis found that every Dane saves on average 6.3 hours every year thanks to the bridge connection, which opened to the public back in 1998 and connects Funen to Zealand.

The bridge connection is paid for by its users and A/S Storebælt – a subsidiary of connection operators Sund & Bælt, which has an interest-bearing net debt of 25 billion kroner – expects to be debt-free by about 2030.

Despite the good news, Heunicke revealed that a drop in ticket prices isn’t feasible at the moment.

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