Despite the border controls, more people and vehicles crossed the Øresund by ferry during the first quarter of this year compared to the same period in 2015, reports News Øresund.
Some 1.4 million passengers took the ferry between Helsingør and Helsingborg between January 1 and March 31 – a 6 percent increase compared with the first quarter of last year.
Meanwhile, the number of vehicles transported by the ferries rose by 4 percent to 253,000.
According to HH Ferries, the increase is down to the Easter break, which this year occurred at the end of March – a week earlier than in 2015.
READ MORE: Swedish border control costing Øresund region big time
“Following the introduction of ID controls at the beginning of the year, we have experienced an overall decline in ferry traffic because some passengers think the trip has become cumbersome due to the ID checks,” stated Henrik Rørbæk, the managing director of HH Ferries.
“However, even though we have carried out over 500,000 ID checks, it hasn’t resulted in any significant delays.”
HH Ferries conducted 585,000 ID checks over the three-months period and had to send back 2,300 people, of whom 56 might have been asylum-seekers.
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