EUROPE: Denmark to Germany rail and road tunnel promoter Femern A/S has formally received a letter providing the Land of Schleswig-Holstein’s approval of the construction plan for the German elements of the project.

The legal document runs to more than 1 000 pages, and is based on a 14 000-page application prepared by Femern A/S and LBV Lübeck in co-operation with German experts.

‘This is a very important step for us as we work towards completing the Fehmarnbelt tunnel, and it shows that the project is a priority in Schleswig-Holstein’, said Femern A/S CEO Claus F Baunkjær after the letter was delivered on February 6.

An appeal against this approval could still be submitted to Germany’s Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig. However, Femern A/S said it was ‘well prepared’ to assist the German approval authority should this happen.

Construction of the Danish elements of the project are regulated by separate legislation, with development of the tunnel segment factory at Rødbyhavn already underway.