r/videos • u/Putrid_Draft378 • 1d ago
The Insane Scale of Europe’s New Mega-Tunnel
https://youtu.be/QiYvXKQksgI?feature=shared29
u/swehner 1d ago
Is about the Fehmarnbelt tunnel between Denmark and Germany
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u/Putrid_Draft378 1d ago
Thanks for sharing those links. The project also has a Youtube channel, with some english videos:
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u/Enjoying_A_Meal 1d ago
How does it only cost $7 billion?
The LA to San Fran high speed rail cost $30 billion and was suppose to be done in 2020.
It now spent $128 billion, is 70% complete but needs another $100 billion to finish.
$7 billion on a mega project seems insane!
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u/Mushroom_Tip 1d ago edited 1d ago
The tunnel is over a 20km stretch of water. The high speed rail is a 800km stretch of railroad.
So if the tunnel was as long, it would be, if we assumed it was the same cost per every 20km, a $280 billion project.
Now obviously it costs more to build tunnels under water but also the land is free, whereas with California you have to buy up all the land for the project and it goes through some of the most expensive cities in the nation.
And correct me if I'm wrong, but the initial estimates were from 2012 and based on 2012 prices and labor.
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u/Putrid_Draft378 1d ago
Well, the California high speed rail project is so expensive, cause trains have so much less support in the US than in Europe, because private land owners have much more power than in Europe, and cause the US is one country, with 50 separate states, the EU is about 30 countries working together on the european continent. Lots of other reasons, but that's some of them :)
But even though the tunnel hasn't been delayed, yet, nor the danish side of the railway, and German side hasn't seen any progress on the railway and motorway upgrades, and they've now asked Denmark to postpone the project, and continue to use the old route from Copenhagen to Hamburg, which Denmark has refused.
And tons of projects here in Denmark are often delayed or have price overruns, like new hospitals, our new railway signalling system, at least in eastern Denmark, and the new trains meant to replace, among others, our scandal plagued IC4 trains, are also delayed.
Seriously, find some info on the IC4 train and signalling system scandals! If you think that Amtrak has issues and delays with their new Acela 2 high speed trains, that's nothing. Ignoring the cost and scale of california high speed rail, these 2 projects are totally up there.
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u/darybrain 1d ago
Only $7.5 billion? They aren't fleecing taxpayers at all. Here in the UK the HS2 high speed rail project at present is being quoted as 20 times that amount and only increasing and that includes large sections of it being cancelled. Even the original full HS2 project is much shorter distance than this European project.
That being said, when the Fehmarnbelt tunnel is up and running the high speed trains will be running as regular high speed in the UK and much slower tan the Eurostar. I'm a little disappointed that the Eurostar speeds are not the minimum which would cut travel times massively.
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u/Kitakitakita 1d ago
in America, if our trains go over 20mph they fly off the tracks
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u/Putrid_Draft378 18h ago
Your freight trains yes, but both the Acela and Brightline trains can hit 125 and 150mph :)
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u/Kobosil 1d ago
from an engineering point its an impressive feat, but probably a waste of money unfortunately
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u/Putrid_Draft378 1d ago edited 1d ago
Well, I don’t have an opinion on this, but since I live in Denmark, I can share some details from the debate around this tunnel:
Some would rather upgrade the existing route from Copenhagen to Hamburg from the current 180/200km/h to 250km/h, to also benefit domestic train travel, and eventually make domestic short haul flights and polluting fast ferries obselete.
Also, the the line from Copenhagen to Hamburg will also be just 200km/h, which many think is unambitious, not future proofing for future high speed 250km/h trains, and some even think the tunnel should’ve been built without car lanes at all, but 4 rail tracks instead, forcing drivers and trucks to take the old long way around.
And then, for the cost of the project, the money could’ve instead been used for a greater Copenhagen area light rail network, or dozens of BRT lines and an S train expresstunnel, or a nationwide high quality bicycle path network, port rail links, battery trains, and line speed upgrades and double tracking.
If anybody has any questions, about the project, Denmark’s public transit, or Denmark’s transportation in general, I’d love to answer them as best I can :)
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u/Aftel43 1d ago
I would argue that in terms of logistics, it is definitely going to make a huge difference. And when it is built, and it will stay okay for a long time. It is a proof that we can construct quite simple things like this, and no need to dig under a large stretch of water. This is a tunnel that allows faster transportation of goods between Sweden and Germany, bypassing Denmark, well, mostly bypasses Denmark. In future, goods from Norway will be more easier to transport by land too.
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u/Kobosil 1d ago
In 2019, the Bundesrechnungshof commented that "in view of the current traffic forecasts, it is questionable whether the benefits of the project will increase to such an extent that the expected costs are justified under economic aspects".
lets see how much the project will cost in the end, but my bet is it will not be worth it in the end
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u/DatGuyGandhi 1d ago
I mean public infrastructure is rarely built with the intention of making any profit
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u/Aftel43 17h ago
Indeed, it is an investment to lay foundations for the future ease of access and transportation. It is a civil investment, which later, CAN BE USED BY armed forces. As that tunnel shortens the travel between Sweden and Germany, considering what the state of the world is today. You bet it will make a huge difference in logistics, be it either civilian or military.
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u/Pyyric 1d ago
B1M has good videos with good production, but man do they just love repeating the same facts slightly differently all throughout. I'll watch a 4 hour retrospective of whatever subject any time, but 30 minutes in a B1M video and I'm skipping whole chunks due to the repeats.