Billion-euro European transport projects completed later
Luxembourg (dpa) – It will take longer than planned before people and goods can travel more quickly through the EU, according to a report. It is impossible to complete the so-called TEN-T high-speed network by 2030, the European Court of Auditors states in a special report. This also concerns the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel between Germany and Denmark and the Brenner Base Tunnel.
The background to the difficulties with the total of eight megaprojects includes, among other things, the coronavirus pandemic and Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, as the auditors note. Costs have risen and the work is taking longer. Only for the A1 motorway in Romania is an earlier opening now expected.
Brenner Base Tunnel to be completed much later
The latest estimate of the total costs for the eight projects is almost twice as high as the original one. The sharp increase is mainly due to two railway links: Rail Baltica (costs up 291 percent), which is to run from Tallinn via Riga and Kaunas to Warsaw, and the Lyon–Turin link (costs up 127 percent).
According to the report, the Brenner Base Tunnel will be 40 percent more expensive than originally estimated and is now expected to open in 2032 instead of 2016 as initially planned. The new link is intended to significantly speed up journeys from Munich to northern Italy and, above all, to shift freight traffic from road to rail. In its previous report in 2020, the Court of Auditors had already noted that there are problems above all with the connection to the tunnel on the access routes in Germany and Italy.
Fehmarnbelt crossing much more expensive
According to the estimate, the Fehmarnbelt crossing has become 52 percent more expensive. In the special report, which reflects the situation up to November 2025, the opening is now expected in 2029 instead of the original 2018. On Friday it became known that completion is now likely to be delayed even until 2031.
The auditors hope that in future national transport plans will be better aligned with priorities at the European level. The states are now obliged to do so. However, this will probably only have an impact on new megaprojects. (19 January)
