At present, Finland is largely dependent on maritime transport over the Baltic Sea. A new report proposes that the opportunity to get from Sweden to Finland via bridges or tunnels be investigated.
The route between Stockholm and Turku could be about 170 kilometers. By comparison, you can take the Öresund connection between Sweden and Denmark, which consists of about 16 kilometers of bridge and tunnel.
“Sweden and the EU are needed”
Such a large project would require partners and co -financing from the EU and Sweden, says Jyri Arponen, landscape director for Southwest Finland, to EPN.
– It would not be a Finnish project, but a European and Nordic project.
Bridges or tunnels?
According to Arponen, the new fixed connection could consist of a railway or a combination of rail and motorway. However, a broader investigation would first be required on the issue.
Already, there has also been the desire to strengthen, among other things, the traffic connections from Finnish Vasa to Umeå and through northern Finland and northern Sweden.
The archipelago nature a big question
Any bridge and tunnel projects between the countries could take several decades to implement. In addition, the question is how the project would affect the archipelago nature.
– It is a major challenge to be able to build sustainable even from an ecological point of view, says Jyri Arponen to EPN.