If you live in Copenhagen, a nice weekend trip is going to Hamburg. Probably the easiest way to go is by train. A peaceful four hours and a half trip in a comfortable brand new train. But this journey holds a surprise.
Conpenhagen-Hamburg. This
331 km journey takes 4 hours and a half by train.
Return tickets from 83€/person.
We thought that the train would go west through bridges that connect the
island of Copenhagen (Zealand) and Funen with Jutland peninsula, and then go
south crossing the border to Germany. But we took South direction; we left
Zealand Island to Lolland Island crossing by bridge. Once arrived to Rodbyhavn
town, the whole train went into a big Ferry. The floor of the ferry is prepared
with grooved rails, so the train went directly from onshore to the ship. If you
are asleep you will not notice that you cross the sea in a train, which is as
well in a ferry.
Train inside the Ferry.
The Ferry also carries cars, buses and trucks. When the train arrives,
all the other vehicles are already on board, what is necessary to meet the
schedule.
Once inside the boat, a gentle woman advice you through the speakers to
get out from the train and go for a walk on the boat deck, restaurant,
supermarket, etc. We did, but some of the passengers stood in the train,
sleeping or reading.
The transit in the Ferry took 60 minutes, but time flies while you
explore the Ferry and buy something in the shop. Then people returned to the
train, which disembarked in Puttgarden (Germany), and went to Hamburg, previous
one stop in Lübeck. We got out in Hamburg, but this train finishes the journey in Berlin.
Great experience in our Hamburg weekend, probably it is the funniest
city in the north of Germany. It was a pitty that we went there after the
football season, and we could not see the atmosphere at St Pauli’s Stadium, but
we definitely had a nice surprise with this sailor train we had never
heard about.
Investigating more about this Ferry, I discovered an interesting project
to replace the boat connection by a bridge or a tunnel. After discussion, the
Danish Parliament voted to construct a tunnel for these reasons: lower visual
impact, it does not interference with maritime navigation and birds’ migration,
and above all, it can be used in adverse meteorological conditions. This
votation was in 2011, but high cost of a 19 km tunnel, the potential loss of
jobs both in Rodbyen and Puttgarden, and economic crisis, seems to be the
reasons for the actual paralysis of the project.
Let see if both Danish and German government will invest such a huge
amount of money in this project after the economic crisis; but in my opinion,
it is a charming, surprising and original trip in the way it is nowadays, as
the “maritime train”.
More info:
Buy tickets: http://www.bahn.com/i/view/GBR/en/index.shtml
Tunnel or bridge? Economic impact.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gF6NRWda1Lk
Congratulations! It’s a tunnel! http://www.dw.de/denmark-approves-plan-for-underwater-tunnel-to-germany/a-14810194
