Oresund Bridge

The Øresund or Öresund Bridge is a combined two-track rail and four-lane road bridge-tunnel across the Öresund strait. It is the longest combined road and rail bridge in Europe and connects the two metropolitan areas of the Öresund Region: the Danish capital of Copenhagen and the Swedish city of Malmö. The international European route E20 runs across the bridge and through the tunnel via the two lane motorway, as does the Öresund Railway Line. The construction of the Great Belt Fixed Link and the Øresund have connected mainland Europe to Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia. The bridge was designed by the Danish architectural practice Dissing+Weitling.

The reason for incurring the additional cost and complexity of building a tunnel instead of another section of bridge is to avoid obstructing aircraft from nearby Copenhagen Airport and to provide a clear path for shipping. The bridge crosses the border between Denmark and Sweden, but due to the Schengen Agreement and the Nordic Passport Union there are no passport controls. There are frequent customs checks at the toll booths for those entering Sweden but not for those entering Denmark.

Stamp Issue: 2000.05.09