HH Tunnel
The HH Tunnel is a planned set of tunnels under the Øresund Strait, connecting Helsingborg in Sweden with Helsingør in Denmark, and a separate link between Landskrona in Sweden and Copenhagen in Denmark. The plan focuses on passenger trains, but other ideas include freight rail and road tunnels. There is no decision yet, and neither government has committed to scheduling or funding. Local and regional authorities are involved in the discussion.
The biggest options being considered would add two new high‑speed rail corridors: Jönköping–Helsingborg (the Europabanan, about 250 km) and Helsingør–Copenhagen (about 50 km). For a freight tunnel, the route would need gentle slopes, potentially making an 15 km tunnel with deep underground stations, or separate tunnels for freight and passenger trains. If a freight tunnel were built, the existing line Hässleholm–Helsingborg (about 75 km) would need double tracking, and a new freight line Helsingør–Roskilde (about 60 km) would be built.
Over the years, several Danish governments have rejected the idea, especially freight trains and more road traffic through North Zealand, such as the Ring 5 motorway. As a result, the project has never been a high priority in Denmark. In Sweden, after a change of government in 2014, the new administration said the HH Tunnel was one of several priorities. Helsingborg carried out an early pre‑study, and in 2018 a new pre‑study was launched by the national authorities. The final directives did not include plans for freight adaptation.
The 2021 pre‑study suggested either separate road and rail tunnels or only a road tunnel. A pure road tunnel, estimated at around 21 billion SEK, could be funded mainly by tolls if the budget stays tight. But a combined road and rail tunnel, about 57 billion SEK, would not attract enough financing or social benefits to justify the cost. The proposal included an 11 km road tunnel between the southern suburbs of the two cities, while the rail tunnel would run under the city centers with underground stations and connect to the outer rail network.
If no new rail connection between Copenhagen and Helsingør is built, the plan would mostly serve local trains, offering roughly 45 minutes between Copenhagen and Helsingør and about 50 minutes between Copenhagen and Helsingborg (compared with about 79 minutes today via the Øresund Bridge).
An alternative idea is a Landskrona–Nordhavn link in north Copenhagen, using a short bridge and a shallow tunnel under a shipping lane. This approach would avoid building new road and rail connections between Copenhagen and Helsingør and would be about 20 km long. It could also shorten travel times between Copenhagen and Helsingborg, Sweden, as well as Norway, by up to about 15 minutes.
Another proposed concept is a ring‑shaped rail route that would connect Landskrona, Nordhavn, Østerport, Nørreport, Copenhagen Central, Ørestad, Tårnby, Copenhagen Airport, Hyllie, Triangeln, Malmö C, Lund, and Landskrona. This would allow InterRail trains to run clockwise and counterclockwise several times per hour, improving traffic between the major cities.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 15:59 (CET).