A Bridge Now Links Two European Capitals in Just 12 Minutes by Train
After nine years of construction, the new cross-border crossing opened at dawn on Sunday — and quietly rewrote the commute between two capitals.
The first scheduled train left four minutes early, because the driver said there was no reason to wait. By 6:52 a.m. it had carried a cabinet minister, two bicycle couriers and a class of schoolchildren across a waterway that has divided these two capitals for centuries.
Engineers call the crossing "the seam" — a 2.3-kilometre structure designed to flex up to two metres in storm winds. Local commuters call it something simpler: the end of the three-hour detour.
Border police now do their checks on the moving train, a small procedural change that planners say saves an estimated 40 minutes per journey. Restaurant owners on both banks reported full terraces by lunchtime.
“After nine years of construction, the new cross-border crossing opened at dawn on Sunday — and quietly rewrote the commute between two capitals.”
Written by
Maya Lindqvist
World Editor
Maya covers cities, borders and the quiet revolutions between them. Fifteen years of reporting across four continents.
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