Reykjavik-Keflavik link closer

Reykjavik City Council has backed the latest proposals from a group of private investors for a 175km/h rail link between the city centre and the international airport at Keflavik.

The 47km electrified line would start at Reykjavik's main bus terminal, BSI, passing beneath the city's southern suburbs in a 12km tunnel before following Highway 41, the Reykjanes Highway, on a surface alignment to the airport. 

The journey time between BSI and the airport would be around 18 minutes.

Preliminary estimates indicate the cost of the project will be around IKr150bn (US$1.2bn). 

Opponents of the scheme draw attention to the damage to the island’s lava field, likened to a lunar landscape, which would be caused by creation of the link – but this of course has already been damaged by the main highway. 

Unlike vehicles on the highway, the trains would use geothermal energy. The road journey takes around 4min, depending on traffic.

Plans for an airport railway date back to 1996. Invitations to pre-qualify were published in 2000 but the project then went very quiet. It was revived in 2014. 

The present project could be completed by 2024. www.visitreykjavik.is

Index/Home page
 

OUR READERS' FINEST WORDS (All times and dates are GMT)

All comments are filtered to exclude any excesses but the Editor does not have to agree with what is being said. 100 words maximum

Michael Preston, CPT, ZA

If as you say : "The road journey takes around 4min, depending on traffic" why would there be any reason for a railway? I know it's a typo, the road journey is around 45 minutes ...... and it's a weary bus journey specially when you arrive in the small hours of the morning. A train would be a good solution and probably more ecological too.

David Bentley, Manchester United Kingdom

The damage to the lava field from the road is negligible. The Reykjanes Peninsula is huge. This project would be on a bigger scale and needs careful planning. Once Iceland starts destroying its natural tourism assets there will be no stopping developers. I assume 'the road journey takes around 4min' is a typo? 40 minutes.