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- Dec 21, 202390% CONFIDENCEfrom the source
Faroe Islands Open the Sandoy Undersea Tunnel
- The Sandoyartunnilin opened to the public on 21 December 2023, linking Streymoy to Sandoy across Skopunarfjørður from Gamlarætt to Traðardalur[2][3]
- It is the longest road tunnel in the Faroes at 10,785 m (10.8 km), two lanes at 80 km/h, 10.5 m wide with 4.6 m clearance, reaching 155.1 m below sea level with a maximum grade of 5.0%[2][3]
- Cost is given at two different scopes: Wikipedia puts the Sandoy tunnel's estimated cost at 860 million DKK, while Local.fo gives the combined cost of the Eysturoy and Sandoy tunnels as approximately 2.6 billion DKK (349 million EUR)[2][3]
- It is the fourth Faroese subsea tunnel, coming about 20 years after the Vagar Tunnel, with the Northern Tunnel in 2006 and the Eysturoy Tunnel in 2020 (opened 19 December 2020); Sandoy is financed partly by cross-subsidy from the Eysturoy tunnel and its tolls are pegged to it[2][3]
- Driving was toll free for the first 23 days, until January 12th, 2024, as with the Eysturoy Tunnel, per Teitur Samuelsen, CEO of operator Eystur- og Sandoyartunlar[3]
- Construction began 27 June 2019, passed halfway in September 2020 and the two sides were connected at a ceremony on 3 February 2022[2]
- The ferry Teistin ceased the Gamlarætt-Skopun route on the opening day, making its final trips and opening to the public at Skopun from 4 to 6 PM, while SSL announced a new bus link - route 650 runs Sandur to Tórshavn daily[2][3]
- Opening day was marked by an afternoon ceremony near the mouth at Traðardalur with speeches, a public run through the tunnel, a bicycle race, exhibitions and open houses[3]
- Sandur councillor Hanna á Reynatúgvu said residents hope the tunnel reverses a falling population, with Tórshavn now "just half an hour's drive"[3]
- Use has far exceeded the forecast: planning projected 300-400 vehicles a day and the ferry averaged 195 a day in 2021, but the tunnel carried 783 and 919 vehicles per day in February and March 2024 and 1,057 per day over the twelve months to Oct/Nov 2025[2]
- Spoil from the tunnel was reused for a new residential and industrial area at Velbastaður and for bypass roads in Runavík and Strendur; a branch to Hestur was lobbied for but deprioritised on cost[2]
- The two B1M videos on Faroese tunnels - "This is The World's Most Remote Infrastructure Project" (2024-03-27) and one on the world's first undersea roundabout - are metadata-only captures and give no figures, dates or technical detail of their own[1][4]
References 489% CONFIDENCE
The first entry is always the pin's source. Overall confidence is a weighted average of how firmly each reference supports the start and end times used above; a reference counts half as much for every 180 days older than the newest.
- [1]90%youtube.com/watch?v=EruSZNI4th4youtube.com· Posted Sep 15, 2026· Starts Dec 21, 2023 ✓· 96% of score
Happened as dated, per the source: "the Sandoyartunnilin tunnel opened on 21st December 2023."
- [2]72%Wikipedia: Sandoyartunnilinen.wikipedia.org· Published Dec 21, 2023· 2% of score
Wikipedia independently confirms "the tunnel opened for traffic on 21 December 2023," matching the pin's stored date exactly, and adds that construction began in June 2019 with the two sides connected in February 2022.
- [3]78%local.fo: Sandoy prepares for festivities as tunnel opens December 21stlocal.fo· Published Dec 15, 2023· 2% of score
local.fo confirms the Sandoyartunnilin tunnel "will open to the public on December 21st, 2023," matching the pin's stored date exactly, with a grand opening ceremony described at Traðardalur, Sandoy.
- [4]75%Inside The World's First Undersea Roundabout – The B1Myoutube.com· Published Jul 27, 2022· 0% of score
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