Transport Malta is to conduct detailed feasibility studies on the possibility of having a tunnel between Malta and Gozo after a preliminary study showed that the project is feasible, Transport Minister Austin Gatt said today.
He was speaking at a press conference with Gozo Minister Giovanna Debono and Justice Minister Chris Said.
He said the preliminary study showed that it was technically possible to bore the tunnel and it could be economically viable.
Dr Gatt said the government was committed to building a ‘fixed link’ between Gozo and Malta and it was not, at this stage, ignoring the possibility of having a bridge. The important thing was that the project had to be economically, structurally and environmentally feasible. It had already been shown, he said, that the project could be economically feasible.
Minister Chris Said explained in earlier comments on facebook that according to the report, it would take between five and seven years to build the tunnel and cost between €156 million and €492 million for a single bore, three-lane bi-directional tunnel, on the shortest practical alignment route.
Such a project would be co-financed by the European Union under the Cohesion Fund in the next programming period (2014-2020) if a road tunnel link between Malta and Gozo is defined on Malta’s TEN-T network.
He also explained that time savings and improved journey time reliability would benefit the economies of both Gozo and Malta.
According to the report, by 2021 the projection (with the tunnel toll at the same level as the ferry toll) gave time savings for business trips equivalent of 10 million euro, the equivalent of 0.2% of 2012 Maltese Islands GDP. The report also says that tunnel could increase tourist traffic by 14% if the tunnel toll is set at the same level as the ferry.
The report discusses four potential tunnel alignments - including building a tunnel on the ocean floor rather than boring it. The conclusion was that with regards to the overall length, depth and configuration and size of tunnels, an undersea tunnelled link between Malta and Gozo 'is feasible and does not exceed the capability of current technology'.