have ceased, and the train now has the largest market share between Copenhagen and Aarhus. Together with the Øresund Bridge, and the two Little Belt bridges, the link provides a direct fixed connection between western Continental Europe and northern Scandinavia, eventually connecting all parts of the European Union except Ireland, Malta, Cyprus, and outlying islands. Most people from Zealand still prefer to take the ferry between Puttgarden and Rødby, as it is a much shorter distance and provides a needed break for those travelling a long distance. For freight trains, the fixed links are a large improvement between Sweden and Germany, and between Sweden and the UK. The Sweden-to-Germany ferry system is still used to some extent owing to limited rail capacity, with heavy passenger traffic over the bridges and some single track stretches in southern Denmark and northern Germany. The Great Belt was used by now defunct night passenger trains between Copenhagen and Germany, which were too long to fit on the ferries. Day trains on the Copenhagen-Hamburg route first continued to use the Fehmarn Belt ferries, utilising short diesel trains, but now also use the Great Belt route, which potentially allows longer trains to be used, increasing capacity. By 2028, the Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link is expected to be complete with much of the international traffic being shifted from the Great Belt Fixed Link. This more direct route will reduce the rail journey from Hamburg to Copenhagen from 4:45 to 3:30 hours. Toll charge In 2019, the vehicle tolls were: Environmental effects Environmental considerations have been an integral part of the project, and have been of decisive significance for the choice of alignment and determination of the design. Environmental considerations were the reason why Great Belt A/S established an environmental monitoring programme in 1988, and initiated co-operation with authorities and external consultants on the definition of environmental concerns during the construction work and the professional requirements to the monitoring programme. This co-operation issued in a report published at the beginning of 1997 on the state of the environment in the Great Belt. The conclusion of the report was that the marine environment was at least as good as before construction work began. With regards to the water flow, the link must comply with the so-called zero-solution. This has been achieved by deepening parts of the Great Belt, so that the water flow cross section has been increased. This