This case study report presents the business model for the cross-border public ferry service Puttgarden (Germany) – Rødbyhavn (Denmark). 

It explores the business model of this service, including its governance arrangements, operational provisions to develop the service and address demand, and its territorial scope. This case study demonstrates several good practices in the planning and implementation of the service. These positive, and replicable, factors include a holistic, integrated and intermodal approach to the service, the involvement of actors from both sides of the border with strong political back up, an entrepreneurial approach where challenges are systematically considered as possibilities, and continuous service improvements. The report then presents the key obstacles that the service faces and suggests solutions to these, while the concluding section reflects upon the lessons learnt from this case study. 

This case study report is part of a series of 31 case studies developed in the framework of the study ‘Providing public transport in cross-border regions – Mapping of existing services and legal obstacles’, completed by Spatial Foresight in cooperation with TCP international, TRT trasporti e territorio and EureConsult for the European Commission’s DG REGIO.