I am a danish teenager living in the capital region with very busy parents who don't really have the time to transport me to school and to friends etc., so the rail network works really well for me. I go to a boarding school in Jutland which is about 3 hours train ride away, but I usually only need to make one switch and the prices are comparitively low as compared to many other countries. I am however quite dissatisfied with the very low amount of electrified rail lines, but I know for a fact that they are working on fixing it and making more of their trains run on electricity, as well as build high speed lines between the major cities. I can't wait for the new Alstom rolling stock!
I went to an afterschool, and the railtimes always positively suprised me. The 90 km trip from Copenhagen to Slagelse was almost always about an hour, and it almost took the same amount of time to get from Slagelse to my school, because of irregular bus schedules and curved and looooong roads. So the 10 km trip could take as much as 40 minutes on a bad day, and if you missed bus, you sometimes had to wait an entire hour for the next bus to arrive. So, the trains were almost always reliable and on time. I really dont get the hate that DSB gets. I've never experienced any major delays, or anything like that.
dunno, lived in Denmark 3 years. Taking a ride from Copenhagen to Aarhus took more than 4 hours, train ticket 60 eur. Taking a car, 1,5 hours, gas prices cheaper, and taking a bus 2 and half hours, and only 20 eur. I wouldnt call that cheaper compared to other european countries. Even in sweden trains are faster and cheaper. And where im from, same distance with train costs 4.75 eur, and its not considered fast speed rail, and its old soviet style rail, and same distance takes 2 hours.
@@Swarmah buying the train tickets is expensive, but there is something called DSB orange, where if you get the ticket about a week before, it wont cost more than 12 euro. There is a 99 kroner cap at the prices. And yes, the trains arent the fastest, but as someone eho's both taken the train and driven, the train is much more comfy. And with DSB orange its cheaper too, as the great belt bridge is super expensive to drive over
I work for the Danish railway operator DSB and I am glad to see that we are in a second place in both service and safety. I put a good amount of work into making sure our customers are safe when they are traveling with our trains and also have a good time in our trains, I would say that the Danish railway really only need two things and that is some more workers in the trains and new rolling stuck. We are excited to see our new Alstom coradia stream trains. we are looking forward to receiving them and we hope that they will run without any trouble unlike our Italian made IC4 trains also looking forward to receiving our new cars from Spain, made by Talgo.
I'm surprised we (Denmark) rank that high. My city of Silkeborg used to have 3 train lines going through the city (6 outward directions) probably before widespread car adoption, but today it only has 1 line (2 outward directions). The map at 5:17 even shows a line I didn't know existed and which i have no idea where it used to run, all the other abandoned lines were converted to paved cycle tracks. The adoption of cars has really handicapped public transport which is pretty depressing especially in our now defunct climate stricken world. Even today the government makes really terrible car focused planning and lawmaking even though they have a large focus on climate which is filled with BS, it really shows that politicians are much richer than the rest of us that they *expect* people to buy expensive cars or other shit they personally can afford to "go green". Also they built a motorway through my city recently but the train line still isn't electrified, you see what I mean. They should stop lying about climate goals if they keep up such BS traffic development. You know what is greener than an E-car, not owning a car in the first place and taking PUBLIC TRANSPORT. This country needs a lot more trains and less rich BS politicians not following their own "goals" or promisses.
Trivia: the length of the IC3 trainset was determined by the old IC Great Belt ferries. Two coupled together was the length of one of the tracks onboard.
One mistake: the first electrified railway line in Denmark (apart from trams) was the Klampenborg-Frederiksberg S-Bane suburban rail line in Copenhagen that opened in 1934.
Another interesting fact is, that Denmark has used steam trains up the 1970s. After 2nd World War, Denmark bought a lot of cheap steam trains from Sweden. Sweden has begun the electrification before the war, so there was no need for steam trains. Denmark was "late" with electrification of the main train lines maintained by BaneDanmark, because (I think) it was cheaper to upgrade the IC3 trains in the beginning of the 2000s than invest in electrification. The IC3 trains has been used for over 30 years, maybe because of lack of electrification on the main lines and the IC4 "scandal". After the "scandal" the electrification was restarted after many years of pause .
The late electrification is partly due to politics, but also partly due to costs. Electrification isn't s good solution besides the main lines (Aalborg -> Copenhagen, Struer -> Copenhagen and from Copenhagen/Jutland -> germany and Copenhagen -> Sweden and perhaps Esbjerg -> Fredericia. In more rural areas electrification of cars/busses, etc, seems much more viable.
@@frederikkristensen8262 Yes, the investment of electrification is put on hold. Not sure how needed it really is now with the "Holstebromotorvejen"-motorway. Struer used to be a major train hub, but trains are getting out of fasion these days -and will likely become even more so in rural areas.
@@fastertove trafically it makes no sense either, since the trains on that line would have to be separate due to lack of electrification on neighboring lines. The only argument is to keep the daily direct trains to Copenhagen, which are detrimental to the punctuality of the rest of the main railway network.
Despite it's high rating, a major hurdle for the Danish railways seems to be their severe lack of modern, and overall, rolling stock. This appears to be partly caused by the poor electrification rate across Denmark, which in turn is maybe rooted in their large oil industry? Instead of using a huge variety of electric locomotives and multiple units, which are available on the global market, they have to rely on mostly regional diesel-trains, or specially designed trains like the IC4, which has proven to be a lot of trouble. But fortunately there seems to be a larger focus on electrification in recent years, which is good news for the railways and the environment!
It's mostly due to incompetent politicians, choosing ideology over what is best for the country, and the railway having been majorly underinvested since the '70s. It got so bad that trains derailed from the condition of the track. The railway in Denmark has major problems today apart from those you mentioned. Too many to list here. Hopefully the electrification, new signalling systems and modern rolling stock will help revive the railway in Denmark.
As an Australian who lived in Denmark (Roskilde) for a year in 1998, I have to say that I found the Danish rail system to be a huge improvement over trains in my home country. For me, Danish trains were extremely comfortable, spacious, smooth, modern, frequent and on time. I loved it. Australian trains (both regional and urban) are often late, cancelled, over-crowded, graffitied and dirty inside, as nobody seems to be in charge of cleaning the carriages. The inter-city trains are also extremely slow, so much so that people either drive for the short distances or fly for the long distances. On top of that we have multiple different gauges in different states, which causes further bottlenecks.
@@jdillon8360 That was the year when the Great Belt Tunnel was opened, really a big step forward in Danish rail traffic. I remember that period well. It was also the time when the DSB took many old diesel locomotives out of passenger service, basicly all the NOHABs. Some of them were even exported to Australia!
The IC3 DMU's are pretty old (around 35 years) but despite that, they are extremely comfortable and have a very high reliability. The only thing they're lacking is low entry. Other than that, they're pretty much perfect. Aside from the fact that they're diesel-powered, but even diesel trains are much better than cars. The old electric Class EA and diesel-powered Class ME locomotives were replaced with new electric Class EB locomotives last year, and they've been a great improvement too. The main reason why the Danish railway has problems currently is because the politicians decided to postpone the maintenance, signalling upgrades, electrification and rolling stock upgrades... and now they're doing all four at the same time, making the effort extremely complex and prone to delays and cost overruns. At least it's getting done, though. Electrification was originally planned in the 80's, but improvements in DMU technology resulted in car-loving politicians deciding that the electrification wasn't necessary anyway, after having otherwise electrified from the German border to Copenhagen and Elsinore.
IC3 trains were introduced in 1990, so they're only about 32 years old, and the IR4 trains introduced in 1995-98 are 24-27 years old. IC3 trains also recently had their interiors renewed and their chairs are actually really comfortable. IR4 seats not so much, except for their 1st class seats. IC4s are also regularly used and they are only 14 years old, being introduced in 2008. Still super excited for the Coradia Stream trains in 2025.
A diesel train that is well-maintained can be efficient and comfortable. I spent a year in Denmark in 1998 and found the diesel trains to be extremely smooth and quiet. The tracks were in great condition then too. We have plenty of electric trains in Australia that are noisy, uncomfortable and dirty.
And the distance is so great that people have died trying to jump between them. Mostly in cases where their car had broken down on the side of the road on the West bridge and someone else was about to hit the car on the side of the road with high way speeds (110km/t) and ram them.
@@mwahlgreen As far as I know - the one who tried to jump from the highway to the railroad - he simply didn't know there was a gap; he could not see it. It was a pitch black january evening, the light from uncoming vehicles must'e blinded him somewhat. He didn't see the gap. It should absolutely be possible to jump the litte distance, but if you don't even know there is a distance - then splash. His mate was almost about to jump asd well, but stopped himself, when he heard the scream of terror from the jumper. A horrible accident. He was found some time later, to the South. I have imagined this unfortune in my mkind many times - WHAT a chock the poor devil must,ve felt, falling into the dark gap. The gap is there for snow removal.
The Danish railways have pros and cons. It is relatively reliable and comfortable, but the low amount of electrification and the relatively low network density aren't great
how can you say it is reliable? I have delayed or cancelled trains multiple times every month, to the extent, that I have to use busses or GoMore car share, to be able to meet my deadlines.
@@christofferravn4486 yes, that's why I said "relatively". But look at Germany, France or most other countries. There you have trouble on a daily basis
@@haisheauspforte1632 and I think it is surprising how many delays and issues there is with a closed network transport system, that have been active and developed over 200 years.
@@Kvadraten376 The east has the capital with millions of people, but the rest isn't too good. Most towns and cities are only served by one line, there are only few lines connecting smaller towns on different main lines with each other, at least in the west
Yes an i think that it wast a god idea to use difere energie Energie Systems than Germany and Sweeden. The Train betwen Hamburg and Cophagen runs 100% elektrificaden trachs but they have to use stil the IC3 diesel units
@@MimeHTF5 true, however, it shouldn't be such a problem, multicurrent trains have existed for decades now, and as both are AC-based, they're pretty easy. It's technically harder to run on both the S-tog network (electrified with 1.5 DC) and the rest of the Danish network (electrified at 25 kV AC), even if that has been done for many years, now, too (In France and the Netherlands, for instance).
Denmark is currently electrifying its entire mainline, and should achieve speeds of up to 250km/h on both the Aalborg-Copenhagen and the Flensburg-Copenhagen line. Currently, the latter line is already fully electrified, and should run the new Alstom Coradia trainsets starting from 2025.
@@MimeHTF5 Well that's why that route is going to be serviced by the Siemens Vectron in the future since it's specifically built to be able to seamlessly handle several different systems.
Thank you. Also it's interesting to see that DSB's electrification programme continues. Among the lines to be electrified is the northern section of the main Jutland line, ie presently from Fredericia to Aarhus (then also to Aalborg). You can see the status in a recent YT clip called Führerstandsmitfahrt / Førerrumstur 4K: Aarhus - Fredericia Spoiler alert: Not counting a few masts in Aarhus station (not considering those for the Letbane), mast foundations can be seen from Horsens on (partially lying near the tracks, partially rammed into the ground); and from Vejle to Fredericia, you can see the masts in place (not all of them yet).
Aarhus actually got masts for some of the main tracks as well. You can see them just before the entrance to the station. I believe they were put up in the late 90's as part of a local political campaign that never went anywhere.
DSB only owns the trains, and they have nothing to do with the infrastructure of the railway. That would happen to be Banedanmark formerly known as Banestyrelsen
I actually miss the train ferries a lot. It was so nice to get out of the train, stretch your legs and have a nice lunch before continuing your journey. The system was also much better back then because you had the InterRegio trains. Unlike today, you could not ride on the InterCity services without a seat reservation, so if you wanted to save money you could jump on an InterRegio train, which was almost as fast. The only downside was that the InterRegio trains were not transferred with the ferry, but it was really a minor convinience. It meant that there were actually seats for everyone, unlike today where almost every InterCity train is crowded. Back then DSB also offered a much broader onboard service. On some InterCity services the first class section could be turned into a conference room, complete with fax machine, printer etc. On some InterRegio services you had an entire coach just for children. This coach had an onboard-playground. Last but not least you could also order a "flex coach" (only on InterRegio and sleeper services). These flex coaches did not have a fixed interior and could be transformed into whatever you needed. Some used them for private bars, some for dancing, some for conferences, some for showrooms etc. DSB was really amazing back in the day.
The IR trains and the compulsory reservation in IC trains only came after the introduction of the IC3 trains in the early '90s. These were (believe it or not!) pretty popular, but there were still only few of them available, so chaos often arised when too many passengers tried to board an IC3 train with too few seats. Therefore DSB decided to split the IC product into the high-quality IC (IC3 trains with compulsory reservation) and the IR (loco-hauled trains with older railcars and no need for reservation). When more IC3 (and IR4) units were delivered during the '90s, the extra units were inserted on IR departures, so the difference between the two products generally lessened. At last, the IR4s were upgraded to (nearly) IC-standard and the IR product was integrated into the IC product, while the reservation demand mostly was removed.
@@petrhajduk9955 can confirm. The metro line here in Copenhagen never has prolonged downtime even during maintenance, they operate on separate tracks for that.
Err, the Copengagen S-tog network was electrified long before any parts of the mainline were electrified. The first portion of the 1,650V DC network started operating in 1934.
You completely forgot: 1) The S-trains, the first electrified in the 1926 between Copenhagen and Klampenborg, now with over 100 stations with departures every 2-10 minutes. and with the possibility of taking free bicycles. 2) The Metro system, a driverless train that runs every two minutes from almost 100 stations. 3) all the local railways 4) all the light rail lines 5) The Rejsekort ticket is valid throughout the country for all public and private trains, buses and (ferries in the cities)
Very nice video, and good pronounciations of danish names! ^_^ As some people have already pointed out, there are some issues here and there, but they're not that bad considering what the video is about. Fun Fact 1: Did you know that DSB is the only operator IN THE WORLD to operate DMUs and EMUs coupled together on a daily basis? This was done around the year 2000, when updating the computers of the DMUs (the IC3s) and the EMUs (The IR4), that anables drivers to start the diesel engine of an IC3 from the cab of an IR4, and raise the pantograph of an IR4 from the cab of an IC3. Fun Fact 2: Did you know that the current S-trains are the only EMUs in the world to use single axles throughout the train. This does not count the Talgo High Speed sets of Spain, as they have traditional 2-axle bogies on the powercars. The S-train's axles are also "hydraulically controlled" around curves, decreasing the maintenance needed on both the wheels and the tracks, as well as noise
@@brsvang521 we do, yes. It’s often seen when special timetables are made, during engineering works. We once found out that 135 S-trains was nowhere near enough to cover all services, during a summer engineering work. We needed at least 50 more. That’s why when we get new S-trains within the next 10 years, there’ll be at least 150 sets. With the InterCity fleet, it’s a different issue. If it wasn’t for AnsaldoBreda screwing with our trains, we’d have a lot more trains, seats and services in general.
@@CopenhagenRailProductions Maybe. I just hope that the IC5's by Alstom turn out well and that we can get a ton of them, because we really do need a ton if we're gonna expect this type to retire both the IC3, IC4, and IR4.
Best performing, yet atm we are not huge fans of DSB, actually a lot of the time we aren’t. They drop the ball quite badly when anything that causes an accident happens. From personal experience. There is rail work going on that makes it so there’s only one or two active rails going out and in of Copenhagen. That means one rail that trains going either way have to share. There was a train signal error there, causing most trains to be cancelled, including all the ones I needed. Absolutely no announcements that they were making it so they stopped at Roskilde instead and turned there. Only figured out by deciding to go there with another train. Then we arrive and realise we have to wait half an hour despit there being literally four other perfectly good trains going nowhere. And then the train arrives, and it can barely hold all the people waiting to go. A single set train, when there were four double sets. So yeah. They’re pretty crap at the moment.
I think you're being dramatic. Things can go wrong and railway work is always a pain but you can't say Danish railway is bad in general, because it's not.
Do you happen to get things wrong? DSB is only the operator they don’t have anything to do with the infrastructure of the railway so you’re blaming the wrong company the company to blame is banedanmark. They are the owners of the of the tracks, signals and stations. As for the short trains, it’s not really Dsb’s fault everything that can run is out in service but mainly that is because of the track works
As someone who live in southern Sweden, I can only agree that the Danish rail system is superb. It is easy and cheap to get anywhere in the country or to Germany on short notice. I have only had a handful bad experiences across journeys I can't count anymore. It will soon become even better with the Fehmarn belt connection and electrification extended to Aarhus. I do recommend the electric ferry Helsingør-Helsingborg over the Øresund bridge, though. A chance to stretch your legs and grab a beer, besides it being cheaper.
@@Mgameing123 Snälltåget has has a sleeper train running that route every night in both directions. I have used it both to and from Hamburg and Stockholm, but never end-to-end. It takes 13 hours and 16 minutes end-to-end because of the long stops and low time table priority. A quicker day-running train might be possible after Fehmarn belt.
I live in North Jutland, where the regional government owns the operator NJ that had two local lines until they took over the main regional line from DSB some years ago and they really improved the service. Now they are able to do it cheaper, so now we have trains every half hour during the daytime instead of every hour. They even built a new eastern station in my town. Well done I must say!
I’m glad to see that the operator there does a good job but the fact is no railway in Denmark will make a profit well only two to be fair and it doesn’t make it better to Dsb have to save money because of some strict enforcement’s from the government and NJ is a private owned company so they don’t have to save the same amount of money as DSB shall
I have travelled on the Danish Railways a few years ago, also visiting Malmo via the Oresund bridge (please excuse lack of the correct Danish and Swedish letters) and was very impressed with the system. Copenhagen central station was rather nice, having adequate retail units for travellers but not turned into a shopping centre with trains. My only complaint would be that the trains serving the airport were totally unsuitable for travellers, being crowded and having insufficient doors (we were nearly stuck on the train when trying to alight). The splitting of track and trains to satisfy the European Union was a very bad idea. It led to actual and financial disaster in UK and a French/German grab of the privatised railway companies.
Great video. Did you know that even as Denmark = DSB, Arriva and Banedanmark does score high. The passengers still says the following about train commutes: "They are either never on time or simply cancelled". The score comes from the fact, that many departures are in fact cancelled before the train even leaves the first station... Giving the lines better ratings in papers like the one you link to... I live close to a line have 1-4 cancellations in peak/rush hours every week, not accounting holidays and weekends. I and plenty of others where forced to buy a car, or loss our jobs, always coming in late to work.
5:23 The first Limfjord Railway Bridge was inagurated in 1879 and the newer one also in 1938. Weird not to mention that, as is inherently more important than the Oddesund bridge. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jernbanebroen_over_Limfjorden
nice video. One thing there are also plans for a highspeed section between Odense and Middelfart with a max speed of 250km/h and they have about 47 Vectrons for passanger use for the Doppelstockcoaches
To be honest. Danish politians are litterally trying to expand the motorway network by making journeys faster by car than train like the Kattegat bridge might only be for cars if it (hopefully won't) gets buildt. I mean why can't new bridges be only for trains?
Automated cars will likely have much of the benefits trains have now, and they won't have much of the downsides, like for example the huge expense of upkeep. Making the connection train-only would help fewer Danes. I would personally prefer a train-car-tunnelbridge, but I'm not sure, that I can see the double value from it. A car-only connection cost 60 billion vs. 110 billion (est. DDK).
@@fastertove Actually you forgot to mention the fact they did't research how much the bridge would cost only for train! I think honestly if they want to make that bridge then make it train only as cars are never sustainable! Plus since it takes 3 hours to drive from KPH - Aarhus then 1 hour by train then it would be obvious what transport method is fastest. We can also extend the Kalundborg regional train to Aarhus!
@@Mgameing123 The connection would be a tunnel-bridge rather than a bridge. Trains doesn't work well on bridges due to inclines and oscillation. A train-only connection was never intended. It wouldn't make much economic sense and wouldn't take much load of the Great Belt Fixed Link... It would however be pretty cool. Edit: Cars could potentially become "sustainable" with sharing, automation and electrification. Germany is planning to electrify parts of their motorway system, if successful this could spread. Trains will still have their place, especially in more populated areas.
@@fastertove Trains still are more sustainable and I think trains can be economicly sense as you would connect the two biggest regions in under an hour plus we can have some regional services. Its not about taking of load. Its about attracting new load.
@@Mgameing123 Trains (the main lines that is) are more sustainable, but also a more expensive and unreliable form of transport. Not sure if connecting Århus and Copenhagen would be economic beneficial compared to the cost - this is often one of the arguments against the connection in the first place. It will also draw more people to the most populated areas in Denmark - something we want to avoid. I'm not personally against the connection. I live in Aalborg and I don't own a car, so I'm one of those who stand to gain the most. I would love to see it become reality. I just returned from Copenhell - 5 hour travel in an old IC3 train...
The situation is not good at all in Denmark. Passenger numbers have been decreasing the last 10 years, the same with national transport of goods, and no matter how much money is being invested, it doesn't seem to help. Hopefully the projects like electrification and signalling systems will help improve it. The passenger numbers are concerning since almost all other european countries see big increases in passengers, while Denmark doesn't. The political trench fighting has been a big problem as well for the whole transport sector, due to Left parties being in favor of trains and public transport, while the Right is against it and would rather build highways instead. So every time a new government is formed, the plans are changed again and again. Last year however they finally acknowledged this problem and a very big infrastructure plan was finalized with broad support from the whole parliament. One of the reasons for the low amount of passengers, is probably due to the new highways built, which are faster and cheaper to use. The danish railway system is also NOT cheap, but actually quite expensive for most people. Electrification on the major part of the network (the Fredericia - Aarhus - Aalborg line) will be ready start 2026. The electrification is actually finished sooner, but the old signalling system is incompatible with electrification, but the new system is only ready in 2026. ERTMS Level 2 is progressing but extremely delayed too. Original plan was 2018-2021, but is now 2030. This summer the lines Vejle - Holstebro and Skanderborg - Silkeborg - Herning is being rolled out. On lines where electrification is not worth it, battery trains will be purchased instead, and partly electrified, and will be tested in 2025 on the line Holstebro - Skjern and will be rolled out on the other regional lines (mostly all Arriva lines). Maintenance and renewal is still problematic, since the amount of people with knowledge of the old interlocking systems is under 20 people. So major renewal projects often get delayed for years, or postponed to after ERTMS is rolled out.
At 4:19 there's a error on the map, it says Mariager instead of Hobro. Mariager is a town 30 minutes away further down the inlet from the marked city (Hobro). Hobro is the marked city or town at the end of the inlet. Great video!
despite the situation in the world at the moment, i would still suggest making a video about the Russian railway. its diverse and with a not bad history
Actually ALL EU countries are beginning to adopt the 25Kv 50Hz system for ALL countries so all trains can ish go everywhere when ERTMS is implemented everywhere
@@QueentasticTDP German speaking countries, Sweden and Norway all use 15kV, 16.7Hz system. Denmark is only one that uses 25kV 50Hz. New trains do not care as they have electronic drive, but old trains can not work at different system, or at least not properly.
@@QueentasticTDP no, not really. in Germany 15 Kv is used and there are no plans for a switch and Germany is not the only one. The way into the future are multi voltage systems, already very common in Cargo locomotives. Doing 15 and 25 kv combo is not that hard, it is relatively close to each other.
@@tzarcoal1018 true In addition, in terms of locomotive performance, old 15 kV 16.7 Hz standard are comparable to 25 kV 50 Hz standard, so yeah there is no reason to change 15 kV 16.7 Hz standard to 25 kV 50 Hz. meanwhile, Dutch and French 1500V DC should be changed to 25 kV 50 Hz (or at least, boost to 3 kV DC). I heard some dual mode high power locomotives are turning on diesel engine to boost their power when running on 1500V DC, meaning 1500v dc line already reached the limits🤔
The high speed Koege line has very little traffic, as the needed equipment hasn't been purchased yet. It's also a detour for anyone traveling to or from Copenhagen.
A video on the Canadian railway system would be cool. VIA Rail has an impressive and interesting history and would make an a good comparison video to the one on the US.
Great video, but I hoped you were going to talk more about the different types of rolling stock. Also, I don't think you mentioned anything about the track gauge? I do find it quite amazing how they have managed to run such a punctual system with such old signalling. I wonder how they've achieved that?
Most of the signals are much newer. It's only a few places that are so old. Notably, the Copenhagen S-Train network has been halfway upgraded to CBTC, and the non-upgraded part is still a reasonably advanced ATC system. It will be completely upgraded by the end of this year. For the mainline network, the signals are of varying age. Most are from the 50's or 70's, but several lines have also been upgraded to ETCS Level 2. And there's a few spots using really old systems.
The main networks are standard-gauge tracks, 1,435 mm, letting trains transport goods between Sweden and Germany with the same engines and wagons. The biggest issue for trains passing the national borders is that Sweden and Germany both use 15 kV at 16.7 Hz while Denmark use 25 kV at 50 Hz, so any electric engine must have at least dual converters on board. The new ERTMS might take over the "biggest issue" though since it costs around 1½ years to install the new security systems in the engines; only the DSB can afford taking engines our for so long time. Most Danes can't recognise the networks as "punctual" though, mostly because of extensive works on the railways leading to replacement bus services on many lines - especially during the Summer. The S-train network however is exceptionally punctual compared to national routes.
Something I’m wondering is why we rarely use railway ferries anymore. Is it because they’ve built bridges in every location it would economically make sense?
it's difficult to manage a tighter time schedule when trains have to wait for ferries, board them, etc. It also makes the transit overall slower. There really isn't any reason to use trains on ferries if other alternatives exist (besides the cozy aspect of it).
Thanks for the video. The Danish railway is probably one of the most efficient and reliable railway networks in the world even when considering the country is spread out over many islands. Keep up the good work👍
Great video, I really enjoyed it. I don't have much to add to the other comments below, but I do want to point out a slight issue that might be limiting the amount of people willing to use our public transport network. When talking passenger transport on Sjælland, we have the electrified S-train that seems to work fairly well on it's own. Then we have Lokalbanen which owns a pretty big chunk of non-electrified railways going from bigger cities to the outskirts of Denmark. The largest owner of our busses is Movia which owns the majority of stocks in Lokalbanen but don't work together with DSB. This in turn means that the trains from Lokal banen and the busses from Movia do not work together with DSB, and therefor don't share a time schedule. You could take the s-train to Ballerup and see your bus leave before you can manage to get off the train.
Vor den im Video erwähnten Eisenbahnen gab es in Südjütland, das damals zu Deutschland gehörte, einen ganzen Streifen von Lokalbahnen, auch „Kleinbanen“ genannt, diese wurden hauptsächlich von den Einheimischen genutzt, um Waren durch Südjütland zu transportieren. Diese frühen Eisenbahnen trugen dazu bei, den Handel in der Region zu stärken, auch zwischen Dänemark und Deutschland. Ich denke, ein wichtiger Teil der dänisch/deutschen Eisenbahngeschichte. Before the railways mentioned in the video, in southern Jutland, which at the time belonged to Germany, there was a whole strip of local railways, also called "Kleinbanen", these were mainly used by the locals to transport goods around southern Jutland. These early railways helped to strengthen trade in the area, also between Denmark and Germany. I think an important part of the Danish / German railway history.
Only thing that worries me about our rails and those new trains is the knowledge that somehow, someone, will manage to make a complete mess of it and it will take years of bickering to sort out. Happened with the IC4, happened when Arriva started up, the light rails in Aahus and other projects where someone forgets something...
The plan is to finish construction on the electrification of the railway line in 2023, and hopefully open in 2023 or 2024 the same goes for the Holbæk line, which will open in 2023 for electric trains
you must remember that Banestyrelsen just cannot decide what they would like to happen. They have to take it to the governement and have a law passed. result = endless haggling and backdoor horsetrading, ending up in sometimes stupid decisions. and that is from an old grumpy former traffic controller!!
Danish/American here who takes the trains more or less 2 times a week currently but used to use it for my commute 8 years ago. The trains here are getting a bit old as evidence with a program to replace the IC3 trains by 2007 (if memory serves me right) having fallen behind on deliverys multiple times since then until it was canceled by frustrated politicians. Still performing better than germany somehow which is actually amazing to me. I guess the grass is really always greener on the other side.
The IC3 trains are close to have driven 1bilion KM it is estimated that they hit the 1 billion km in 2026, and all 96 IC3 made is still running and operational
I like that the IC3 Trains have the Posibly to split up in multible units. I was also on one of the last trains that operated pn the Old Vogelfluglinie a realy intresting experiane
Surprised to hear that its cheep to travel by train in Denmark. The prices are double that of Sweden. As a swede living in Jutland, i often have to buy ticket from Vejle to Copenhagen (one way) for tge same price as Copenhagen - Stockholm t/r. The later distance being nearly 3 times longer.
You should consider Dsb orange. Maybe you can save some money there. And if not we should consider voting for some politicians that want to make the railway cheaper, but also keep it state-owned
Thanks for the great video. Israel Railways is just about to retire its last Danish IC3 train sets - the end of an era. Maybe a video on the Israeli rail network next? IR went from 12.7 million passengers in 2000 to 69 million in 2019. The plan for 2040 is 300 million.
@@RailwaysExplained Awesome, glad to hear :) if you are interested, you can easily find me online and I will try to connect you with the local railway museum's manager, who is one of the foremost experts on IR history and current specifications. Consider also looking at the channel by Sergey Shvyrev, who posts cabin views for IR lines.
Amusing and interesting to read on Trains in Denmark. As a Child back in 7th grade , late 50; DSB, had what they called Danish Children Vacation train. From Copenhagen, across Lillebelt, Fynen,. To North Jutland. It was a magnificent Steamers,I can still hear the motors hearth beat! See the steam belt out onto the elaborate Wrought grid off Copenhagen train Station ceiling. Flags in front on train grid and atop cabooses. Children, waiting to Board, shoulder bags fillied with lunch ,soda and goodies. Each Caboose had a conductor, each Child a little thing around their neck, with name and destination. No Child was ever lost,nor on the ferries across the Sound. In Hjerm , 7pm. Evening, stereo stood my Grandparents waiting for me!! My grandfather ,the Station Master. Am always amazing people with this stories, which repeated till my early teens. Every Summer. Yes , Denmark was then a safe Country, for Children. Always loved the Old trains. Years later, when visiting from the States, on travels to Germany, or Italy, used the Oriental Express. Something Romantic about those trains. Reading, amuse me how well informed Danes are, and always analytical and overtly critical!! It takes a tourist to compliment their Rail???!! A typical Dane Trait, things can always be improved ,to be better!!! Haha haha, But O.K. so it will no doubt.🤣🤣😍🇩🇰🇺🇸🌅🌷🤔
By far the most impressive thing about trains in Denmark is the connection between the islands. However, very few trains run on electricity, which is a shame in 2022, and the state of electrification is much worse than in neighboring Sweden and Norway. In addition, there are frequent signaling issues which cause many delays for commuter and sometimes intercity trains. Finally, the state owned operator DSB has monopoly on certain routes, which means it’s impossible to find alternative connections (e.g. a bus). Which is problematic as train tickets are crazy expensive (considering the poor service quality) unless you get them on discount and as travel times are very long for such short distances.
The fact is now that most of our trains now run from electricity mainly the smaller lines, a few regional lines, private owned lines and a few Mainlines aren’t electrified and there for they are required to be run by diesel though that is all going to change in the near future, where we are investing in battery trains, and the electrification of the railway is making progress
Thanks for a great video! Truth be told - there has been a series of problems with the Danish railway-systems and in the recent years especially the huge budget-overruns on the ERTMS implementation and the effort to buy the IC4 (Ansaldo) trains which never got to work. Either of these is a scandal in their own manner. But I think it's also worth mentioning the great role of DSB (Danish Railway), who for over 100 years had brought Denmark together as a nation. Without a well-functioning railway-system, it would never have been possible to live in one part- and study in another part of the country. Also the trains had a great role in bringing familys and friends together for generations. I live in Denmark and uses the train frequently. Maybe not as frequently as years ago, partly due to the later years track-works and subsequent delays. It's way easier to take the car or a commuter-bus, while DSB and Banedanmark is struggeling with electrification and signaling-systems. But hopefully it will be better sooner or later.
It's fun reading the comments about how poor the trains are in Denmark. You want crappy trains, low frequency services and lots of cancellations? Come to Australia!
Can you do a video about the Hungarian Railway? I think it is very interesting to see how rich history it has with two equally old Railways. MÁV and GYSEV
I lived in Denmark for 8 years(moved away in 2021) and as someone who has traveled a lot in europe and within Denmark, i can only say Denmark has one of the worst train systems in western Europe. Don't get me wrong, public transport in Copenhagen is incredible and reliable, they have regular amazing metro, subway, train and bus services which run almost all day long. But this does not apply to the rest of the country, I was living in Esbjerg and trains operated by dsb were terrible, getting to Copenhagen from Esbjerg cost you 100 euros both ways, the trains are old, slow and up until last year they didn't even have functioning vending machines on-board, so you'd have to sit there for 3.5h without water or food. I've experienced them break down multiple times. Once coming back from Copenhagen the train was double booked and broken so instead of 3h it took 6h and many people had to stand up for part of the trip. People mostly take the car between large cities simply because of how much more financially viable the far is, despite taxes of 150% on cars, to go from esbjerg to Aarhus, simply having two people in the car was already cheaper than taking the train(counting gas, maintenance and insurance). Dsb is so stingy that they don't operate between smaller towne and instead choose to let Arriva do it, and they do a better and cheaper job than dsb does. Most of my friends that lived in smaller towns where both dsb and arriva operate said they'd always choose to take arriva because it's much more reliable. The funny thing is Danes pay insane taxes which are supposed to go into things like public transport, however I don't see much of that outside of Copenhagen. Things seem to be changing but way too slowly, they recently bought many new trains but delivery will only start by 2025 and end in 2031, and their high-speed train project is expected to be finished in 2031.
Side note: with the fixed links within Denmark and between Denmark and Sweden, the country connects central Europe to northern Europe by both road and rail. I can take a train from e.g. central Europe and go all the way up way beyond the arctic circle in Norway or Sweden
Which has technically always been possible, via Russia. The nice thing about these bridges is that you don't have to leave the EU to cross all the way into Scandinavia.
when a danish Train come to the time ... or not delays by , leaf on the tracks, snow are to hot maybe even the power lines for them are brokendown ... when you have 4 IC4 trains ... only 1 of them can drive becouse rest are spareparts, not even coming into the crews on the trasin helpfullness or the REAL lag of it ...
Sweden has a restaurant wagon, I have no idea how they do that. Now in DK there is a youngster with a rucksack with hot water for instant coffee or tea walking back and forth in the alley facepushing you to buy just something. WTF.
It wouldn’t make sense to make that, in the danish trains and the reasoning is well the lines, are just too small in Sweden. The trains operate at much longer lines therefore making it possible to make a restaurant wagon.
@@BobkelsoDK There used to be at least a kiosk when the IC.trains started up in the 1970enties, but a newspaper decided to look into the pay for the stewardesses, and made a sensational splash about it. DSB ( at that time not split up in fractions) wilted to the critisism, closed the kiosk on the trains and dismissed the stewardess even if they were part of the trains safety crew. it would be lovely to have a diningcar on the long haul lines to Struer, Ålborg, Herning.
Funny thing is that when you live here in Denmark, it always feel like the trains aren't running all that great. But that might also be because everybody loves to complain about their train service, no matter how good it is. Except maybe the Japanese.
2:00 443 islands? that's like 1/10th of the number Region Stockholm has. (also: Sweden has more lakes than Finland basically just because we're a bigger country). Denmark, the Old Enemy. Love you guys, and hope you get fully electrified soon! :)
I mean that's mostly rocks, that'd be like if you counted every sandbank in Denmark. When that number is used it refers to permanent islands that are potentially inhabitable and have been given names.
og Sverige har også mange mange flere indvandrere som I slet ikke kan styre - det er dem, der styrer jer! Sveriges økonomi er ad helvede til og den svenske krone er ingenting værd - rent lorteland.
It's not as rosy red as it seems. While it is true that the railway network is quite widespread thorughout the country, these facts tell the true story: -Tracks and signals weren't maintained for years, if not decades. A report a few years ago concluded that the entire signal system had to be replaced. This will cost hundreds of millions of Euros and take more than ten years. -When Denmark went from Diesel to Diesel-electric trains in the 1980s, the beloved "Silver Arrow" trains were donated to Poland, tools and all, but without the knowhow, so the Polish staff did not know how to maintain and repair them. The successor, the IC 3 (InterCity 3), was designed and built by the Scandia factory in Randers, Denmark. It is a very beautiful train with some very smart features: 1. The wheels have rubber rings, reducing both nosie and track wear. When worn down, you just chage the rubber rings and you ar good to go again. Just like rubber rings ar used on the turning wheels in scale model locomotives to gain traction! 2. Front and rear ends are pulled somewhat back and the edges are covered by large rubber fenders for aerodynamic coupling of train sets, specified by the track lengths on the then operating Great Belt ferries until til Great Belt Bridge opened in 1995. 3.As an unexpected side-effect from the square "hole" in the front of the train, turbulence prevents most rain and snow from reaching the front window. Also that bulk of rotating air in front of the train makes it one of the most aerodynamic trains ever built despite it being a square tube with hollow ends. -Then, when it was decided to buy new trains, the IC 4. Italian Ansaldo-Breda won the contract as the lowest bidder, despite them having big problems getting the driver-less trains ready in time for the Copenhagen Metro, and despite them having absolutely no experience of designing diesel-electric trains, least not for a wet and cold climate. This was a disaster from the very beginning, and after a decade of delays and millions poured into a seemingly black hole without any progress, the IC4 was finally scrapped. The only surviving set was that which for some obscure reason was sent to Moamar Ghadaffi in Libya by the Italian government, or by Ansaldo-Breda themselves. -Tickets are extremely expensive. For example, a standard one-way 200 Km ticket costs €48,-. However, there are a few discount departures for €27,-. for the same distance. A one-way commuter train ticket covering 35 Km costs appr. €10,-. That's how much I pay for gasoline to go to the same city and back home again. That's absurd! -When the railroads decided (well, were told to decide) the introduce an electronic ticket system, they could have licensed the London Oyster system. But instead they chose to invent the deep plate once again. Needless to say, the project got delayed time and time again, and when it finally was up and running, it wasn't flexible enough to handle certain demands, like transferring from a train to a bus under certain circumstances, and it had cost the tax payers twice as much as first promised when the company won the undertaking. Denmark is still dependant on Diesel-electric trains because the tracks from appr. mid to north Justland are not yet electrified, and thus the government had to buy new trains from a producer of Diesel-electric trains (Siemens, I think) to replace the Italian IC 4 that never really got to work. But at least the politicians learned from this scandal and this time chose an off-the-shelf product instead of fooling around with new designs and concepts. However, as a sidenote, more or less the same politicians a few years back decided to buy the still-developing F-35 fighter jet despite both the EuroFighter and the Swedish Draken being superior for Danish purposes. The F-35 is still as buggy as a Windows Release Candidate 1.0, and its take-off noise exceeds Danish legislation by quite a lot. At least one of the bidding companies pulled out prematurely because they felt the decission was already settled on the F-35 despite the negotiations between all bidding companies and the Danish parliament were still ongoing.
Trains In Copenhagen are efficient, or the S Train is. Most of the time its 50% faster to take the S train to get to central Copenhagen than taking a car. Now if We look at the Regional trains (Øresunds Train included) Delays happen regually, as a person who takes both the S train and Øresundstrain for work, this is a thing you can expect daily, with delays sometimes leading up to 30 minutes
Really nice video - was definitely waiting for this one! Just a few things to clarify: Denmark have not invested in trains capable of over 200 km/h and thus that will be the maximum speed on the high speed line after getting the new coradia stream trains. Getting true high speed trains will be reconsidered in 10 years or so. Also, the delivery of the coradia stream trains have just been delayed (surely it's not the last time) and will at best first enter service in the middle of 2025.
@@QueentasticTDP True, and I would love that to happen, but most international trains (EuroCity trains more specifically) are not that fast. And firstly, the trains running between Copenhagen and Hamburg will be with Vectron locos (top speed of 200 km/h) and Talgo 230 coaches (made for speeds of up to 250 km/h I believe) which I think is enough for the next couple of decades, but the possibility is there for sure. Could be fun to see German ICE's here (again), though they would need to be permitted for use in Denmark first.
The reason the, coradia, stream trains are being delayed is, because of some additional brakes, being added to the trains somebody to make it even better and more secure
Great video! I am daily commuter on the train, going between Odense (Funen) and Copenhagen (Zealand) and have been for 4 years. In my view, the danish rail network suffer heavily from the low amount of investment throughout the years. The fleet is ageing quite heavily and as other pointed out in the thread, the rolling stock is in desperate need for an update. The main train is 35 years old. Some passengers will experience that a train is being delayed by more than 60 minutes, for then to be cancel all together. The more lucky experience that their train will arrive and depart, but will be welcomed by and old and tatty interior, and often experience a A/C (summer) or Heater (winter) that does not work. Then add to the equation that the price is not competitive for those who cannot benefit from commuter savings. Taking car is much cheaper, and give more flexibility. I understand why passengers stay away. They invested in new trains from Asnaldo Breda (now Hitachi railway) to replace the entire intercity fleet , which ended in disaster. Only a few are in service, which they entered in 2012, with a plan to scrap them before 2025. Often Ansaldo Breda is blamed for solelyfor the incident, but the danish railway and Danish parliament also has it part of the blame. Originally the contract was on electrical trains, but after contract was signed and the project had been active for some time, it became clear the electrical was not suitable for the danish railway network, and the order was changed from electrical to diesel train instead, but not changing the type/chassis. So now the faced a situation where the original contract was a on set of standardized electrical trains, that now have to be retrofitted with diesel engines, hence a prototype. Edit: Spelling mistake
I've seen the Rail Performance Index mentioned in other videos and articles, but am I the only one who thinks that's a biased and strange report? (not to mention the most recent number are now 5 years old) To be fair to the makers of the report mention their biases up front (although I can think of a few extra problems that are not mentioned, like countries that shipping a large percentage of their bulk freight over water are punished by a smaller intensity score, even though they use a more efficient mode than rail). However, seemingly not much time was spent mitigating the effect of these biases in the result (Good luck to Luxembourg getting a high quality of service rating due their lack of high speed rail, and long distance trips). Is this report still being quoted because there are no better or more recent indices available ?
5:37 Wrong. The first electrically powered railway in Denmark was opened already on 3 April 1934 - not 1986. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S-train_(Copenhagen)#History
I think personally as a Dane the biggest issue for the railway system are the fairly low speeds and lack of real high speed rail lines. The speeds are set to improve with electrification with 200 km/h becoming the new norm as the speeds prior to this were limited to 180 km/h since that was the top speed of the IC3 class which was the backbone of the network. But a proper high speed line connecting Århus, Odense and Copenhagen would be amazing and really feels like what is needed. It wouldn't be hard to bring travel times from Århus to Copenhagen down to close to one hour and doing so would be absolutely huge for the economy of both cities, at the same time the expanding commuter light rail network in Århus would enable people to live in much cheaper places while working in the big cities. If there was also a line going up the length of Jutland from Germany this could also help reconnect rural areas of Denmark to the growth that the cities have seen, like if you could live in Northern Jutland and work in Århus that would be enormous. The lack of any such line just feels like a lack in ambition because I'm sure there's demand to at least support an Århus-Copenhagen line and doing so would cut down drastically on the car traffic there which would be vital in meeting the ambitious climate goals Denmark has. Otherwise though I don't think there's much to complain about with the railway system here, it's generally comfortable and always on time, the maybe second biggest issue is the expense, I think there should be more generous subsidies to help bring down ticket costs so the railways can play more of a social role as well.
The main problem with our speeds in Denmark, it’s not the trains itself. It is the way that the railway lines, especially in jutland is laid down. If it wasn’t for that, the average speed would be about 160 but right now it’s only 120. Besides, the IC3 trains have reached a much higher speed than 180 but that was doing the testing I believe they reached about 256
The new 200 km/h trains will have both a higher topspeed of 200 km/h and way faster acceleration than the IC3 trains. Acceleration is almost just as important as speed, and when the new signalling system gets rolled out everywhere, it will make lines with many stops have a way higher average speed.
@@williamn3070 Korrekt, og det er helt bevidst, at DSB har valgt tog, hvor accelerationen vægtes højere end en højere hastighed, som ved de fleste tog alligevel ikke kan fuldt udnyttes - pga. den korte afstand mellem provinsens stationer, og man er nødt til at stoppe ved de mest betydelige stationer, hvis der skal være fornuftig økonomi i det.
I think the positivity around Denmarks railways is affected by Copenhagen and the large proportion of the population living there. It is a capital city and has the services you would expect. Less so in other areas of Denmark. Denmark cannot be realistically compared to nations more than an order of magnitude larger. In reality in many places the train service is rubbish. I can drive to Copenhagen in 3.5 hours. A train will take 5.5 not including travel to the station. It is not cheap. Local trains are limited. Commuting with the train is just not an option for many, myself included. Outside of the major cities public transport is quite basic in general. It is a car society. Many local lines have closed and are now cycle paths. All of my experiences using trains in Denmark have been negative, from breakdowns and limited service to crowding and homeless people running through the carriages to collect bottles at stations (Copenhagen). Statistics are not always cut and dry.
I am a danish teenager living in the capital region with very busy parents who don't really have the time to transport me to school and to friends etc., so the rail network works really well for me. I go to a boarding school in Jutland which is about 3 hours train ride away, but I usually only need to make one switch and the prices are comparitively low as compared to many other countries. I am however quite dissatisfied with the very low amount of electrified rail lines, but I know for a fact that they are working on fixing it and making more of their trains run on electricity, as well as build high speed lines between the major cities. I can't wait for the new Alstom rolling stock!
I went to an afterschool, and the railtimes always positively suprised me. The 90 km trip from Copenhagen to Slagelse was almost always about an hour, and it almost took the same amount of time to get from Slagelse to my school, because of irregular bus schedules and curved and looooong roads. So the 10 km trip could take as much as 40 minutes on a bad day, and if you missed bus, you sometimes had to wait an entire hour for the next bus to arrive.
So, the trains were almost always reliable and on time.
I really dont get the hate that DSB gets. I've never experienced any major delays, or anything like that.
dunno, lived in Denmark 3 years. Taking a ride from Copenhagen to Aarhus took more than 4 hours, train ticket 60 eur. Taking a car, 1,5 hours, gas prices cheaper, and taking a bus 2 and half hours, and only 20 eur. I wouldnt call that cheaper compared to other european countries. Even in sweden trains are faster and cheaper. And where im from, same distance with train costs 4.75 eur, and its not considered fast speed rail, and its old soviet style rail, and same distance takes 2 hours.
@@Swarmah buying the train tickets is expensive, but there is something called DSB orange, where if you get the ticket about a week before, it wont cost more than 12 euro. There is a 99 kroner cap at the prices.
And yes, the trains arent the fastest, but as someone eho's both taken the train and driven, the train is much more comfy. And with DSB orange its cheaper too, as the great belt bridge is super expensive to drive over
@@buihelgason i bought the ticket like 4 weeks ago each time i flew back to denmar after university holiday. Maybe its only citizen benifit.
@@Swarmah you can’t drive from cph to aarhus in 1,5 hours
I work for the Danish railway operator DSB and I am glad to see that we are in a second place in both service and safety. I put a good amount of work into making sure our customers are safe when they are traveling with our trains and also have a good time in our trains, I would say that the Danish railway really only need two things and that is some more workers in the trains and new rolling stuck. We are excited to see our new Alstom coradia stream trains. we are looking forward to receiving them and we hope that they will run without any trouble unlike our Italian made IC4 trains also looking forward to receiving our new cars from Spain, made by Talgo.
Timestamps please!
I'm surprised we (Denmark) rank that high. My city of Silkeborg used to have 3 train lines going through the city (6 outward directions) probably before widespread car adoption, but today it only has 1 line (2 outward directions). The map at 5:17 even shows a line I didn't know existed and which i have no idea where it used to run, all the other abandoned lines were converted to paved cycle tracks.
The adoption of cars has really handicapped public transport which is pretty depressing especially in our now defunct climate stricken world. Even today the government makes really terrible car focused planning and lawmaking even though they have a large focus on climate which is filled with BS, it really shows that politicians are much richer than the rest of us that they *expect* people to buy expensive cars or other shit they personally can afford to "go green". Also they built a motorway through my city recently but the train line still isn't electrified, you see what I mean. They should stop lying about climate goals if they keep up such BS traffic development.
You know what is greener than an E-car, not owning a car in the first place and taking PUBLIC TRANSPORT. This country needs a lot more trains and less rich BS politicians not following their own "goals" or promisses.
You forgot that the S-tog System was electrified a lot earlier
Trivia: the length of the IC3 trainset was determined by the old IC Great Belt ferries. Two coupled together was the length of one of the tracks onboard.
And the concept is alo got to build larger trains
One mistake: the first electrified railway line in Denmark (apart from trams) was the Klampenborg-Frederiksberg S-Bane suburban rail line in Copenhagen that opened in 1934.
He mean regional tracks
Another interesting fact is, that Denmark has used steam trains up the 1970s. After 2nd World War, Denmark bought a lot of cheap steam trains from Sweden. Sweden has begun the electrification before the war, so there was no need for steam trains. Denmark was "late" with electrification of the main train lines maintained by BaneDanmark, because (I think) it was cheaper to upgrade the IC3 trains in the beginning of the 2000s than invest in electrification. The IC3 trains has been used for over 30 years, maybe because of lack of electrification on the main lines and the IC4 "scandal". After the "scandal" the electrification was restarted after many years of pause .
The late electrification is partly due to politics, but also partly due to costs. Electrification isn't s good solution besides the main lines (Aalborg -> Copenhagen, Struer -> Copenhagen and from Copenhagen/Jutland -> germany and Copenhagen -> Sweden and perhaps Esbjerg -> Fredericia.
In more rural areas electrification of cars/busses, etc, seems much more viable.
Lack of electrification was due to the IC4 diesel trains being cheaper than electrification. But obviously that didn't work.
@@fastertove Struer - Copenhagen was not a good investment at all. That's why it has been cancelled now.
@@frederikkristensen8262 Yes, the investment of electrification is put on hold. Not sure how needed it really is now with the "Holstebromotorvejen"-motorway.
Struer used to be a major train hub, but trains are getting out of fasion these days -and will likely become even more so in rural areas.
@@fastertove trafically it makes no sense either, since the trains on that line would have to be separate due to lack of electrification on neighboring lines. The only argument is to keep the daily direct trains to Copenhagen, which are detrimental to the punctuality of the rest of the main railway network.
Despite it's high rating, a major hurdle for the Danish railways seems to be their severe lack of modern, and overall, rolling stock. This appears to be partly caused by the poor electrification rate across Denmark, which in turn is maybe rooted in their large oil industry? Instead of using a huge variety of electric locomotives and multiple units, which are available on the global market, they have to rely on mostly regional diesel-trains, or specially designed trains like the IC4, which has proven to be a lot of trouble. But fortunately there seems to be a larger focus on electrification in recent years, which is good news for the railways and the environment!
It's mostly due to incompetent politicians, choosing ideology over what is best for the country, and the railway having been majorly underinvested since the '70s. It got so bad that trains derailed from the condition of the track. The railway in Denmark has major problems today apart from those you mentioned. Too many to list here. Hopefully the electrification, new signalling systems and modern rolling stock will help revive the railway in Denmark.
As an Australian who lived in Denmark (Roskilde) for a year in 1998, I have to say that I found the Danish rail system to be a huge improvement over trains in my home country. For me, Danish trains were extremely comfortable, spacious, smooth, modern, frequent and on time. I loved it. Australian trains (both regional and urban) are often late, cancelled, over-crowded, graffitied and dirty inside, as nobody seems to be in charge of cleaning the carriages. The inter-city trains are also extremely slow, so much so that people either drive for the short distances or fly for the long distances. On top of that we have multiple different gauges in different states, which causes further bottlenecks.
@@jdillon8360 it was also more around 2007 it went wrong here. But you are right, it’s still better than most countries.
@@jdillon8360 That was the year when the Great Belt Tunnel was opened, really a big step forward in Danish rail traffic. I remember that period well. It was also the time when the DSB took many old diesel locomotives out of passenger service, basicly all the NOHABs. Some of them were even exported to Australia!
The IC3 DMU's are pretty old (around 35 years) but despite that, they are extremely comfortable and have a very high reliability. The only thing they're lacking is low entry. Other than that, they're pretty much perfect. Aside from the fact that they're diesel-powered, but even diesel trains are much better than cars. The old electric Class EA and diesel-powered Class ME locomotives were replaced with new electric Class EB locomotives last year, and they've been a great improvement too.
The main reason why the Danish railway has problems currently is because the politicians decided to postpone the maintenance, signalling upgrades, electrification and rolling stock upgrades... and now they're doing all four at the same time, making the effort extremely complex and prone to delays and cost overruns. At least it's getting done, though.
Electrification was originally planned in the 80's, but improvements in DMU technology resulted in car-loving politicians deciding that the electrification wasn't necessary anyway, after having otherwise electrified from the German border to Copenhagen and Elsinore.
The biggest problem with the danish rail system is the lack of electrification. Most of our trains are almost 40 year old diesel trains.
IC3 trains were introduced in 1990, so they're only about 32 years old, and the IR4 trains introduced in 1995-98 are 24-27 years old. IC3 trains also recently had their interiors renewed and their chairs are actually really comfortable. IR4 seats not so much, except for their 1st class seats. IC4s are also regularly used and they are only 14 years old, being introduced in 2008. Still super excited for the Coradia Stream trains in 2025.
A diesel train that is well-maintained can be efficient and comfortable. I spent a year in Denmark in 1998 and found the diesel trains to be extremely smooth and quiet. The tracks were in great condition then too. We have plenty of electric trains in Australia that are noisy, uncomfortable and dirty.
11:28 The second (the West Bridge) is actually TWO bridges, standing very close to each other. You can see the water between the bridges at 11:47
And the distance is so great that people have died trying to jump between them.
Mostly in cases where their car had broken down on the side of the road on the West bridge and someone else was about to hit the car on the side of the road with high way speeds (110km/t) and ram them.
@@mwahlgreen As far as I know - the one who tried to jump from the highway to the railroad - he simply didn't know there was a gap; he could not see it. It was a pitch black january evening, the light from uncoming vehicles must'e blinded him somewhat. He didn't see the gap. It should absolutely be possible to jump the litte distance, but if you don't even know there is a distance - then splash. His mate was almost about to jump asd well, but stopped himself, when he heard the scream of terror from the jumper. A horrible accident. He was found some time later, to the South. I have imagined this unfortune in my mkind many times - WHAT a chock the poor devil must,ve felt, falling into the dark gap. The gap is there for snow removal.
Denmark was not the first country that decided to replace all signaling systems with ERTMS, however Denmark is set to finish first.
The Danish railways have pros and cons. It is relatively reliable and comfortable, but the low amount of electrification and the relatively low network density aren't great
how can you say it is reliable? I have delayed or cancelled trains multiple times every month, to the extent, that I have to use busses or GoMore car share, to be able to meet my deadlines.
@@christofferravn4486 yes, that's why I said "relatively". But look at Germany, France or most other countries. There you have trouble on a daily basis
@@haisheauspforte1632 and I think it is surprising how many delays and issues there is with a closed network transport system, that have been active and developed over 200 years.
It’s not dense? That’s certainly not true for eastern Denmark, and it’s not bad at all in the west either.
@@Kvadraten376 The east has the capital with millions of people, but the rest isn't too good. Most towns and cities are only served by one line, there are only few lines connecting smaller towns on different main lines with each other, at least in the west
“Aalborg” is not a island it’s a city but “Aalborg” is instead called “Vendssysel”
I'm always puzzled by the comparably low amount of electrification throughout the whole railway network of Denmark.
Thanks for this great video.
Yes an i think that it wast a god idea to use difere energie Energie Systems than Germany and Sweeden. The Train betwen Hamburg and Cophagen runs 100% elektrificaden trachs but they have to use stil the IC3 diesel units
There was a plan to proceed with electrification of all the mainlines, but it got scrapped in the 1990's which led to the infamous IC4 project.
@@MimeHTF5 true, however, it shouldn't be such a problem, multicurrent trains have existed for decades now, and as both are AC-based, they're pretty easy. It's technically harder to run on both the S-tog network (electrified with 1.5 DC) and the rest of the Danish network (electrified at 25 kV AC), even if that has been done for many years, now, too (In France and the Netherlands, for instance).
Denmark is currently electrifying its entire mainline, and should achieve speeds of up to 250km/h on both the Aalborg-Copenhagen and the Flensburg-Copenhagen line. Currently, the latter line is already fully electrified, and should run the new Alstom Coradia trainsets starting from 2025.
@@MimeHTF5 Well that's why that route is going to be serviced by the Siemens Vectron in the future since it's specifically built to be able to seamlessly handle several different systems.
Thank you. Also it's interesting to see that DSB's electrification programme continues. Among the lines to be electrified is the northern section of the main Jutland line, ie presently from Fredericia to Aarhus (then also to Aalborg). You can see the status in a recent YT clip called
Führerstandsmitfahrt / Førerrumstur 4K: Aarhus - Fredericia
Spoiler alert: Not counting a few masts in Aarhus station (not considering those for the Letbane), mast foundations can be seen from Horsens on (partially lying near the tracks, partially rammed into the ground); and from Vejle to Fredericia, you can see the masts in place (not all of them yet).
Aarhus actually got masts for some of the main tracks as well. You can see them just before the entrance to the station. I believe they were put up in the late 90's as part of a local political campaign that never went anywhere.
*Bane Danmark is doing the work :) DSB is only an operator.
@@madsbodin Det er sgu rigtigt
DSB only owns the trains, and they have nothing to do with the infrastructure of the railway. That would happen to be Banedanmark formerly known as Banestyrelsen
@@BobkelsoDK
Ja, det sagde @Mads Bodin Men måske har du nogle supplerende oplysninger om emnet?
I actually miss the train ferries a lot. It was so nice to get out of the train, stretch your legs and have a nice lunch before continuing your journey. The system was also much better back then because you had the InterRegio trains. Unlike today, you could not ride on the InterCity services without a seat reservation, so if you wanted to save money you could jump on an InterRegio train, which was almost as fast. The only downside was that the InterRegio trains were not transferred with the ferry, but it was really a minor convinience. It meant that there were actually seats for everyone, unlike today where almost every InterCity train is crowded. Back then DSB also offered a much broader onboard service. On some InterCity services the first class section could be turned into a conference room, complete with fax machine, printer etc. On some InterRegio services you had an entire coach just for children. This coach had an onboard-playground. Last but not least you could also order a "flex coach" (only on InterRegio and sleeper services). These flex coaches did not have a fixed interior and could be transformed into whatever you needed. Some used them for private bars, some for dancing, some for conferences, some for showrooms etc. DSB was really amazing back in the day.
The IR trains and the compulsory reservation in IC trains only came after the introduction of the IC3 trains in the early '90s. These were (believe it or not!) pretty popular, but there were still only few of them available, so chaos often arised when too many passengers tried to board an IC3 train with too few seats. Therefore DSB decided to split the IC product into the high-quality IC (IC3 trains with compulsory reservation) and the IR (loco-hauled trains with older railcars and no need for reservation). When more IC3 (and IR4) units were delivered during the '90s, the extra units were inserted on IR departures, so the difference between the two products generally lessened. At last, the IR4s were upgraded to (nearly) IC-standard and the IR product was integrated into the IC product, while the reservation demand mostly was removed.
If I recall correctly the Copenhagen Metro is the only metro in Europe that runs 24/7.
Correct
How do they maintain it then?
@@petrhajduk9955 Running low frequency on the one side while doing maintenance on the other.
Explained here: ruclips.net/video/TdBCNbeAzpg/видео.html
@@petrhajduk9955 can confirm. The metro line here in Copenhagen never has prolonged downtime even during maintenance, they operate on separate tracks for that.
Err, the Copengagen S-tog network was electrified long before any parts of the mainline were electrified. The first portion of the 1,650V DC network started operating in 1934.
You completely forgot:
1) The S-trains, the first electrified in the 1926 between Copenhagen and Klampenborg, now with over 100 stations with departures every 2-10 minutes. and with the possibility of taking free bicycles.
2) The Metro system, a driverless train that runs every two minutes from almost 100 stations.
3) all the local railways
4) all the light rail lines
5) The Rejsekort ticket is valid throughout the country for all public and private trains, buses and (ferries in the cities)
Very nice video, and good pronounciations of danish names! ^_^ As some people have already pointed out, there are some issues here and there, but they're not that bad considering what the video is about.
Fun Fact 1: Did you know that DSB is the only operator IN THE WORLD to operate DMUs and EMUs coupled together on a daily basis? This was done around the year 2000, when updating the computers of the DMUs (the IC3s) and the EMUs (The IR4), that anables drivers to start the diesel engine of an IC3 from the cab of an IR4, and raise the pantograph of an IR4 from the cab of an IC3.
Fun Fact 2: Did you know that the current S-trains are the only EMUs in the world to use single axles throughout the train. This does not count the Talgo High Speed sets of Spain, as they have traditional 2-axle bogies on the powercars. The S-train's axles are also "hydraulically controlled" around curves, decreasing the maintenance needed on both the wheels and the tracks, as well as noise
Thank for this information. We didn't know this. This part about coupling DMUs and EMUs is really interesting.
@@RailwaysExplained It's a pleasure to share our facts with the world
Denmark really lacks on rolling stocks, the DSB fleet is not really good.
@@brsvang521 we do, yes. It’s often seen when special timetables are made, during engineering works.
We once found out that 135 S-trains was nowhere near enough to cover all services, during a summer engineering work. We needed at least 50 more. That’s why when we get new S-trains within the next 10 years, there’ll be at least 150 sets.
With the InterCity fleet, it’s a different issue. If it wasn’t for AnsaldoBreda screwing with our trains, we’d have a lot more trains, seats and services in general.
@@CopenhagenRailProductions Maybe. I just hope that the IC5's by Alstom turn out well and that we can get a ton of them, because we really do need a ton if we're gonna expect this type to retire both the IC3, IC4, and IR4.
Best performing, yet atm we are not huge fans of DSB, actually a lot of the time we aren’t. They drop the ball quite badly when anything that causes an accident happens.
From personal experience. There is rail work going on that makes it so there’s only one or two active rails going out and in of Copenhagen. That means one rail that trains going either way have to share.
There was a train signal error there, causing most trains to be cancelled, including all the ones I needed.
Absolutely no announcements that they were making it so they stopped at Roskilde instead and turned there. Only figured out by deciding to go there with another train.
Then we arrive and realise we have to wait half an hour despit there being literally four other perfectly good trains going nowhere.
And then the train arrives, and it can barely hold all the people waiting to go. A single set train, when there were four double sets.
So yeah. They’re pretty crap at the moment.
I think you're being dramatic.
Things can go wrong and railway work is always a pain but you can't say Danish railway is bad in general, because it's not.
Do you happen to get things wrong? DSB is only the operator they don’t have anything to do with the infrastructure of the railway so you’re blaming the wrong company the company to blame is banedanmark. They are the owners of the of the tracks, signals and stations. As for the short trains, it’s not really Dsb’s fault everything that can run is out in service but mainly that is because of the track works
As someone who live in southern Sweden, I can only agree that the Danish rail system is superb. It is easy and cheap to get anywhere in the country or to Germany on short notice. I have only had a handful bad experiences across journeys I can't count anymore. It will soon become even better with the Fehmarn belt connection and electrification extended to Aarhus. I do recommend the electric ferry Helsingør-Helsingborg over the Øresund bridge, though. A chance to stretch your legs and grab a beer, besides it being cheaper.
I wonder if they will add a Stockholm/Malmø to Hamburg train via Copenhagen because if they do then I think it would be a popular train!
@@Mgameing123 Snälltåget has has a sleeper train running that route every night in both directions. I have used it both to and from Hamburg and Stockholm, but never end-to-end. It takes 13 hours and 16 minutes end-to-end because of the long stops and low time table priority. A quicker day-running train might be possible after Fehmarn belt.
The sleeper continues all the way to Berlin and departs daily April 7th to September 23rd plus some sporadic off-season departures.
@@backyard-tourist I know but I mean at day
I live in North Jutland, where the regional government owns the operator NJ that had two local lines until they took over the main regional line from DSB some years ago and they really improved the service. Now they are able to do it cheaper, so now we have trains every half hour during the daytime instead of every hour. They even built a new eastern station in my town. Well done I must say!
I’m glad to see that the operator there does a good job but the fact is no railway in Denmark will make a profit well only two to be fair and it doesn’t make it better to Dsb have to save money because of some strict enforcement’s from the government and NJ is a private owned company so they don’t have to save the same amount of money as DSB shall
I have travelled on the Danish Railways a few years ago, also visiting Malmo via the Oresund bridge (please excuse lack of the correct Danish and Swedish letters) and was very impressed with the system. Copenhagen central station was rather nice, having adequate retail units for travellers but not turned into a shopping centre with trains.
My only complaint would be that the trains serving the airport were totally unsuitable for travellers, being crowded and having insufficient doors (we were nearly stuck on the train when trying to alight).
The splitting of track and trains to satisfy the European Union was a very bad idea. It led to actual and financial disaster in UK and a French/German grab of the privatised railway companies.
One mistake, the southern part of Jutland was also ceded after the second Schleswig war, it was then reunited with Denmark after WW1
præcist, og der er også andre fejl. Desuden udtaler han danish forkert hele tiden - det er bogstavet a det er galt med.
Great video. Did you know that even as Denmark = DSB, Arriva and Banedanmark does score high. The passengers still says the following about train commutes: "They are either never on time or simply cancelled".
The score comes from the fact, that many departures are in fact cancelled before the train even leaves the first station... Giving the lines better ratings in papers like the one you link to...
I live close to a line have 1-4 cancellations in peak/rush hours every week, not accounting holidays and weekends.
I and plenty of others where forced to buy a car, or loss our jobs, always coming in late to work.
OMG FINALLY A VIDEO ABOUT RAILWAYS IN DENMARK JEG HAR WAITED FOR A SÅ LANG TIME!!!!
Enjoy!
5:23 The first Limfjord Railway Bridge was inagurated in 1879 and the newer one also in 1938. Weird not to mention that, as is inherently more important than the Oddesund bridge.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jernbanebroen_over_Limfjorden
nice video. One thing there are also plans for a highspeed section between Odense and Middelfart with a max speed of 250km/h and they have about 47 Vectrons for passanger use for the Doppelstockcoaches
Middelfart 😂
@@tristontherailfan that is how it is written in my language
@@traxxdutch6153 ok
Correction. 42 Vectrons. Specifically 26 for regional traffic, and 16 for intercity trains together with the new Talgo coaches they have on order
@@drdewott9154 á oke thanks
The first railway to be electrified in Denmark is in 1934. when DSB chose that the new S-train line in Copenhagen should use electric trains.
To be honest. Danish politians are litterally trying to expand the motorway network by making journeys faster by car than train like the Kattegat bridge might only be for cars if it (hopefully won't) gets buildt. I mean why can't new bridges be only for trains?
Automated cars will likely have much of the benefits trains have now, and they won't have much of the downsides, like for example the huge expense of upkeep.
Making the connection train-only would help fewer Danes.
I would personally prefer a train-car-tunnelbridge, but I'm not sure, that I can see the double value from it. A car-only connection cost 60 billion vs. 110 billion (est. DDK).
@@fastertove Actually you forgot to mention the fact they did't research how much the bridge would cost only for train! I think honestly if they want to make that bridge then make it train only as cars are never sustainable! Plus since it takes 3 hours to drive from KPH - Aarhus then 1 hour by train then it would be obvious what transport method is fastest. We can also extend the Kalundborg regional train to Aarhus!
@@Mgameing123 The connection would be a tunnel-bridge rather than a bridge. Trains doesn't work well on bridges due to inclines and oscillation.
A train-only connection was never intended. It wouldn't make much economic sense and wouldn't take much load of the Great Belt Fixed Link... It would however be pretty cool.
Edit: Cars could potentially become "sustainable" with sharing, automation and electrification. Germany is planning to electrify parts of their motorway system, if successful this could spread. Trains will still have their place, especially in more populated areas.
@@fastertove Trains still are more sustainable and I think trains can be economicly sense as you would connect the two biggest regions in under an hour plus we can have some regional services. Its not about taking of load. Its about attracting new load.
@@Mgameing123 Trains (the main lines that is) are more sustainable, but also a more expensive and unreliable form of transport.
Not sure if connecting Århus and Copenhagen would be economic beneficial compared to the cost - this is often one of the arguments against the connection in the first place. It will also draw more people to the most populated areas in Denmark - something we want to avoid.
I'm not personally against the connection. I live in Aalborg and I don't own a car, so I'm one of those who stand to gain the most. I would love to see it become reality. I just returned from Copenhell - 5 hour travel in an old IC3 train...
The situation is not good at all in Denmark. Passenger numbers have been decreasing the last 10 years, the same with national transport of goods, and no matter how much money is being invested, it doesn't seem to help. Hopefully the projects like electrification and signalling systems will help improve it. The passenger numbers are concerning since almost all other european countries see big increases in passengers, while Denmark doesn't. The political trench fighting has been a big problem as well for the whole transport sector, due to Left parties being in favor of trains and public transport, while the Right is against it and would rather build highways instead. So every time a new government is formed, the plans are changed again and again. Last year however they finally acknowledged this problem and a very big infrastructure plan was finalized with broad support from the whole parliament.
One of the reasons for the low amount of passengers, is probably due to the new highways built, which are faster and cheaper to use. The danish railway system is also NOT cheap, but actually quite expensive for most people.
Electrification on the major part of the network (the Fredericia - Aarhus - Aalborg line) will be ready start 2026. The electrification is actually finished sooner, but the old signalling system is incompatible with electrification, but the new system is only ready in 2026.
ERTMS Level 2 is progressing but extremely delayed too. Original plan was 2018-2021, but is now 2030. This summer the lines Vejle - Holstebro and Skanderborg - Silkeborg - Herning is being rolled out.
On lines where electrification is not worth it, battery trains will be purchased instead, and partly electrified, and will be tested in 2025 on the line Holstebro - Skjern and will be rolled out on the other regional lines (mostly all Arriva lines).
Maintenance and renewal is still problematic, since the amount of people with knowledge of the old interlocking systems is under 20 people. So major renewal projects often get delayed for years, or postponed to after ERTMS is rolled out.
At 4:19 there's a error on the map, it says Mariager instead of Hobro. Mariager is a town 30 minutes away further down the inlet from the marked city (Hobro). Hobro is the marked city or town at the end of the inlet.
Great video!
Im happy you made a video on Denmark
despite the situation in the world at the moment, i would still suggest making a video about the Russian railway. its diverse and with a not bad history
Except for the trans siberian railway build by Stalin
We already made the video about trans siberian railway
Am impressed that you pronounce most Danish cities and islands correctly.
men ikke ordet "danish" der udtales bogstavet a hele tiden forkert.
5:50
Interesting, all surrounding countries use 16.7Hz system.
50Hz is good for having simple transmission system, but bad for interconnection.
Actually ALL EU countries are beginning to adopt the 25Kv 50Hz system for ALL countries so all trains can ish go everywhere when ERTMS is implemented everywhere
@@QueentasticTDP German speaking countries, Sweden and Norway all use 15kV, 16.7Hz system. Denmark is only one that uses 25kV 50Hz. New trains do not care as they have electronic drive, but old trains can not work at different system, or at least not properly.
Our new locomotives can work with both systems. So no big deal apparently.
@@QueentasticTDP no, not really. in Germany 15 Kv is used and there are no plans for a switch and Germany is not the only one. The way into the future are multi voltage systems, already very common in Cargo locomotives. Doing 15 and 25 kv combo is not that hard, it is relatively close to each other.
@@tzarcoal1018 true
In addition, in terms of locomotive performance, old 15 kV 16.7 Hz standard are comparable to 25 kV 50 Hz standard, so yeah there is no reason to change 15 kV 16.7 Hz standard to 25 kV 50 Hz.
meanwhile, Dutch and French 1500V DC should be changed to 25 kV 50 Hz (or at least, boost to 3 kV DC). I heard some dual mode high power locomotives are turning on diesel engine to boost their power when running on 1500V DC, meaning 1500v dc line already reached the limits🤔
The S-Trains has been electrified since 1934
Startsat 2:50
Great video.
The high speed Koege line has very little traffic, as the needed equipment hasn't been purchased yet. It's also a detour for anyone traveling to or from Copenhagen.
Det er bestemt IKKE en omvej, når man kommer fra Jylland og Fyn og skal til Københavns hovedbanegård eller lufthavnen.
A video on the Canadian railway system would be cool. VIA Rail has an impressive and interesting history and would make an a good comparison video to the one on the US.
Agreed 👍
I like Denmark because it is the home of Lego. This year "The Lego Group" is celebrating its 90th anniversary.
Great video, but I hoped you were going to talk more about the different types of rolling stock. Also, I don't think you mentioned anything about the track gauge? I do find it quite amazing how they have managed to run such a punctual system with such old signalling. I wonder how they've achieved that?
Most of the signals are much newer. It's only a few places that are so old.
Notably, the Copenhagen S-Train network has been halfway upgraded to CBTC, and the non-upgraded part is still a reasonably advanced ATC system. It will be completely upgraded by the end of this year.
For the mainline network, the signals are of varying age. Most are from the 50's or 70's, but several lines have also been upgraded to ETCS Level 2. And there's a few spots using really old systems.
The main networks are standard-gauge tracks, 1,435 mm, letting trains transport goods between Sweden and Germany with the same engines and wagons. The biggest issue for trains passing the national borders is that Sweden and Germany both use 15 kV at 16.7 Hz while Denmark use 25 kV at 50 Hz, so any electric engine must have at least dual converters on board. The new ERTMS might take over the "biggest issue" though since it costs around 1½ years to install the new security systems in the engines; only the DSB can afford taking engines our for so long time. Most Danes can't recognise the networks as "punctual" though, mostly because of extensive works on the railways leading to replacement bus services on many lines - especially during the Summer. The S-train network however is exceptionally punctual compared to national routes.
Something I’m wondering is why we rarely use railway ferries anymore.
Is it because they’ve built bridges in every location it would economically make sense?
it's difficult to manage a tighter time schedule when trains have to wait for ferries, board them, etc. It also makes the transit overall slower. There really isn't any reason to use trains on ferries if other alternatives exist (besides the cozy aspect of it).
I live in Horsens and i am a train nerd!
Thanks for the video. The Danish railway is probably one of the most efficient and reliable railway networks in the world even when considering the country is spread out over many islands. Keep up the good work👍
Great video, I really enjoyed it. I don't have much to add to the other comments below, but I do want to point out a slight issue that might be limiting the amount of people willing to use our public transport network. When talking passenger transport on Sjælland, we have the electrified S-train that seems to work fairly well on it's own. Then we have Lokalbanen which owns a pretty big chunk of non-electrified railways going from bigger cities to the outskirts of Denmark. The largest owner of our busses is Movia which owns the majority of stocks in Lokalbanen but don't work together with DSB. This in turn means that the trains from Lokal banen and the busses from Movia do not work together with DSB, and therefor don't share a time schedule. You could take the s-train to Ballerup and see your bus leave before you can manage to get off the train.
Us danish don't really produce anything so usually the freight traffic is between Germany and Sweden
Vor den im Video erwähnten Eisenbahnen gab es in Südjütland, das damals zu Deutschland gehörte, einen ganzen Streifen von Lokalbahnen, auch „Kleinbanen“ genannt, diese wurden hauptsächlich von den Einheimischen genutzt, um Waren durch Südjütland zu transportieren. Diese frühen Eisenbahnen trugen dazu bei, den Handel in der Region zu stärken, auch zwischen Dänemark und Deutschland. Ich denke, ein wichtiger Teil der dänisch/deutschen Eisenbahngeschichte.
Before the railways mentioned in the video, in southern Jutland, which at the time belonged to Germany, there was a whole strip of local railways, also called "Kleinbanen", these were mainly used by the locals to transport goods around southern Jutland. These early railways helped to strengthen trade in the area, also between Denmark and Germany. I think an important part of the Danish / German railway history.
men de blev meget hurtigt nedlagt efter genforeningen, fordi de var dårlige, gammeldags og uøkonomiske.
I am really impressed with your research and presentation. Thank you for a great video.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Only thing that worries me about our rails and those new trains is the knowledge that somehow, someone, will manage to make a complete mess of it and it will take years of bickering to sort out. Happened with the IC4, happened when Arriva started up, the light rails in Aahus and other projects where someone forgets something...
Aarhus Letbane is doing very well. Obviously the politicians funded by big oil want BRT since asphalt is made with oil.
they just electrified the railway from Fredericia to Aalborg this year
That's great!
It is still under construction as of right now, no wires yet.
The plan is to finish construction on the electrification of the railway line in 2023, and hopefully open in 2023 or 2024 the same goes for the Holbæk line, which will open in 2023 for electric trains
Well done video! Thanks for posting! ✔👍
Thanks for watching
its weird that the Vejle århus ålborg line is only now being electrified
you must remember that Banestyrelsen just cannot decide what they would like to happen. They have to take it to the governement and have a law passed. result = endless haggling and backdoor horsetrading, ending up in sometimes stupid decisions. and that is from an old grumpy former traffic controller!!
Make a video about Albanias railway and the new projects being done currently
Will there be a video on the Italian railway network?
Yes. It will be during the year for sure ☺️
The Quality in germany is so high? Man I really don‘t want to travel in lower rated countries now
Ariva also runs train on funen
Maybe do a video on the copenhagen metro since it is once of if not the greatest metro.
I miss the railway ferries. It was a nice pause and you could stretch your legs in open air.
Danish/American here who takes the trains more or less 2 times a week currently but used to use it for my commute 8 years ago. The trains here are getting a bit old as evidence with a program to replace the IC3 trains by 2007 (if memory serves me right) having fallen behind on deliverys multiple times since then until it was canceled by frustrated politicians. Still performing better than germany somehow which is actually amazing to me. I guess the grass is really always greener on the other side.
The IC3 trains are close to have driven 1bilion KM it is estimated that they hit the 1 billion km in 2026, and all 96 IC3 made is still running and operational
I like that the IC3 Trains have the Posibly to split up in multible units. I was also on one of the last trains that operated pn the Old Vogelfluglinie a realy intresting experiane
We are the only country in the world where we can run, electric trains and diesel trains as a hybrid.
Surprised to hear that its cheep to travel by train in Denmark. The prices are double that of Sweden. As a swede living in Jutland, i often have to buy ticket from Vejle to Copenhagen (one way) for tge same price as Copenhagen - Stockholm
t/r. The later distance being nearly 3 times longer.
You should consider Dsb orange. Maybe you can save some money there. And if not we should consider voting for some politicians that want to make the railway cheaper, but also keep it state-owned
It is Orange🤷♂️
Thanks for the great video. Israel Railways is just about to retire its last Danish IC3 train sets - the end of an era. Maybe a video on the Israeli rail network next? IR went from 12.7 million passengers in 2000 to 69 million in 2019. The plan for 2040 is 300 million.
Thank for those infomations. We will consider making the video of IR.
@@RailwaysExplained Awesome, glad to hear :) if you are interested, you can easily find me online and I will try to connect you with the local railway museum's manager, who is one of the foremost experts on IR history and current specifications. Consider also looking at the channel by Sergey Shvyrev, who posts cabin views for IR lines.
Amusing and interesting to read on Trains in Denmark. As a Child back in 7th grade , late 50; DSB, had what they called Danish Children Vacation train. From Copenhagen, across Lillebelt, Fynen,. To North Jutland. It was a magnificent Steamers,I can still hear the motors hearth beat! See the steam belt out onto the elaborate Wrought grid off Copenhagen train Station ceiling. Flags in front on train grid and atop cabooses. Children, waiting to Board, shoulder bags fillied with lunch ,soda and goodies. Each Caboose had a conductor, each Child a little thing around their neck, with name and destination. No Child was ever lost,nor on the ferries across the Sound. In Hjerm , 7pm. Evening, stereo stood my Grandparents waiting for me!! My grandfather ,the Station Master. Am always amazing people with this stories, which repeated till my early teens. Every Summer. Yes , Denmark was then a safe Country, for Children. Always loved the Old trains. Years later, when visiting from the States, on travels to Germany, or Italy, used the Oriental Express. Something Romantic about those trains. Reading, amuse me how well informed Danes are, and always analytical and overtly critical!! It takes a tourist to compliment their Rail???!! A typical Dane Trait, things can always be improved ,to be better!!! Haha haha, But O.K. so it will no doubt.🤣🤣😍🇩🇰🇺🇸🌅🌷🤔
By far the most impressive thing about trains in Denmark is the connection between the islands. However, very few trains run on electricity, which is a shame in 2022, and the state of electrification is much worse than in neighboring Sweden and Norway. In addition, there are frequent signaling issues which cause many delays for commuter and sometimes intercity trains. Finally, the state owned operator DSB has monopoly on certain routes, which means it’s impossible to find alternative connections (e.g. a bus). Which is problematic as train tickets are crazy expensive (considering the poor service quality) unless you get them on discount and as travel times are very long for such short distances.
The fact is now that most of our trains now run from electricity mainly the smaller lines, a few regional lines, private owned lines and a few Mainlines aren’t electrified and there for they are required to be run by diesel though that is all going to change in the near future, where we are investing in battery trains, and the electrification of the railway is making progress
Hope you will do Czechia soon.
The S-Trains in copenhagen was actually electrified in 1934 which many years before the regional lines
Nice, do you think if ok you can make a video about the British rail network
Will be
Thanks for a great video!
Truth be told - there has been a series of problems with the Danish railway-systems and in the recent years especially the huge budget-overruns on the ERTMS implementation and the effort to buy the IC4 (Ansaldo) trains which never got to work. Either of these is a scandal in their own manner.
But I think it's also worth mentioning the great role of DSB (Danish Railway), who for over 100 years had brought Denmark together as a nation. Without a well-functioning railway-system, it would never have been possible to live in one part- and study in another part of the country. Also the trains had a great role in bringing familys and friends together for generations.
I live in Denmark and uses the train frequently. Maybe not as frequently as years ago, partly due to the later years track-works and subsequent delays. It's way easier to take the car or a commuter-bus, while DSB and Banedanmark is struggeling with electrification and signaling-systems. But hopefully it will be better sooner or later.
The first electric train line was a local train line in copenhagen in 1934
It's fun reading the comments about how poor the trains are in Denmark. You want crappy trains, low frequency services and lots of cancellations? Come to Australia!
Can you do a video about the Hungarian Railway? I think it is very interesting to see how rich history it has with two equally old Railways. MÁV and GYSEV
Why didn’t the Oersung bridge just use the natural island right next to the artificial one they built?
Saltholm is a protected nature reserve
I lived in Denmark for 8 years(moved away in 2021) and as someone who has traveled a lot in europe and within Denmark, i can only say Denmark has one of the worst train systems in western Europe. Don't get me wrong, public transport in Copenhagen is incredible and reliable, they have regular amazing metro, subway, train and bus services which run almost all day long. But this does not apply to the rest of the country, I was living in Esbjerg and trains operated by dsb were terrible, getting to Copenhagen from Esbjerg cost you 100 euros both ways, the trains are old, slow and up until last year they didn't even have functioning vending machines on-board, so you'd have to sit there for 3.5h without water or food. I've experienced them break down multiple times. Once coming back from Copenhagen the train was double booked and broken so instead of 3h it took 6h and many people had to stand up for part of the trip.
People mostly take the car between large cities simply because of how much more financially viable the far is, despite taxes of 150% on cars, to go from esbjerg to Aarhus, simply having two people in the car was already cheaper than taking the train(counting gas, maintenance and insurance). Dsb is so stingy that they don't operate between smaller towne and instead choose to let Arriva do it, and they do a better and cheaper job than dsb does. Most of my friends that lived in smaller towns where both dsb and arriva operate said they'd always choose to take arriva because it's much more reliable. The funny thing is Danes pay insane taxes which are supposed to go into things like public transport, however I don't see much of that outside of Copenhagen. Things seem to be changing but way too slowly, they recently bought many new trains but delivery will only start by 2025 and end in 2031, and their high-speed train project is expected to be finished in 2031.
Side note: with the fixed links within Denmark and between Denmark and Sweden, the country connects central Europe to northern Europe by both road and rail. I can take a train from e.g. central Europe and go all the way up way beyond the arctic circle in Norway or Sweden
Which has technically always been possible, via Russia. The nice thing about these bridges is that you don't have to leave the EU to cross all the way into Scandinavia.
@@cvbattum and you don't need a visa
when a danish Train come to the time ... or not delays by , leaf on the tracks, snow are to hot maybe even the power lines for them are brokendown ... when you have 4 IC4 trains ... only 1 of them can drive becouse rest are spareparts, not even coming into the crews on the trasin helpfullness or the REAL lag of it ...
How good are the rest of Scandinavias railways?
Will be
Sweden has a restaurant wagon, I have no idea how they do that. Now in DK there is a youngster with a rucksack with hot water for instant coffee or tea walking back and forth in the alley facepushing you to buy just something. WTF.
It wouldn’t make sense to make that, in the danish trains and the reasoning is well the lines, are just too small in Sweden. The trains operate at much longer lines therefore making it possible to make a restaurant wagon.
@@BobkelsoDK There used to be at least a kiosk when the IC.trains started up in the 1970enties, but a newspaper decided to look into the pay for the stewardesses, and made a sensational splash about it. DSB ( at that time not split up in fractions) wilted to the critisism, closed the kiosk on the trains and dismissed the stewardess even if they were part of the trains safety crew. it would be lovely to have a diningcar on the long haul lines to Struer, Ålborg, Herning.
yea it works as long there is no leaves on the track xd
Funny thing is that when you live here in Denmark, it always feel like the trains aren't running all that great. But that might also be because everybody loves to complain about their train service, no matter how good it is. Except maybe the Japanese.
Agreed, complaining about one's national train service seems to be an international thing.😁
2:00 443 islands? that's like 1/10th of the number Region Stockholm has. (also: Sweden has more lakes than Finland basically just because we're a bigger country).
Denmark, the Old Enemy. Love you guys, and hope you get fully electrified soon! :)
I mean that's mostly rocks, that'd be like if you counted every sandbank in Denmark. When that number is used it refers to permanent islands that are potentially inhabitable and have been given names.
og Sverige har også mange mange flere indvandrere som I slet ikke kan styre - det er dem, der styrer jer! Sveriges økonomi er ad helvede til og den svenske krone er ingenting værd - rent lorteland.
Germany ranked 4th hahahaha I was 1,5 hours late to Basel because of their ICE service.
It's not as rosy red as it seems. While it is true that the railway network is quite widespread thorughout the country, these facts tell the true story:
-Tracks and signals weren't maintained for years, if not decades. A report a few years ago concluded that the entire signal system had to be replaced. This will cost hundreds of millions of Euros and take more than ten years.
-When Denmark went from Diesel to Diesel-electric trains in the 1980s, the beloved "Silver Arrow" trains were donated to Poland, tools and all, but without the knowhow, so the Polish staff did not know how to maintain and repair them. The successor, the IC 3 (InterCity 3), was designed and built by the Scandia factory in Randers, Denmark. It is a very beautiful train with some very smart features:
1. The wheels have rubber rings, reducing both nosie and track wear. When worn down, you just chage the rubber rings and you ar good to go again. Just like rubber rings ar used on the turning wheels in scale model locomotives to gain traction!
2. Front and rear ends are pulled somewhat back and the edges are covered by large rubber fenders for aerodynamic coupling of train sets, specified by the track lengths on the then operating Great Belt ferries until til Great Belt Bridge opened in 1995.
3.As an unexpected side-effect from the square "hole" in the front of the train, turbulence prevents most rain and snow from reaching the front window. Also that bulk of rotating air in front of the train makes it one of the most aerodynamic trains ever built despite it being a square tube with hollow ends.
-Then, when it was decided to buy new trains, the IC 4. Italian Ansaldo-Breda won the contract as the lowest bidder, despite them having big problems getting the driver-less trains ready in time for the Copenhagen Metro, and despite them having absolutely no experience of designing diesel-electric trains, least not for a wet and cold climate.
This was a disaster from the very beginning, and after a decade of delays and millions poured into a seemingly black hole without any progress, the IC4 was finally scrapped. The only surviving set was that which for some obscure reason was sent to Moamar Ghadaffi in Libya by the Italian government, or by Ansaldo-Breda themselves.
-Tickets are extremely expensive. For example, a standard one-way 200 Km ticket costs €48,-. However, there are a few discount departures for €27,-. for the same distance. A one-way commuter train ticket covering 35 Km costs appr. €10,-. That's how much I pay for gasoline to go to the same city and back home again. That's absurd!
-When the railroads decided (well, were told to decide) the introduce an electronic ticket system, they could have licensed the London Oyster system. But instead they chose to invent the deep plate once again. Needless to say, the project got delayed time and time again, and when it finally was up and running, it wasn't flexible enough to handle certain demands, like transferring from a train to a bus under certain circumstances, and it had cost the tax payers twice as much as first promised when the company won the undertaking.
Denmark is still dependant on Diesel-electric trains because the tracks from appr. mid to north Justland are not yet electrified, and thus the government had to buy new trains from a producer of Diesel-electric trains (Siemens, I think) to replace the Italian IC 4 that never really got to work. But at least the politicians learned from this scandal and this time chose an off-the-shelf product instead of fooling around with new designs and concepts.
However, as a sidenote, more or less the same politicians a few years back decided to buy the still-developing F-35 fighter jet despite both the EuroFighter and the Swedish Draken being superior for Danish purposes. The F-35 is still as buggy as a Windows Release Candidate 1.0, and its take-off noise exceeds Danish legislation by quite a lot. At least one of the bidding companies pulled out prematurely because they felt the decission was already settled on the F-35 despite the negotiations between all bidding companies and the Danish parliament were still ongoing.
The great Big belt bridge opened in 1997
Trains In Copenhagen are efficient, or the S Train is. Most of the time its 50% faster to take the S train to get to central Copenhagen than taking a car. Now if We look at the Regional trains (Øresunds Train included) Delays happen regually, as a person who takes both the S train and Øresundstrain for work, this is a thing you can expect daily, with delays sometimes leading up to 30 minutes
Denmark has the best railways in Europe even though Denmark is a small country.
Great video as always, i'm always looking forward to new content on this channel 👌
Strange that IC4 was not mentioned
If German rail is the fourth on the list - train system in the whole Europe is shit
Next made PKP Poland railway. PKP Intercity, PKP cargo, PKP TLK, Koleje Mozawieckie, Koleje Dolnośląskie, Polregio, Koleje Śląskie, Newag, PESA, EN57 Kibel.
No war 1864?
Really nice video - was definitely waiting for this one!
Just a few things to clarify:
Denmark have not invested in trains capable of over 200 km/h and thus that will be the maximum speed on the high speed line after getting the new coradia stream trains. Getting true high speed trains will be reconsidered in 10 years or so. Also, the delivery of the coradia stream trains have just been delayed (surely it's not the last time) and will at best first enter service in the middle of 2025.
Thanks for the additional information.
Remember that they can run some international trains through when the Femern belt tunnel is build. Those trains will be allowed to run 250 kmh.
@@QueentasticTDP True, and I would love that to happen, but most international trains (EuroCity trains more specifically) are not that fast. And firstly, the trains running between Copenhagen and Hamburg will be with Vectron locos (top speed of 200 km/h) and Talgo 230 coaches (made for speeds of up to 250 km/h I believe) which I think is enough for the next couple of decades, but the possibility is there for sure. Could be fun to see German ICE's here (again), though they would need to be permitted for use in Denmark first.
The reason the, coradia, stream trains are being delayed is, because of some additional brakes, being added to the trains somebody to make it even better and more secure
pls make one on sweden
Will be
Great video! I am daily commuter on the train, going between Odense (Funen) and Copenhagen (Zealand) and have been for 4 years. In my view, the danish rail network suffer heavily from the low amount of investment throughout the years. The fleet is ageing quite heavily and as other pointed out in the thread, the rolling stock is in desperate need for an update. The main train is 35 years old.
Some passengers will experience that a train is being delayed by more than 60 minutes, for then to be cancel all together. The more lucky experience that their train will arrive and depart, but will be welcomed by and old and tatty interior, and often experience a A/C (summer) or Heater (winter) that does not work. Then add to the equation that the price is not competitive for those who cannot benefit from commuter savings. Taking car is much cheaper, and give more flexibility. I understand why passengers stay away.
They invested in new trains from Asnaldo Breda (now Hitachi railway) to replace the entire intercity fleet , which ended in disaster. Only a few are in service, which they entered in 2012, with a plan to scrap them before 2025. Often Ansaldo Breda is blamed for solelyfor the incident, but the danish railway and Danish parliament also has it part of the blame. Originally the contract was on electrical trains, but after contract was signed and the project had been active for some time, it became clear the electrical was not suitable for the danish railway network, and the order was changed from electrical to diesel train instead, but not changing the type/chassis. So now the faced a situation where the original contract was a on set of standardized electrical trains, that now have to be retrofitted with diesel engines, hence a prototype.
Edit: Spelling mistake
ansaldo breda
@@stephanbilmans That is correct - I will edit, thanks for spotting that.
I've seen the Rail Performance Index mentioned in other videos and articles, but am I the only one who thinks that's a biased and strange report? (not to mention the most recent number are now 5 years old) To be fair to the makers of the report mention their biases up front (although I can think of a few extra problems that are not mentioned, like countries that shipping a large percentage of their bulk freight over water are punished by a smaller intensity score, even though they use a more efficient mode than rail). However, seemingly not much time was spent mitigating the effect of these biases in the result (Good luck to Luxembourg getting a high quality of service rating due their lack of high speed rail, and long distance trips). Is this report still being quoted because there are no better or more recent indices available ?
5:37 Wrong. The first electrically powered railway in Denmark was opened already on 3 April 1934 - not 1986.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S-train_(Copenhagen)#History
I think personally as a Dane the biggest issue for the railway system are the fairly low speeds and lack of real high speed rail lines. The speeds are set to improve with electrification with 200 km/h becoming the new norm as the speeds prior to this were limited to 180 km/h since that was the top speed of the IC3 class which was the backbone of the network. But a proper high speed line connecting Århus, Odense and Copenhagen would be amazing and really feels like what is needed. It wouldn't be hard to bring travel times from Århus to Copenhagen down to close to one hour and doing so would be absolutely huge for the economy of both cities, at the same time the expanding commuter light rail network in Århus would enable people to live in much cheaper places while working in the big cities. If there was also a line going up the length of Jutland from Germany this could also help reconnect rural areas of Denmark to the growth that the cities have seen, like if you could live in Northern Jutland and work in Århus that would be enormous. The lack of any such line just feels like a lack in ambition because I'm sure there's demand to at least support an Århus-Copenhagen line and doing so would cut down drastically on the car traffic there which would be vital in meeting the ambitious climate goals Denmark has.
Otherwise though I don't think there's much to complain about with the railway system here, it's generally comfortable and always on time, the maybe second biggest issue is the expense, I think there should be more generous subsidies to help bring down ticket costs so the railways can play more of a social role as well.
The main problem with our speeds in Denmark, it’s not the trains itself. It is the way that the railway lines, especially in jutland is laid down. If it wasn’t for that, the average speed would be about 160 but right now it’s only 120. Besides, the IC3 trains have reached a much higher speed than 180 but that was doing the testing I believe they reached about 256
The new 200 km/h trains will have both a higher topspeed of 200 km/h and way faster acceleration than the IC3 trains. Acceleration is almost just as important as speed, and when the new signalling system gets rolled out everywhere, it will make lines with many stops have a way higher average speed.
@@BobkelsoDK Det er IKKE korrekt. IC3-togenes motorer kobler selv trækkraften fra, når man kommer op omkring 190 km/timen.
@@williamn3070 Korrekt, og det er helt bevidst, at DSB har valgt tog, hvor accelerationen vægtes højere end en højere hastighed, som ved de fleste tog alligevel ikke kan fuldt udnyttes - pga. den korte afstand mellem provinsens stationer, og man er nødt til at stoppe ved de mest betydelige stationer, hvis der skal være fornuftig økonomi i det.
awsome and interesting information
I think the positivity around Denmarks railways is affected by Copenhagen and the large proportion of the population living there. It is a capital city and has the services you would expect. Less so in other areas of Denmark. Denmark cannot be realistically compared to nations more than an order of magnitude larger. In reality in many places the train service is rubbish. I can drive to Copenhagen in 3.5 hours. A train will take 5.5 not including travel to the station. It is not cheap. Local trains are limited. Commuting with the train is just not an option for many, myself included. Outside of the major cities public transport is quite basic in general. It is a car society. Many local lines have closed and are now cycle paths. All of my experiences using trains in Denmark have been negative, from breakdowns and limited service to crowding and homeless people running through the carriages to collect bottles at stations (Copenhagen). Statistics are not always cut and dry.
All your experiences have been negative?
Cmon
@@PeaceOfMake Perhaps I have just been unlucky. At best the service has been slow and expensive.