The Copenhagen S-train ( da, S-tog), the S-train of Copenhagen, Denmark is a key part of public transport in the city. It is a hybrid

urban Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

- suburban rail serving most of the

Copenhagen urban area The urban area of Copenhagen (also known as Greater Copenhagen) ( da, Storkøbenhavn or ), lying mostly in the Capital Region of Denmark but also in Region Zealand, consist of Copenhagen and Frederiksberg municipalities and the former Copenhagen ...

, and is analogous to S-Bahn systems of Berlin, Vienna and Hamburg. The trains connect the Copenhagen inner city with Hillerød,

Klampenborg Klampenborg is a northern suburb to Copenhagen, Denmark. It is located in Gentofte Municipality, directly on Øresund, between Taarbæk and Skovshoved. Like other neighbourhoods along the Øresund coast, Klampenborg is an affluent area with man ...

, Frederikssund,

Farum Farum is a town on the northeast of the island of Zealand in eastern Denmark, 20 km northwest of Copenhagen. The town has a population of 20,312 (1 January 2022).

, Høje Taastrup and Køge. There are 170 km of

double track A double-track railway usually involves running one track in each direction, compared to a single-track railway where trains in both directions share the same track. Overview In the earliest days of railways in the United Kingdom, most lin ...

with 86 S-train stations, of which eight are in neighbouring towns outside greater Copenhagen. The S-train is run by DSB S-tog A/S while Banedanmark owns the tracks and signals. Rail services are operated by "Fourth Generation" S-trains divided into 104 8-car train sets (Class SA) and 31 4-car train sets (Class SE). The system operates in tandem with the separately owned Copenhagen Metro which operates in the city centre, Frederiksberg and Amager. The two systems carry 500,000 passengers daily with S-tog serving more than 357,000 passengers a day. S-tog is complemented by regional trains, local diesel-powered trains within Metropolitan Copenhagen, an extensive

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

network and two lines of shuttle boats called harbour buses. The city's bus terminals are often adjacent to an S-train or Metro station. The different networks use a common system for fare zones and tickets.

History

The lines used by the

Copenhagen S-Train The Copenhagen S-train ( da, S-tog), the S-train of Copenhagen, Denmark is a key part of public transport in the city. It is a hybrid urban-suburban rail serving most of the Copenhagen urban area, and is analogous to S-Bahn systems of Berlin, V ...

suburban rail system in Denmark are six radial and two connecting, rail lines built during the late 19th and early 20th centuries as commuter transport to and from the residential areas around the city centre. The S-line aimed to electrify the existing local rail network around Copenhagen. Preparations for the decision were made in the ''Electrification Commission of 1926'', following several other approaches to plans. The Commission presented a report in 1929, in which it proposed that short-distance lines from Copenhagen to Klampenborg, as well as possibly Frederiksberg-Vanløse- Hellerup, should be electrified first - then the line to Holte, when the double track Holte-Hillerød was taken into use for the ordinary trains. After consideration of the proposal by DSB, the section to Valby was added as the first stage for electrification of the section to Ballerup, and a bill was submitted and adopted in April 1930. The first section opened on 3 April 1934, and ran from Klampenborg to Hellerup and Vanløse to Frederiksberg. It was the first electrically powered railway in Denmark. Stations were marked from the beginning with an "S" similar to those in Berlin S train system. There is a debate around the origin of the name ''"S-tog''" ("S-train") with many citing that the name of the system came from a competition in the newspaper ''

Politiken ''Politiken'' is a leading Danish daily broadsheet newspaper, published by JP/Politikens Hus in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was founded in 1884 and played a role in the formation of the Danish Social Liberal Party. Since 1970 it has been independ ...

.'' The judges' panel cited a long list of possible explanations for the "S" in S-tog, including: "state railways", "city railway", "Greater Copenhagen", "sun", "lake", "forest", "beach", "snow", "skiing", "skating", "sleigh", all of which start with an S in Danish. Larsen and Poulsen, however, challenge that this basis for the system name as an urban myth and that DSB had already determined the name. The names, though, demonstrate that the initial marketing of the S-trains emphasized recreational day trips ''from'' the city ''to'' the countryside. Hellerup to Hillerød, Svanemøllen to Farum were existing lines reorganized into the new network as was the line between Frederikssund and Valby. The section Valby – Vanløse opened in 1941, was extended to Ballerup in 1949 and then finally to Frederikssund in 1989. The system had single tracks between Ballerup and Veksø until 2000 and between Veksø and Frederikssund until 2002. New tracks were established along the existing Valby – Høje Taastrup line between Valby – Glostrup, opening in 1953. It was extended to Taastrup in 1963 and then 1986 to its final destination at Høje Taastrup. A completely new line: The Køge Bay line was built between Dybbølsbro and Køge in four stages: Dybbølsbro – Vallensbæk opened in 1972; Vallensbæk to Hundige in 1976; Hundige to Solrød Strand in 1979 and then finally to Køge in 1983. The Frederiksberg – Vanløse – Grøndal line was closed with the arrival of the Copenhagen metro. The former Godsbaneringen Grøndal – Ny Ellebjerg route has been converted to an S-line. Originally, no letters or numbers were used for the individual lines, but with the introduction of the summer timetable on 14 May 1950 the system moved to line letters. The S-train system has been entirely one-man operated since 1978.

Network

The network consists of a central section through downtown Copenhagen that splits into three radial lines at each end, reaching the outer suburbs and neighbouring towns. The radial sections are connected to each other via that central section. The system is designed so that a train from any southern radial can continue along any of the three northern and vice versa. In the city centre, the trains run underground in two tunnel sections which are also served by regional trains. Elsewhere the tracks are in the open, occasionally above or below street level. The three northern radials are: * Farumbanen (formerly ''Hareskovbanen'') ''(the Farum line)'' to

Farum Farum is a town on the northeast of the island of Zealand in eastern Denmark, 20 km northwest of Copenhagen. The town has a population of 20,312 (1 January 2022).

. ''(B & Bx lines)'' *

Nordbanen Nordbanen is one of six radial S-train lines in Copenhagen. It connects Copenhagen city center with several northern suburbs, and the cities of Hillerød, Birkerød and Allerød Stations Service patterns The weekday service consists of servic ...

''(the north line)'' to

Holte Holte is a suburban district in Rudersdal Municipality on the northern outskirts of Copenhagen, Denmark. The local town centre is centred on Holte station and is surrounded by extensive areas of single-family, detached homes as well as several ...

and Hillerød. ''(A & E lines)'' * The

line to

. ''(C line)'' The three southern radials are: * Køge Bay line to

Hundige Hundige is a suburb southwest of Copenhagen. The town has a relatively high rate of crime, most of which are committed in the large housing project called Askerød in the northern part of the subur The housing project called Gersagerparken has a ...

Solrød Strand Solrød Strand is a Danish town, seat of the Solrød Municipality, in the Region Sjælland. It is commonly known simply as Solrød. Its population as of 1 January 2022 was 17,337Køge. ''(A & E lines)'' * Vestbanen ''(the west line)'' to Høje Taastrup. ''(B & Bx lines)'' * Frederikssund line to

Ballerup Ballerup is a Danish town, seat of the Ballerup Municipality, in the Region Hovedstaden. There are approximately 25 schools in Ballerup Municipality. Ballerup has its own educational institution specialized in the study, training and research of ...

and Frederikssund ''(C & H lines)'' The six radials are additionally connected by *

Ringbanen Ringbanen (the "ring line") is an S-train line in Copenhagen. Its route is roughly semicircular, running around the central part of Copenhagen and connecting the S-train radials about 5 km out. Stations Service pattern Trains on the ring ...

''(the Ring or F line)'' going between Hellerup in the north and

Ny Ellebjerg Ny Ellebjerg station is a railway station on the S-train and inter-city network in Copenhagen, Denmark. It serves as an interchange station between the Køge radial (A, E), the Ring line (F), and the Copenhagen–Ringsted Line (InterCity service ...

in the south. The Ring line is connected to the Nordbanen (north line) and Klampenborg Line at Hellerup, but it is normally only used in connection with the Klampenborg line. The Ring line has an elevated section including Nørrebro Station, which offers a view of some of the most populous areas of the city, Nørrebro and

Nordvest Nordvest ( lit.: Northwest, short form of Copenhagen North West) or The North West Block is an area in Denmark's Copenhagen municipality. It is located in the southwestern part of the Bispebjerg district. Although there are no clear borders nor ...

. The junctions of the Farumbane with the other lines at Ryparken and Svanemøllen include a short elevated section and a short northbound tunnel, respectively. The average distance between stations is 2.0 km, shorter in the city core and inner boroughs, longer at the end of lines that serve suburbs.

Lines

Since December, 2020, there are seven lines running across the network. A, B, C and F run all week, E and H Monday to Friday and Bx is a support line that operates only during the rush hour. All stations are served at least every 10 minutes until the evening. Train departures occur approximately every two minutes at the stations on the city core route as all lines but the F Ring Line use the same path. On most suburban lines, the trains depart every five minutes. On Sundays these time intervals are doubled. Originally, no letters or numbers were used for the individual lines, but the timetables from 14 May 1950 for the Klampenborg, Holte and Frederiksberg lines were designated as sections 1a, 1b and 1c. Those lines became A, B and F respectively while simultaneously a new line C was created. In 1963, a subordinate x (for extra) was introduced to rush hour lines with line Bx as the first. From 1979 to 1989, some lines which only ran during daytime on weekdays daytime, were characterized by doubling the line letter, Bb and Cc. From 1989 to 1993, they got ordinary line letters. Then, they switched to a system with a subordinate "+", A +, B + and H +. This system was dropped in 2007 with the introduction of 10-minute operation on the key daytime lines.

Stations

Of the 86 stations, 32 are located within the central ticket fare zones 1 and 2. Another 35 stations are located within the Copenhagen Urban area. Therefore, just 17 stations can be said to be located in suburbs. Forty-six stations are elevated, twenty-one are street level, fifteen are below street, 4 have different levels and one is underground. Within the city core (zones 1 & 2) the stations are either elevated or lower than the street level. Most stations consist of two tracks, each with its own side platform or an upper platform in between. At terminals and hubs, however, there may be several tracks and platforms depending on local conditions. Older stations are often designed with a station building where there used to be ticket sales, but after the 1970s gradually moved to unmanned stations with ticket machines, the design of new stations has typically become simpler. There are still kiosks with the possibility of buying tickets at some stations, but in a number of cases, the old ticket sales outlets have been re- purposed, or the buildings have been demolished. At most of the termini other types of train are available for travel to the more remote towns in the metropolitan area (''L-tog'', diesel-powered local trains) or to the rest of Zealand and the other islands between the

Great Belt The Great Belt ( da, Storebælt, ) is a strait between the major islands of Zealand (''Sjælland'') and Funen (''Fyn'') in Denmark. It is one of the three Danish Straits. Effectively dividing Denmark in two, the Belt was served by the Great B ...

and Øresund (''regionaltog'', regional trains). Trains across Øresund to Scania and its main city, Malmö, connect with the S-train network in the city centre.

Facilities

Since 2009 free Wi-Fi

Internet access Internet access is the ability of individuals and organizations to connect to the Internet using computer terminals, computers, and other devices; and to access services such as email and the World Wide Web. Internet access is sold by Internet ...

has been available throughout the entire S-train system

Ticketing

The S-tog along with buses, regional trains, and Copenhagen metro uses Rejsekort, an electronic ticketing system across Denmark. Passengers can also buy paper single-trip tickets at ticket vending machines with cash or Credit Cards or at 7-Eleven kiosks at the train and metro stations or with the 'DOT Tickets' iOS or Android app. The city is divided into travel zones, and the price of a journey depends on how many journeys are travelled through (minimum 2 zones). The price is the same no matter if you take a bus, train or S-Train, and a 20% discount is applied when traveling outside of peak times if using Rejsekort. Both the City Pass and Copenhagen Card aimed at tourists are accepted on the system.

Future

A new station is scheduled to be built: '' Favrholm'' (expected 2022, close to Hillerød) Since 30 trains per hour per direction now run between Dybbølsbro and Svanemøllen, building a new tunnel, running north–south in densely populated areas, has been discussed. Proposals to extend The Vestbanen ''(West)'' line from Høje Taastrup to ''Roskilde'' along existing tracks, have been discussed on several occasions, and is currently under investigation. Extension from

to Elsinore (converting the Kystbane railway to S-train standard) would prove more difficult, but the issue has been mentioned. The major problem is a lack of more capacity in the central tunnel. Connecting

Copenhagen Airport Copenhagen Airport, Kastrup ( da, Københavns Lufthavn, Kastrup, ; ) is an international airport serving Copenhagen, Denmark, Zealand, the Øresund Region, and southern Sweden including Scania. It is the second largest airport in the Nordic cou ...

, Kastrup, to the network has been proposed, although it is already served by both regional trains and the Copenhagen Metro. The

Danish Transport Authority The Danish Civil Aviation and Railway Authority ( da, Trafikstyrelsen) is the Danish government agency responsible for regulating, planning and safety relating to public transport in Denmark. The agency also acts as an advisor towards the ministry ...

(Trafikstyrelsen) has suggested converting the F-line of the S-train network to metro standard as an M5 line, The only current interchange between the F line and the metro network are

Flintholm Station Flintholm station is an S-train and Metro interchange junction station in Copenhagen, Denmark. It opened on 24 January 2004, and it is located in the west of Copenhagen where the Frederikssund S-train Line crosses the S-train Ring Line. It is ...

and Nørrebro Station. The F line is planned be driverless and 24/7 in 2024/2026.

Technical overview

S-trains run on standard-gauge tracks and are powered via

overhead wires An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, trolleybuses or trams. It is known variously as: * Overhead catenary * Overhead contact system (OCS) * Overhead equipment ...

. The voltage is 1,500 or 1,650 volts DC (negative overhead wire), indicating that it varies considerably with the loading and distance from a feeder station. Power is drawn from the national grid through 38 feeder stations. They have to be relatively close to each other because the large

current Currents, Current or The Current may refer to: Science and technology * Current (fluid), the flow of a liquid or a gas ** Air current, a flow of air ** Ocean current, a current in the ocean *** Rip current, a kind of water current ** Current (stre ...

s in the overhead wires (caused by the relatively low voltage) would lead to unacceptably large transmission losses otherwise. From 1975 until 2022, the primary signalling system was a proprietary fixed-block

cab signalling Cab signaling is a railway safety system that communicates track status and condition information to the cab, crew compartment or driver's compartment of a locomotive, railcar or multiple unit. The information is continually updated giving an e ...

system called that transmitted data to the trains via low-bandwidth audio frequency induction loops between the rails. Varying the combination of frequencies allowed up to 15 different instructions or commandssuch as stops and permitted speedsto be indicated to the train. Use of the permitted speed encoding provided full supervision of train speed; when a train running under HKT control entered a block with a lower target speed than the train's current speed it would initiate service braking until the two speeds matched. This, combined with the fact that all S-train stock had similar braking characteristics, allowed the assumption of reduced

braking distance Braking distance refers to the distance a vehicle will travel from the point when its brakes are fully applied to when it comes to a complete stop. It is primarily affected by the original speed of the vehicle and the coefficient of friction b ...

s and the use of fixed blocks significantly shorter than on conventionally-signalled railways. Lineside signals were provided for use when the HKT system was inoperative or when a non-equipped train needed to be driven on the line, but line capacity was significantly reduced as these signals only protected full-length blocks and had to be placed according to conservative braking distance assumptions. In 2011, infrastructure operator Banedanmark awarded Siemens Mobility a contract to replace HKT with its ''Trainguard MT''

communications-based train control Communications-based train control (CBTC) is a railway signaling system that uses telecommunications between the train and track equipment for traffic management and infrastructure control. CBTC allows a train's position to be known more accurat ...

system (CBTC), on the grounds that the HTK installation was reaching the end of its life and becoming increasingly unreliable. The CBTC system employs the moving block principle, whereby a central controller continuously tracks the precise location and speed of every train on the line and adjusts the instructions issued to drivers accordingly. On the S-train network this has allowed a reduction in minimum separation between consecutive trains ('headway') from 120 seconds to only 90. Hillerød–Jægersborg was the first section to be converted, as its F-HKT installation ('simplified' HKT) had the oldest hardware and did not deliver the same level of train protection as the other parts of the system. The new CBTC system entered service on this section on 29 February 2016. Further conversions continued through to 2022, when in late September the final three routes (Valby–Frederikssund, Valby–Høje Taastrup, and Sydhavn–Køge) were switched over to CBTC operation.

Rolling stock

The S-train has seen four types of rolling stock. Currently, only fourth-generation trains operate, after the retirement of the second and third generation trains in 2007 and 2006 respectively.

First generation (1934-1978)

1st generation S-train at Lyngbyvej station

The first generation (DSB class MM-FM-MM) was introduced in 1934 at the opening of the network, and consisted of three carriages per train set (2 motor cars and 1 trailer car), manufactured from 1934 to 1962. Frichs A/S supplied the electric components while Scandia (now Bombardier Transportation Denmark) supplied the car bodies and non-electric components. They were retired in 1978, and one was used as a heritage train until 2003, when DSB decided to discontinue its use. They are the longest serving S-train rolling stock to date, in continuous service for 44 years.

Second generation (1967-2007)

The second generation (DSB class MM-FU-MU-FS) was built from 1967 to 1978 by Frichs A/S (motored cars) and Scandia (trailer cars). They saw the introduction of the signature red colour that was to characterize subsequent generations of rolling stock. There have been three different formations: the first (2-car), had a motor car with first-class seating (could be converted to second class) and a second-class trailer; the second (2-car), had second-class seating only; and the third (4-car), a motor car with driver's cab, a trailer, a motored trailer and a driving trailer without motor. They ran until 7 January 2007. All have been scrapped except for a few set aside for museum use. An official ceremony was held on 3 February 2007 with the last trip. One train is set to be restored by DJK (Danish Railroad Club), who are now the owners of the train, so it can eventually make its way back to the tracks on special occasions such as anniversaries.

Third generation (1986-2006)

The third generation (DSB class FC-MC-MC-FC) were built by the Swedish industrial firm

ASEA ''Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget'' (English translation: General Swedish Electrical Limited Company; Swedish abbreviation: ASEA) was a Swedish industrial company. History ASEA was founded in 1883 by Ludvig Fredholm in Västerås a ...

from 1979 to 1986. Despite possessing a much improved level of passenger comfort as compared to the previous two generations of rolling stock, it suffered a much higher rate of mechanical failure as compared to its predecessors. Twelve trains in 4-car formation (48 cars) were built (a further 32 4-car trains were not realised), and it first entered service in 1986 on the Vestbane and the Nordbane ( B service) between Holte and Høje Taastrup. They were the first S-train rolling stock to feature electronic chopper control. In 1995, 4 trains (16 cars) were scrapped and the remaining 8 trains (32 cars) were refurbished and reassigned to the Ringbane (

F service F, or f, is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounced ), and the plural is ''efs''. Hist ...

), where they remained in service until an incident where a child was trapped between the doors forced their early retirement in June 2006. When attempts to sell them failed, they were transported to

Holbæk Holbæk () is a town in Denmark and the seat of Holbæk municipality with a population of 29,608 (1 January 2022).harbour on 23 August 2007 in order to be scrapped.

Fourth generation (1996-present)

The fourth generation, in service since 1996, are distinguished by their plump appearance due to their curved sides. Two variants are in use, one of eight cars referred to as (formed of vehicles SA-SB-SC-SD-SD-SC-SB-SA) and one of four cars referred to as (formed SE-SF-SG-SH) These are articulated units supplied by

Alstom Alstom SA is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling, and locomotives, with products including the AGV, TGV, Eurostar, Avel ...

- LHB and Siemens with prefabricated friction stir welded aluminium roof panels made by Marine Aluminium from

Sapa The South African Press Association (SAPA) was the national news agency of South Africa until its closure in 2015. History The agency was established on 1 July 1938 by major South African newspapers to facilitate the sharing of news. Reuters had ...

extrusions, and were manufactured from 1996 to 2007. The cars are shorter than conventional railway cars; each has a single

axle An axle or axletree is a central shaft for a rotating wheel or gear. On wheeled vehicles, the axle may be fixed to the wheels, rotating with them, or fixed to the vehicle, with the wheels rotating around the axle. In the former case, bearing ...

under one end, the other end being supported by the neighbouring car. (The end cars have two axles each). They have automatic Scharfenberg couplers at the ends; in peak hours most trains consist of two coupled units, giving a total train length of 168 meters. They have

video surveillance Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly t ...

to ensure passenger and staff security and to prevent acts of vandalism. These trains introduced

air conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C or AC, is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior environment (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling ...

in the interior and

regenerative braking Regenerative braking is an energy recovery mechanism that slows down a moving vehicle or object by converting its kinetic energy into a form that can be either used immediately or stored until needed. In this mechanism, the electric traction mo ...

to the network, increasing energy efficiency. At present, there are 105 8-car trains (840 cars). An accident involving an 8-car fourth-generation train in 2002 caused it to be scrapped, necessitated the construction of 4-car sets to relieve the shortage of trains. These 4-car units (DSB class SE-SH, also known as Litra SE) can run solo in low-traffic intervals. At present, there are 31 4-car trains (124 cars) serving the S-train network. The top speed of fourth-generation trains is , although on many parts of the network their speed is limited to - due to the limitations of the signalling system, and on the Ringbane they travel at .

References

External links

Official Web Site

DSB website
(In English)
Rejsekort website
for ticketing (in English)
Copenhagen Tourist Card Information and salesS-train network map 2018Geographical map of Copenhagen rapid transitSiemens product specifications pdf
{{DEFAULTSORT:S-Train * Railway coaches of Denmark 1650 V DC railway electrification 1934 establishments in Denmark