The Skagen railway line ( da, Skagensbanen) is a long standard gauge

single track Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

railway line Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United Sta ...

between

Skagen Skagen () is Denmark's northernmost town, on the east coast of the Skagen Odde peninsula in the far north of Jutland, part of Frederikshavn Municipality in Nordjylland, north of Frederikshavn and northeast of Aalborg. The Port of Skage ...

and

Frederikshavn Frederikshavn () is a Danish town in Frederikshavn municipality, Region Nordjylland, on the northeast coast of the Jutland peninsula in northern Denmark. Its name translates to "Frederik's harbor". It was originally named Fladstrand. The town ...

Vendsyssel Vendsyssel () is the northernmost traditional district of Denmark and of Jutland. Being divided from mainland Jutland by the Limfjord, it is technically a part of the North Jutlandic Island, but the name often used informally for the entire island. ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

. The railway links the

fishing port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ha ...

and

seaside resort A seaside resort is a town, village, or hotel that serves as a vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of official accreditation based on the satisfaction of certain requirements, such as in the Germ ...

of Skagen with the Danish rail network. The railway line opened as a narrow gauge railway in 1890 and was converted to standard gauge in 1924. It is currently owned and operated by the

railway company A railway company is a company within the rail industry. It can be a manufacturing firm or an rail transport operations, operator. Some railway companies operate both the trains and the track, while, particularly in the European Union, operation ...

Nordjyske Jernbaner Nordjyske Jernbaner (abbreviated NJ) is a Danish railway company operating in Region Nordjylland. The company was formed in 2001 as a merger of Hjørring Privatbaner (HP) and Skagensbanen (SB). Headquartered in Hjørring, the company is respons ...

(NJ) which runs frequent

local train Regional rail, also known as local trains and stopping trains, are passenger rail services that operate between towns and cities. These trains operate with more stops over shorter distances than inter-city rail, but fewer stops and faster servi ...

services from

Skagen station Skagen railway station ( da, Skagen Banegård) is the main railway station serving the town of Skagen in Vendsyssel, Denmark. The station is the northern terminus of the Skagensbanen railway line from Frederikshavn to Skagen and is the most northe ...

Frederikshavn station Frederikshavn railway station ( Danish: ''Frederikshavn Station'' or ''Frederikshavn Banegård'') is a railway station serving the town of Frederikshavn in Vendsyssel, Denmark. The station is the terminus of the Vendsyssel railway line from Aal ...

with onward connections from Frederikshavn to the rest of Denmark.

History

Work on the railway line started on 26 July 1889, and was completed on 16 March 1890. It was opened on 24 July 1890 in the presence of

King Christian IX Christian IX (8 April 181829 January 1906) was King of Denmark from 1863 until his death in 1906. From 1863 to 1864, he was concurrently Duke of Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg. A younger son of Frederick William, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein ...

, Crown Prince Frederick, and the Interior Minister Hans Peter Ingerslev. Operations on the line commenced the following day with two trains daily in each direction. Until 1924 it was a narrow gauge railway, with a maximum speed of . In 1924 the railway line was converted to standard gauge to avoid the need to transfer cargoes of fish in Frederikshavn. As a consequence of the conversion, the layout of Skagen station was extensively changed. As part of the conversion, the

right-of-way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

between Frederikshavn and Rimmen halt was changed so the railway line passed by the coastal town of Strandby instead of the inland village of

Elling ''Elling'' is a Norwegian Black comedy film directed by Petter Næss. Shot mostly in and around the Norwegian capital Oslo, the film, which was released in 2001, is primarily based on Ingvar Ambjørnsen's novel ''Brødre i blodet'' ("Blood bro ...

. In 2001, the operating company Skagensbanen A/S (SB) merged with

Hjørring Privatbaner Hjørring () is a town on the island of Vendsyssel-Thy at the top of the Jutland peninsula in northern Denmark. It is the main town and the administrative seat of Hjørring Municipality in the North Jutland Region. The population is 25,644 (acco ...

A/S (HP) to form the railway company

(NJ). With headquarters in

Hjørring Hjørring () is a town on the island of Vendsyssel-Thy at the top of the Jutland peninsula in northern Denmark. It is the main town and the administrative seat of Hjørring Municipality in the North Jutland Region. The population is 25,644 (ac ...

, the company is now responsible for running the Hjørring–Hirtshals and Frederikshavn–Skagen lines. In 2005 the current

Siemens Desiro The Siemens Desiro (, , ) is a family of diesel or electric multiple unit passenger trains developed by Siemens Mobility, a division of the German Siemens AG conglomerate. The main variants are the Desiro Classic, Desiro ML, Desiro UK and the la ...

was introduced. The maximum speed is between Frederikshavn and Hulsig and between Skagen and Hulsig the maximum speed is .

Route

The Skagen line runs north from Frederikshavn, following the tracks of the Vendsyssel Line out of the city. As the Vendsyssel Line branches west towards

, the Skagen Line continues north following the curve of the coast line of the Ålbæk Bay, serving the towns of Strandby, Jerup and

Ålbæk Ålbæk (alternative spelling: ''Aalbæk'') is a small coastal town in Frederikshavn Municipality, Region Nordjylland, Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_ ...

. From Ålbæk the line continues north, passing through Bunken Plantation, Hulsig Heath and Skagen Plantation before passing through the western part of Skagen to reach its

terminus Terminus may refer to: * Bus terminus, a bus station serving as an end destination * Terminal train station or terminus, a railway station serving as an end destination Geography *Terminus, the unofficial original name of Atlanta, Georgia, United ...

in central Skagen.

Operations

Local trains

The

(NJ) operating in the

North Jutland Region The North Jutland Region ( da, Region Nordjylland), or in some official sources, the North Denmark Region, is an administrative region of Denmark established on 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish municipal reform, which abolished the trad ...

runs frequent

services from

with onward connections from

to Aalborg and the rest of Denmark.

InterCity service

For a period in the 1990s there were direct InterCity connections between

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

and Skagen, operated by

DSB DSB may refer to: Science, technology and devices * DsbA, a bacterial member of the Dsb (disulfide bond) family of enzymes * Double strand break, a break in both DNA strands, part of DNA repair * in telecommunications, double-sideband transmission ...

Bus services

In 2005, NJ replaced the bus connections between Skagen and Frederikshavn with more frequent train connections.

Stations

Previous stations

* Højen station — between Frederikshavnsvej Halt and Hulsig Station. * Sandmilen halt — between Højen Station and Hulsig Station * Elling station — between Rimmen Halt and Frederikshavn Station. * Apholmen halt — between Strandby Station and Frederikshavn Station.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links

Nordjyske Jernbaner
– Danish

operating in

Danske Jernbaner
– website with information on

railway history The history of rail transport began in the BCE times. It can be divided into several discrete periods defined by the principal means of track material and motive power used. Ancient systems The Post Track, a prehistoric causeway in the va ...

in Denmark
Nordjyllands Jernbaner
– website with information on

in North Jutland *{{in lang, da}
Skagensiden.dk
– website with information on

Railway lines in Denmark Railway lines opened in 1890 1890 establishments in Denmark Metre gauge railways in Denmark Rail transport in the North Jutland Region Skagen