Sydbanen (meaning 'the South Track') is a government-owned railway in

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 = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. Technically, the line connects

Ringsted Ringsted is a city located centrally in the Danish island of Zealand. It is the seat of a municipality of the same name. Ringsted is situated approximately 60 km from Copenhagen. Tourism and transport Ringsted is one of Denmark's busies ...

with

Nykøbing Falster Nykøbing Falster (; originally named Nykøbing) is a southern Danish city, seat of the Guldborgsund ''kommune''. It belongs to Region Sjælland. The city lies on Falster, connected by the Frederick IX Bridge over the Guldborgsund (''Guld ...

, from which it branches to

Gedser Gedser is a town at the southern tip of the Danish island of Falster in the Guldborgsund Municipality in Sjælland region. It is the southernmost town in Denmark, and also the southernmost point of Scandinavia and the Nordic countries. The town ...

and

Rødbyhavn Rødbyhavn () is a small town and harbour on the south coast of Lolland, Denmark, with a population of 1,544 (1 January 2022).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 ...

. The railway is part of the

Vogelfluglinie The (German) or (Danish) is a transport corridor between Copenhagen, Denmark, and Hamburg, Germany. As the Danish and German names (literally: '' bird flight line'') imply, the corridor is also an important bird migration route between arctic ...

from Copenhagen to

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. On Sydbanen's southwestern end at Rødby, a

Scandlines Scandlines is a ferry company that operates the Rødby– Puttgarden and Gedser– Rostock ferry routes between Denmark and Germany. Scandlines owns 7 ferries, 6 of which are hybrid ferries, making Scandlines the owner of the world's largest ...

ferry line exists to the German coastal town of

Puttgarden is a ferry harbour and a village on the German island of Fehmarn. It lies on an important route between Germany and Denmark known as the Vogelfluglinie which crosses the strait, the Fehmarnbelt, to Rødby on the island of Lolland. Overview ...

, from where the Lübeck–Puttgarden railway and

Lübeck–Hamburg railway The Hamburg–Lübeck railway is one of the most important mainline railways of the German states of Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg. It connects the two Hanseatic cities of Hamburg and Lübeck, and is part of the line to Denmark. The line was ...

lead to Hamburg. The

Fehmarn Belt Tunnel The Fehmarn Belt fixed link ( da, Femern Bælt-forbindelsen, german: Fehmarnbelt-Querung) or Fehmarn Belt tunnel is an under-construction immersed tunnel, which will connect the Danish island of Lolland with the German island of Fehmarn, cros ...

, to be completed in 2028, will replace the ferry service. From 2020 until 2028 trains go only to Nykøbing, with frequent closures due to rebuilding. The line is being upgraded to

ERTMS The European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) is the system of standards for management and interoperation of signalling for railways by the European Union (EU). It is conducted by the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) and is the ...

, (Køge-)Næstved-Nykøbing in 2021, and the rest in 2028. Furthermore, 55 km of new tracks are being laid, to smooth out curves, allowing for 200 km/h when done. These works are expected to finish in 2021. Afterwards, the line will be electrified, slated for completion in 2024, when a new

Storstrøm Bridge The Storstrøm Bridge ( da, Storstrømsbroen, ) is a road and railway arch bridge that crosses Storstrømmen between the islands of Falster and Masnedø in Denmark. Together with Masnedsund Bridge it connects Falster and Zealand (''Sjælland''). ...

will also open. The railway Nykøbing–Rødby will be in operation only when the Fehmarn Tunnel is opened around 2028.

References

Railway lines in Denmark Rail transport in Region Zealand {{Denmark-transport-stub