Øresundståg
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Øresundståg (, ) is a passenger train network operated by
Transdev Transdev, formerly Veolia Transdev, is a France-based international private-sector company which operates public transport. It has operations in 17 countries and territories as of November 2020. Transdev was formed on 3 April 2011 via the merg ...
in the transnational
Øresund Region Øresund or Öresund (, ; ; ), commonly known in English as the Sound, is a strait which forms the Denmark–Sweden border, Danish–Swedish border, separating Zealand (Denmark) from Scania (Sweden). The strait has a length of ; its width var ...
of
Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
and
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
. The name is a hybrid of the Danish ''Øresundstog'' and the Swedish ''Öresundståg'', both meaning "Øresund train". The rolling stock, also known as Class ET in Denmark and X31K in Sweden, are electric passenger trainsets in the
Flexliner The DSB (railway company), DSB Class MF is a Denmark, Danish-built medium/long distance diesel multiple unit, diesel multiple-unit train. The sets were built by ABB Scandia (later purchased by Adtranz, which itself was subsequently acquired by B ...
family.


Operations

Four trains per hour cross the
Øresund Bridge The Øresund or Öresund Bridge is a combined List of road–rail bridges, railway and motorway cable-stayed bridge across the Øresund strait between Denmark and Sweden. It is the second longest bridge in Europe and combines both roadway and r ...
each way. Trains run at 15-minute intervals between via
Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...
in Denmark to
Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...
and
Lund Lund (, ;"Lund"
(US) and
) is a city in the provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, southern Swed ...
in southern Sweden, increasing to six trains per hour during rush hours. From Lund, the trains continue hourly in three directions, to
Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...
, to
Kalmar Kalmar (, , ) is a city in the southeast of Sweden, situated by the Baltic Sea. It had 41,388 inhabitants in 2020 and is the seat of Kalmar Municipality. It is also the capital of Kalmar County, which comprises 12 municipalities with a total of ...
and to
Karlskrona Karlskrona (, , ) is a locality and the seat of Karlskrona Municipality, Blekinge County, Sweden with a population of 66,675 in 2018. It is also the capital of Blekinge County. Karlskrona is known as Sweden's only baroque city and is host to ...
(the fourth train ends in Helsingborg). After midnight, traffic is reduced to one hourly train between Østerport in Copenhagen and Lund (the train between 01:00 AM and 02:00 AM starts from Copenhagen H). Each train consists of up to three 79-metre-long units coupled together, each with 229 seats, providing a capacity of max 4122 seats per hour. This has turned out to be insufficient, as differences in salaries and house prices between Copenhagen and Malmö have resulted in an unexpected increase of cross-border commuting. The trains cannot be lengthened because of platform length constraints. And increasing frequency beyond six trains per hour is not possible because there are only two platform tracks to share with other trains at the stations , , and . Increasingly, people have to stand during rush hours, into Copenhagen in the morning and towards Malmö in the afternoon, which beside the inconvenience also raises safety concerns. The network at its peak covered of railway. In Denmark, the trains run on the Coast Line and the
Øresund Line The Øresund Line (, ) is a railway between Copenhagen in Denmark and Malmö in Sweden via the Øresund Bridge. It operates 24/7, and a journey between the two cities takes 35 to 40 minutes. On the Swedish side it is managed by the Swedish Transp ...
, between and the Airport in 10-minute frequency. In Sweden, they run through the Malmö City Tunnel, and on the
Southern Main Line The Southern Main Line () is a long standard gauge electrified railway between Malmö and Katrineholm in Sweden. The trains continue further on to Stockholm Central Station along the Western Main Line and terminate there (at platforms 16–19). ...
to Lund. From Lund, most Øresundståg services continue to either
Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...
,
Kalmar Kalmar (, , ) is a city in the southeast of Sweden, situated by the Baltic Sea. It had 41,388 inhabitants in 2020 and is the seat of Kalmar Municipality. It is also the capital of Kalmar County, which comprises 12 municipalities with a total of ...
, or
Karlskrona Karlskrona (, , ) is a locality and the seat of Karlskrona Municipality, Blekinge County, Sweden with a population of 66,675 in 2018. It is also the capital of Blekinge County. Karlskrona is known as Sweden's only baroque city and is host to ...
, using the West Coast Line, the Southern Main Line, the Coast-to-Coast Line or the Blekinge Coast Line. Passengers can encounter both Danish and Swedish staff on the trains over the Øresund Bridge. Tickets can be bought from sellers in either country. For travel inside one of the Swedish counties or inside Denmark, the local traffic authority tickets are used. For travel from Sweden to Denmark tickets can be purchased from the regional transit authorities and ticket sales channels which are part of the Resplus system. Until December 2020, the trains were operated by
Transdev Transdev, formerly Veolia Transdev, is a France-based international private-sector company which operates public transport. It has operations in 17 countries and territories as of November 2020. Transdev was formed on 3 April 2011 via the merg ...
in Sweden and by DSB in Denmark. In December 2020, Swedish rail operator
SJ Öresund SJ Öresund was a division of SJ AB responsible for the operations of Øresundståg in Sweden. Øresundståg is a passenger train network in the transnational Øresund Region of Denmark and Sweden. On 13 December 2020 SJ Öresund replaced the pr ...
, a subsidiary of the state-owned operator SJ, took over the operations in Sweden. Due to an early cancellation of the contract with SJ as a result of differences in opinion regarding conditions for the rolling stock maintenance,
Transdev Transdev, formerly Veolia Transdev, is a France-based international private-sector company which operates public transport. It has operations in 17 countries and territories as of November 2020. Transdev was formed on 3 April 2011 via the merg ...
took over as a temporary operator for both operations in Denmark and Sweden in December 2022.
VR Sverige VR Sverige AB (Swedish for "VR Sweden") is a Swedish company providing public transport services. The company was established in 2022 following the acquisition and rebranding of Arriva#Sweden, Arriva Sverige AB by the Finnish state-owned rail co ...
will take over operations in December 2025.


Operation

On 27 June 2007 it was decided that DSBFirst was to assume responsibility from 2009 for the running of all Øresundståg services on the
Øresund Line The Øresund Line (, ) is a railway between Copenhagen in Denmark and Malmö in Sweden via the Øresund Bridge. It operates 24/7, and a journey between the two cities takes 35 to 40 minutes. On the Swedish side it is managed by the Swedish Transp ...
and connected destinations. DSBFirst started operations on 11 January 2009. In 2011, the Danish and Swedish ministries of transport instructed DSBFirst Sweden to cease operating the Swedish part of the service from 10 December 2011
Veolia Transport Veolia Transport (formerly Connex and CGEA Transport) was the international transport services division of the French-based multinational company Veolia until the 2011 merger that gave rise to Veolia Transdev, later renamed Transdev. Veolia Tr ...
took over the Swedish side and DSBFirst Denmark's services passed to DSB Øresund. The ØresundstÃ¥g operation has suffered from financial problems as well as delays and cancelled trains on both the Danish and Swedish part of its network, notably during the 2010 winter. On the Danish side the trains stop often, about every 4 km, like a
commuter train Commuter rail or suburban rail is a passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Commuter rail systems can use locomotive-hauled tr ...
. On the Swedish side the trains stop much less often, more like inter-city trains, and they reach stations about 300 km from Copenhagen, such as Gothenburg, Kalmar and Karlskrona. Most travellers use it like a regional train for work commuting and similar shorter journeys, and local monthly passes are valid on the train. The combination of routes of an inter-city nature in Sweden with commuter-like routes in Denmark is often a source of trouble. The long-distance trains from Sweden often accumulate delays during the long journey. But delays cause trouble to commuter passengers having fixed work hours and not wishing to add long margins, since they travel every day. Therefore, some stand-by trains were ready at Kastrup that run to Helsingør if the train from Sweden was delayed. In these circumstances the train from Sweden terminated early and did not continue to Helsingør. Because of the complexity involved in the ØresundstÃ¥g operation and the result of delays on the Danish side of the network, the decision was taken to split the operations in December 2021. The Danish services are now tendered by the Danish authorities, while
Skånetrafiken Skånetrafiken ''()'' is the Regions of Sweden, regional organisation responsible for managing public transport in Skåne län, Skåne County, southern Sweden. Skånetrafiken was founded in 1999 when the two Scania, Scanian counties of Kristia ...
will be responsible for the tendering process for the international and Swedish services. The trains to Helsingør now start at
Holbæk Holbæk () is a town in Denmark and the County seat, seat of Holbæk municipality with a population of 30,903 (1 January 2025).Næstved Næstved () is a town in Næstved Municipality, the municipality of the same name, located in the southern part of the island of Zealand (Denmark), Zealand in Denmark. Næstved has several adult education centers, five Primary education, elemen ...
. In 2023 a fourth circulation of Øresundståg was started between Helsingborg and Østerport due to demand and enabled by the opening of a new platform in Helsingborg, so that trains go once per 15 minutes instead of once per 20 minutes most of the day.


Competitors

Between Gothenburg and Malmö (until 2012 to Copenhagen, but not to Helsingør),
SJ AB SJ is the primary passenger train operator in Sweden. A wholly List of government enterprises of Sweden, state-owned company operated for-profit under market conditions, SJ operates various services across Sweden. SJ's operations include High-spee ...
(the Swedish national railway) operates competing trains. From 2009 they have different tickets compared to the Øresundståg services. SJ runs X2000 trains via
Hässleholm Hässleholm is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Hässleholm Municipality, Scania County, Sweden with 18,500 inhabitants in 2011. Overview Hässleholm was gradually developed from 1860 in connection with the construction of the m ...
, and from 2009 to 2011 SJ ran intercity IC3 (X31) trains using via
Helsingborg Helsingborg (, , ), is a Urban areas in Sweden, city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Scania County, Scania (Skåne), Sweden. It is the second-largest city in Scania (after Malmö) and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, ninth ...
. Different tickets are needed. There was a similar situation with DSB's "Intercity Bornholm" trains to Ystad, which did not accept Øresundståg tickets despite the "Øresundstog" rolling stock used.


ID checks from Denmark to Sweden

In response to the
European migrant crisis The 2015 European migrant crisis was a period of significantly increased movement of refugees and Human migration, migrants into Europe, mostly from the Middle East. An estimated 1.3 million people came to the continent to request Right of asyl ...
the Swedish government mandated ID checks on all trains coming from Denmark from December 2015. As checks performed by the Swedish police took up to 20 minutes per train, timetables were severely disrupted. Beginning on 4 January 2016, transport operators would be fined if any improperly documented people were found to be brought into Sweden. As a result, DSB restructured the timetable, constructed a fence between the platforms at Copenhagen Airport station, and introduced its own ID checks in order to gain entrance to the Malmö-bound platform at CPH Airport station. The frequency of trains across the bridge had been reduced to a maximum of 3 tph. Apart from the reduced frequency, services from Sweden to Denmark ran as usual to during the day and in the evenings, with no ID checks entering Denmark. Since 4 May 2017 the line had changed to perform ID checks only at Malmö
Hyllie Hyllie () is an area and former city district () in the central of Malmö Municipality, Sweden. On 1 July 2013, it was merged with Limhamn-Bunkeflo, forming Väster. In 2012, Hyllie had a population of 32,998 of the municipality's 307,758. T ...
station for trains travelling to Sweden. As of 2023, frequency of 6 trains per hour during rush hour had resumed, and trains are timetabled to wait 6 minutes at Malmö Hyllie where the
Swedish police The Swedish Police Authority () is the national police, police force (''Polisen'') of Sweden. The first modern police force in Sweden was established in the mid-19th century, and the police remained in effect under Municipalities of Sweden, local ...
check ID of alighting passengers.


Rolling stock


ET / X31K & X32K

The trains used are the fourth and latest generation of the IC3 family of multiple units, specifically designed for use in regional traffic in areas connected by the Øresund Line. They are electrically powered, and can run on both the Danish power supply () and the Swedish power supply ( 15 kV Hz AC). Named ''Contessa'' by its manufacturer Bombardier, they are designated Litra ET in Denmark and Littera X31K (where X means electric multiple unit, and K means allowed to go to Copenhagen) in Sweden. The chassis is manufactured entirely of stainless steel, painted in a light shade of gray. Roughly half of the trains are owned by DSB and the other half by Transdev. They are
multiple unit A multiple-unit train (or multiple unit (MU)) is a self-propelled train composed of one or more Coach (rail), carriages joined, and where one or more of the carriages have the means of propulsion built in. By contrast, a locomotive-hauled ...
s manufactured by
Bombardier Transportation Bombardier Transportation was a Canadian rolling stock and rail transport manufacturer, with headquarters in Toronto and Berlin. It was one of the world's largest companies in the rail vehicle and equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. ...
in
Kalmar Kalmar (, , ) is a city in the southeast of Sweden, situated by the Baltic Sea. It had 41,388 inhabitants in 2020 and is the seat of Kalmar Municipality. It is also the capital of Kalmar County, which comprises 12 municipalities with a total of ...
, previously known as Kalmar Verkstad and later in
Hennigsdorf Hennigsdorf () is a town in the district of Oberhavel, in Brandenburg, in eastern Germany. It is situated north-west of Berlin, just across the city border, which is formed mainly by the Havel river. History The town was first mentioned in 1375, ...
by
LEW Hennigsdorf The rail vehicle factory in Hennigsdorf, Germany, was founded in 1910 by AEG (German company), AEG. Locomotive production began in 1913, and in the 1930s absorbed the work of the August Borsig locomotive factory, being renamed the Borsig Lokomoti ...
. Each trainset is 79 metres long and weighs about 157
tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1,000  kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton in the United States to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the s ...
s. The trainset consists of three carriages, giving a weight of about 52 tonnes per unit. Eight of the train's 12 axles are powered, which gives good acceleration. The train's top speed is 180 km/h. Each train costs 67 million
Swedish kronor The krona (; plural: ''kronor''; currency sign, sign: kr; ISO 4217, code: SEK) is the currency of Sweden. Both the ISO code "SEK" and currency sign "kr" are in common use for the krona; the former precedes or follows the value, the latter usual ...
(2006), equivalent to 22 million kronor per unit. The trainset has a total of 237 seats (79 per carriage), of which some are in a low floor carriage in the middle. The train type is nicknamed "Øresundstog / Öresundståg" (Danish / Swedish), but they are used not only for services on the Øresundståg network, but also for some local Scania traffic, for the DSB intercity trains Copenhagen-Ystad, and formerly for some of SJ's Copenhagen-Gothenburg intercity trains. Even though these other trains do not in fact form part of the Øresundståg network, they often referred to by that name. In the summertime they are nicknamed ''"the longest sauna in Sweden"'' due to inoperative climate control. A refurbishment program, including new exterior paint jobs, refurbished seats and new toilet systems for the train sets was started in 2016. The first refurbished train set was entered into service on 15 March 2018. All trains are maintained at the Helgoland depot in
Amager Amager ( ), located in the Øresund, is Denmark's most densely populated island, with more than 216,000 inhabitants (January 2022). The protected natural area of ''Naturpark Amager'' (including Kalvebod Fælled) makes up more than one-third of the ...
and since May 2020 also at a new purpose-built depot in
Hässleholm Hässleholm is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Hässleholm Municipality, Scania County, Sweden with 18,500 inhabitants in 2011. Overview Hässleholm was gradually developed from 1860 in connection with the construction of the m ...
.


X32

Due to a higher demand for comfort on the long-distance trains serving the line between Malmö and Ängelholm, SJ introduced the short-lived X32, a long-distance version of the X31. It had better comfort at the cost of less capacity. The second class section used seats from the first class section of the X31, while the first class section in the X32 used a more classic interior similar to the X2000 highspeed EMU. These trainsets entered service in 2006 and did not have permission to go to Denmark due to the interior being unsuitable for the commuter services in Denmark. However, as more passengers started commuting between Denmark and Sweden, there was a need for extra trainsets so in 2007 all X32 were rebuilt into standard X31 sets. File:20190917 Malmo C Oresundstag 0148 (48835473606).jpg, Malmö Central Station File:20190920 Oresundstag Copenhagen Airport 0029 (48835646767).jpg, Copenhagen Airport File:SJ X31-2klas.JPG, Interior File:ORESUND LINK TRAINS AT KØBENHAVNS HOVEDBANEGÅRD SEP 2013 (9956938363).jpg, Copenhagen Central Station


See also

* Bornholm Tunnel * Europabanan *
HH Tunnel The HH Tunnel (alt. Helsingtunnel) is a proposed series of tunnels under Øresund between Helsingborg in Sweden and Helsingør in Denmark. The connection is planned for passenger trains, and other proposals for the tunnels include freight rail a ...
*
Øresund Bridge The Øresund or Öresund Bridge is a combined List of road–rail bridges, railway and motorway cable-stayed bridge across the Øresund strait between Denmark and Sweden. It is the second longest bridge in Europe and combines both roadway and r ...
*
Øresund Line The Øresund Line (, ) is a railway between Copenhagen in Denmark and Malmö in Sweden via the Øresund Bridge. It operates 24/7, and a journey between the two cities takes 35 to 40 minutes. On the Swedish side it is managed by the Swedish Transp ...
*
Rail transport in Europe Rail transport in Europe has diverse technological standards, operating concepts, and infrastructures. Common features are the widespread use of Standard-gauge railway, standard-gauge rail, high operational safety and a high proportion of rail ...


References


External links


Official Swedish website of ''Öresundståg''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oresundstag Railway coaches of Denmark Øresund Line Passenger rail transport in Denmark Passenger rail transport in Sweden Rail transport in the Capital Region of Denmark Rail transport in Skåne County International rail transport Multiple units of Denmark Electric multiple units of Sweden SJ multiple units Øresund Region