The Lunderskov-Esbjerg line is the railway between

Lunderskov Lunderskov is a railway town, with a population of 2,994 (1 January 2024),Esbjerg Esbjerg (, ) is a seaport city and seat of Esbjerg Municipality on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark. By road, it is west of Kolding and southwest of Aarhus. With an urban area, urban population of 71,554 (1 January ...

Southern Jutland Southern Jutland (; ) is the region south of the Kongeå in Jutland, Denmark and north of the Eider (river) in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The region north of the Kongeå is called . Both territories had their own ting assemblies in the Mi ...

. It was opened on 3 October 1874, along with the first part of the

Esbjerg–Struer railway line The Esbjerg–Struer railway line (, also known as the ''West Jutland longitudinal railway line'' (), is a long standard gauge single track (rail), single track railway line in Denmark which runs between the cities of Esbjerg and Struer, Denmark, ...

Varde Varde is a Danish city in southwestern Jutland and is the primary city in the municipality of Varde, in Region of Southern Denmark. In 2015 municipality changed its motto to "We in nature" to emphasize its rural atmosphere. The town has an old ma ...

History

The construction of the line was authorised by a law of 24 April, 1868, together with the West Jutland longitudinal line, the

Vendsyssel line The Vendsyssel railway line () is an long standard gauge single track (rail), single track railway line in Denmark which runs through the historical region of Vendsyssel between Aalborg and Frederikshavn in North Jutland Region, North Jutland. I ...

and the Silkeborg line. On the same date, a law concerning the construction of the

port of Esbjerg The Port of Esbjerg on the southwest coast of Jutland is a competitor to Aarhus and Hamburg for freight. Built by the State in 1868, it was once Denmark's principal fishing harbour but today has become Europe's leading port for shipping offshore ...

was also passed. In 1909, the railway bridge over Snæum river was destroyed by a

storm surge A storm surge, storm flood, tidal surge, or storm tide is a coastal flood or tsunami-like phenomenon of rising water commonly associated with low-pressure weather systems, such as cyclones. It is measured as the rise in water level above the ...

Stations

* , starting point on the

Fredericia–Padborg railway line The Fredericia–Padborg railway line () is a long railway line in Denmark which runs through the historical region of Southern Jutland between the city of Fredericia and the Denmark-Germany border, German border at Padborg. Being one of the main ...

* former Andst station, closed as a station in 1969. The building is preserved at Stationsvej 16. * , former connection to the Troldhede-Kolding-Vejen railway * , only regional trains. * , only regional trains. * , only regional trains. Station building demolished in 2013. * , connection with the

Bramming–Tønder railway line The Bramming–Tønder railway line () is a long railway line in Denmark which runs through the historical region of Southern Jutland between and the German border just south of . The standard gauge railway line is single track and unelectrifi ...

and former connection to the Diagonal line to (formerly on to ––). * , now only stopping for Arriva's Esbjerg-Tønder service. Station building demolished in 2002. * , opened in 2020, only stopping for Arriva's Esbjerg-Tønder service * , starting point for the West Jutland longitudinal line to Varde-Skjern-Holstebro

Operation

From January 2003, the Esbjerg-Bramming section is operated by both

Arriva Arriva Ltd. is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England. The company was originally established on 24 October 1938 as T Cowie Ltd. Initially focused on the sale of motorcycles, it relaunched shortl ...

and DSB, while the Bramming-Lunderskov section is only be operated by DSB with both Regional services to

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...

and InterCity services to

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 ...

Electrification

In the wake of the delay in the delivery of the scandal-ridden

IC4 The IC4 is an inter-city rail train built by the Italian train manufacturer AnsaldoBreda for the trans-Great Belt routes of Danske Statsbaner (DSB), Denmark's national railway operator. Under DSB's 'Good trains for everyone' plan ('Gode tog ti ...

trains, it was proposed several times through the late '00s and early '10s to electrify the main line of the Danish railway network in order to be able to buy proven standard equipment to remedy the growing shortage of train equipment. However, this was rejected just as many times, as electrification of the railway network would require a simultaneous upgrading of the signaling system, which was already being replaced throughout the country by

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 o ...

2. In this context, the Esbjerg-Lunderskov section was interesting, because in 1997 the section had already been almost completely upgraded in preparation for a forthcoming electrification, just before the electrification program was cancelled. On 7 February 2012, the

Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...

, the Radical Left, SF, Venstre, DF, Liberal Alliance and the Conservative People's Party therefore agreed to electrify the track, so it was ready for electric trains by the end of 2015. The main idea behind the electrification was that it would allow for the rapid purchase of 15 new electric train sets, which could replace a similar number of IC3 train sets. To further secure the track for the future, it was subsequently decided, on 12 March 2013, by the same conciliation group to electrify the track with a system rated for . Electrification was later postponed to 2016 due to economies of scale, as the contractors could thereby go directly from this section to the other sections that were to be electrified subsequently. Østergaard, Christian.
"The first electrification of the railway will be delayed by one year "
''

Ingeniøren ''Ingeniøren'' (full name: ''Nyhedsmagasinet Ingeniøren'', literally ''The News Magazine "The Engineer"'') is a Danish weekly newspaper specialising in engineering topics. History and profile The paper has covered science and technology issues ...

'', 16 December 2014. Accessed: 16 December 2014. The electrification was begun on 6 August 2017, Railway electrification is celebrated with a feast day in two cities , jv.dk
/ref> but was later hit by operational problems and a complete shutdown for electric trains, due to problems with the Siemens Sicat SX overhead distribution system. After a replacement of the faulty rope wheels, the track was reopened for electric operation on 13 August 2018.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* *

External links

Banedanmark
– government agency responsible for

maintenance The technical meaning of maintenance involves functional checks, servicing, repairing or replacing of necessary devices, equipment, machinery, building infrastructure and supporting utilities in industrial, business, and residential installa ...

and

traffic control Traffic management is a key branch within logistics. It concerns the planning, control and purchasing of transport services needed to physically move vehicles (for example aircraft, road vehicles, rolling stock and watercraft) and freight. Traff ...

of most of the Danish railway network
DSB
– largest Danish train operating company
Arriva
– multinational public transport company operating bus and train services in Denmark
Danske Jernbaner
– website with information on railway history in Denmark {{DEFAULTSORT:Lunderskov-Esbjerg line Railway lines in Denmark Transport in Esbjerg Rail transport in the Region of Southern Denmark Railway lines opened in 1874