DSB employees express distrust toward management: 'The worst crisis in 40 years'

As heavy snow blankets large parts of the country, temperatures inside Danske Statsbaner (DSB) have reached a new low.

Thousands of members of the trade union Jernbaneforbundet have expressed a loss of trust in DSB’s management, and on Thursday, the train staff in Aarhus also decided to send a no-confidence declaration to the headquarters.

According to Peter Kanstrup, a locomotive driver and trustee representative for locomotive drivers in DSB, this is the worst crisis between employees and management in 40 years.

“There have been work-related disagreements and conflicts before, but this is on a completely different scale. It affects people’s family and leisure lives. It really hurts my colleagues,” says Peter Kanstrup.

The employees’ distrust stems from a new IT system introduced by DSB in October 2025. The system is meant to inform train staff when, where, and how long they need to report for work.

However, according to the staff, the system does not function as intended. This is confirmed by Dennis Lyng Desezar, local chair of the train staff in Copenhagen.

“I experience that shifts disappear from the system, and that staff are moved between stations. For example, if you’re in Helsingør, the system might suddenly decide to move you to Copenhagen, where you need to operate a different train. Things are not as they should be,” he tells P1 Morning.

Dennis Lyng Desezar has worked at DSB for 34 years. He finds that the new IT system makes it difficult to balance private life, leisure time, and work.

“In the end, the challenges with the IT system also affect train passengers,” he adds.

“Some unfortunately also take out their frustration on the train staff.”

He fears the situation could become dangerous.

“I’ve noticed that we’ve started running trains without a conductor between Aarhus and Aalborg. It’s the conductor who handles everything related to passengers and platform safety during departures,” says Dennis Lyng Desezar.

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**Minister summoned for consultation**

The transport spokesperson for Enhedslisten, Leila Stockmarr, describes the situation at DSB as unsustainable.

According to her, Transport Minister Thomas Danielsen (V) is ultimately responsible for rail operations in Denmark.

That’s why she is now summoning him for a second time to consult on the matter.

“It’s increasingly clear that the situation is completely unsustainable. What keeps coming up across employee groups at DSB is that they don’t feel management is listening to their concerns. The fact that many are taking sick leave isn’t being taken seriously enough—that’s something the minister needs to address,” she says.

She also notes that she has never received so many inquiries since she began dealing with the conflict.

“People who have worked at DSB for up to four decades and always loved their jobs. Now they cry when they have to go to work. Relatives are writing to express their worries,” says Leila Stockmarr.

Leila Stockmarr (Ø) summons the transport minister to consult on the crisis at DSB.

Jernbaneforbundet’s count shows over 1,200 collective agreement violations since the IT system was introduced. However, Enhedslisten’s transport spokesperson refuses to say whether the system should be rolled back.

“I’m not an expert on the IT system. There are actually ways to address the issues without deleting everything and starting from scratch. But at the very least, the minister and DSB’s management should be open to the idea that we’ll need to take some drastic steps,” she says.

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**DSB: 'It’s not satisfactory'**

Niels-Otto Fisker, DSB’s communications director, is not ready to scrap the IT system.

At DSB, they acknowledge that the new planning system is not functioning optimally, but according to Niels-Otto Fisker, they are not prepared to abandon it.

“If you asked me today whether we would introduce it with the knowledge we have now, I’d say no. But now that it’s in operation, the focus is on solving the challenges our colleagues face out on the trains. Of course, it should be possible to balance private and work life,” he says.

According to Niels-Otto Fisker, the messages from his colleagues at DSB have made an impression on him, and he understands their frustrations.

However, he is not certain that there have been over 1,200 collective agreement violations since the IT system was introduced.

“We’ve agreed to review 100 cases to determine whether there are actually 1,200 cases. We’ll do this together with Jernbaneforbundet,” he says.

The IT system has also faced criticism for being a potential safety risk, but customers should not worry about train safety, the communications director insists.

“We don’t run trains at DSB unless we have safety in place and can guarantee it for our customers. That’s simple,” he says.

“There isn’t necessarily a direct link between train safety and having a conductor on board. There are places where that’s the case, but it’s not a definitive rule.”

According to DSB’s communications director, there is no safety risk for passengers on the trains.

DSB’s communications director cannot specify when employees will start feeling the IT improvements the company has implemented. But he guarantees that solutions are being worked on.

“It will likely take three to six months before everything is fully in place and finalized. But there should be improvements on the trains soon,” says Niels-Otto Fisker.

DR has also tried to arrange an interview with Transport Minister Thomas Danielsen (V), but this has not been possible.

You can listen to the full story about employees’ mistrust of DSB’s management in today’s edition of P1 Morning.

Warning: This article was translated by a Large Language Model, in case of doubt, you can always visit the original source.