Many commuters in Zealand are tired of trains having to reduce speed on a section of the line. Now Banedanmark believes it has found the cause.

Cracks in the rails mean that trains have to slow down on a stretch where they could otherwise pick up speed. (Photo: © Finn Frandsen, Politiken/Ritzau Scanpix) Today at 8:09 PM

One would think that it would spare the rails if fewer trains run on them.

But that is actually not the case on the high-speed line between Ringsted, Køge Nord and Copenhagen, where a number of trains have to reduce speed due to cracks in the rails.

Now Banedanmark has found the cause, and it is too few freight trains on the rails, the organization writes in a memo to the Danish Parliament's Transport Committee.

When it was decided to build the line, it was with an assumption that many freight trains would run on the stretch, says Morten Bøje Pehrsson, who is area manager for Construction, Planning and Standards.

"When we operate traffic, some irregularities occur in our rails. We actually need heavy traffic to continuously ensure that they do not propagate down through the rails," he says.

"When the line was designed, it was a prerequisite that our freight operators had rolled out the new signaling system in their locomotives. Unfortunately, we are not masters of how they plan the rollout at their end."

New signaling system sends freight trains away

But that is not how it has gone in the past few years.

Banedanmark put a new signaling system into use in the spring of 2023 on the high-speed line. And here the problem is that many of the freight trains do not have the equipment to run on the new signals.

And to the question of why one did not ensure that they could do that when the line was planned, Morten Bøje Pehrsson says.

"When the line was designed, it was a prerequisite that our freight operators had rolled out the new signaling system in their locomotives. Unfortunately, we are not masters of how they plan the rollout at their end," he says.

Banedanmark expects that the first freight trains will be ready to run on the stretch next year, and Morten Bøje Pehrsson emphasizes that Banedanmark regrets the inconvenience it causes for commuters and train passengers.

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