Denmark has completed a series of works that will allow high-speed trains to run at speeds of 200 km/h on a section of the country’s main railway. Until now, the maximum possible speed was 180 km/h. Denmark has ordered new trains and, like Romania, has a large order for trains from Alstom, which will arrive three years late.

Speeds were increased to 200 km/h on a 60 km section that opened in 2019, with the long-term idea that speeds of 250 km/h might be possible there. Work has been carried out on catenary, line, signaling, and now trains can run at a speed of 200 km/h, because 29 necessary technical requirements have been met.

• Can Romania have passenger trains that can travel at a speed of 200 km/h?

To begin with, international trains arriving from Hamburg and running late to Denmark will run at 200 km/h, the idea being that the delay will be minimized (or eliminated entirely) by the 200 km/h sections.

The Danes have ordered many new and fast trains, but they will have to wait for years.

Alstom trains, the Coradia Stream model, similar in concept to the one ordered by Romania, will be able to run on this section, with the big difference that it will be able to move at a speed of 200 km/h, instead of “only” 160 km/h.

In 2021, the railway company DSB signed a contract with Alstom for 100 electric trains, worth 1.4 billion euros. At the time, it was promised that the first trains would arrive by the end of 2024, but the new deadline is 2027, after many production delays appeared.

The Danes also ordered 16 trains (with wagons) from the Spanish company Talgo, which will be able to reach a speed of 230 km/h. The first sets from Talgo arrived in January 2024. The contract was signed in 2020 and the first train will be tested in the coming months to receive all the certificates and could depart with passengers in the autumn.

All trains under the Talgo contract are expected to arrive in 2027.

Danish trains run at a maximum speed of 180 km/h, but the average speed often exceeds 100 km/h. For example, the distance between Copenhagen and Aarhus, the country’s largest cities, is 329 km, and the fastest trains take 2 hours 43 minutes. Tickets cost between 50 and 70 euros in 2nd class (equivalent in Danish kroner).

The fastest section is between Hoje Taastrup and Odense (140 km covered in 63 minutes).

Opened in 2000, the famous Öresund Bridge, a bridge that dramatically changed the economy of the region, carries more than 100 trains a day from Copenhagen to Malmö, Sweden.

Sources: International Railway Journal, Railway Gazette International

Gestur Ghislason, Dreamstime.com

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