If you get a chance, a Denver refresh would be awesome! Our transit organization's funding has been limited in the last few years, due to the ballooning cost of the A line and general dissatisfaction amongst our politicians. Some more attention on the system might help get the word out that Denver has transit, and that it deserves funding! Enjoyed the video lots today, those S-trains are funky!
@@JamesBond-ko7ky poor small country has cultural problems against public transit, and the geology makes it complicated and expensive to build tunnels near the riverfront. Most of the core should be pedestrianised but won't be. Nonetheless the existing metro is quite cool but... it has low frequency services for a metro, the network is small, insuficient, and planning of expansions is controversial. The old trams are cute for tourists but increasingly inadequate for the aging local population that used to use them. Little updates on suburban trains might be helpful. And the first rule of the new airport club is that we don't talk about the new airport club. /EXPLAINED
@@f.g.9466 I use the lisbon metro everyday, I know their problems, and the cultural problems. But the suburban trains are great, better than the metro. Linha de Sintra is overcrowded in rush hours, but its still the best suburban line in the country, trains every 10 to 20 minutes all day and 5 or less at rush hour, quad track, connections to the metro, etc etc. The things that could be improved are more infraestruture related, like a connection from linha de cascais to linha de cintura. +
As a citizen of Denmark who uses the s-trains as a part of my daily commute, my favorite part of them are the quiet zones, at each end of the trains. They’re small areas where you’re not supposed to speak, so it’s usually insanely quiet. It’s a great time to get a break from the noise of transit and read a book.
A big component of what makes the S-trains so great is the bike cars. Multiple cars on each train are specially designed to store your bike during the journey, which is very heavily used by commuters especially. I bike to my local S-train station, bring my bike on the train, then get off and bike the rest of the way to college. This means I don't have to be dependent on connections with buses or other trains - super convenient!
I think the Øresundstrains deserve a bit more acknowledgment in this video, as they are like a third part of this system, complementing the S-tog and the Metro really well. They are the fastest way from the Airport, Ørestad and Tårnby to the central city, and northeast of the city, they operate an S-tog similar service from Copenhagen to Helsingør. Through the city, the are mostly like express S-tog trains
Maybe RM transit could do a video on cross countries commuter services? Oresundtrains have the unusual quirk of driving on different sides for different countries *and using different power types
I agree - When visiting Copenhagen I staid at a hotel that was very close to a stop of the Øresundstrains between M1 and M2. I was very surprised when a train coming from Sweden arrived (and how often they do, many times an hour), I expected a standard S-Bahn.
Yep, an in depth video about the Øresundståg would be nice. As you say it's lik an express S-tog in Central Copenhagen. But then after crossing the bridge its a long regional train line to Swedens east coast (Karlskrona and Kalmar) and to Swedens west coast (Gothenburg). And as a swede living in Karlskrona that has roughly 66 000 residents I think it's quite "weird" that we have a train directly to Copenhagen but not to our own capital...
@@carlmarlid lol. Sweden has some really bizarre quirks with its PT ( despite it being relatively efficient) It’s easier for me to get to Copenhagen from Karlshamn. That to get from Karlshamn to Växjö.
I really like seeing trams come back in Copenhagen. My dads uncle was the driver of the last tram in Denmark, Line 5 from the depot to the terminus, then rode shotgun on the final trip back. This was April 22 1972. He would be pleased to see the trams coming back.
The tram project unfortunately looks likely to be something of a disaster. Not technically, but in there simply isn't the demand - or as some else put it "There is going really good room for each passenger".
@@bzdtemp As a commuter on the express bus line that corresponds to the tram, I notice a lot of faults, not only with the management of the construction phase disturbances, but also with the announced speed being very similar to the before project bus service. Throw in the unexplained shut down of the bus lines that covered smaller stops between the express stops.
Back in 1972, Copenhagen should've kept the Line 5 as a tram and just expand and modernized the network instead of just removing the tracks and the wires. If they kept the Line 5, then imagine 5A (2002-2017)/5C (2017-present) as a tram. Imagine 2A, 250S as trams Modern trams offer more capacity than buses.
One thing that goes in hand with why the Copenhagen transit infrastructure works so well, but is rarely mentioned, are the correlating bus lines which are incredible (even though we Danes often ridicule the busses for being off schedule constantly haha). But the beauty is how well the bus network links up with the train and metro lines, to the point where no matter where you have to get to in the city, you will usually have 3-5 alternative routes to pick and choose from depending on your needs and timing. And the tickets/cards are standardized for all public transit in the city (and whole country), which makes transit swapping extremely convenient between train, metro, and bus services. On top of this, busses in many parts of the city have priority lanes, and an interval of 5-15 minutes between each bus arrival per bus line - so you almost never have to check the timing schedule, you just hop out and catch whatever means of transportation is available to you first. Once you know the basic systems and where the different lines meet/intersect, it becomes incredibly easy to get from one end of the city to the other with minimal planning -even if you have never been to that part of the city before. And to top it all off, the travel planner (Rejseplanen) which can be found both as an app or in-web browser, is a system that easily offers the optimal transit routes to your desired destination and accounts for all modes of transportation and the time intervals + estimated walking distances between stops etc. So figuring out how to get to any given address takes no more than a minute, and usually the travel time is within half an hour at most. It just makes the city so easy to get around in, on foot, or bike, or even car - as the public transit and biking culture frees up a lot of road space for cars too.
Eh... IDK about that. The whole thing kinda falls apart when it comes to buses. Unless you live within walking distance of an S train or Metro station, chances are you're just driving into the city all the way anyway due to the poor operations of the buses. Many are fairly low frequency, have very winding routes making them unattractive on journey times, and suffer from overcrowding due to using too small buses. And that's on top of the ticket prices being abnormally expensive here. Heck the modal share for transit is also horrendous in Copenhagen, with only 14% of trips in Copenhagen being done with public transit. Compare that to Stockholm where 47% of trips are done by public transit!
Hello from Lund! The fact that I can bike up to the station and take a direct train to a European capital in less than an hour is just so awesome. I just took our new tram today, too! It's really awesome that you've done all the mainland Nordic capitals, and it would be really cool if you did some more about this part of the world. Maybe one on Göteborg or Hamburg?
As a Copenhagener and fellow transit nerd/perfectionist i really appreciate all the detail and how accurate you captured everything. Honored that my favourite transit media personality loves and appreciates our city and systems so much. It's funny how little you appreciate/unaware your own things, until someone from another background and with another perspective, point it out for you and makes you think how good it actually is,. And actually learned a lot about it
Live in just about any other city and you will appreciate how Copenhageners get around. There's still way too much priority given to cars, imo, but it's generally pretty amazing, especially the bike lanes and metro. Maybe not the grumpy bus drivers, though.
@@bugsygoo I honestly feel that the drivers are okay, meanwhile the cycle paths seems so stressful to me😅 a lot of them are still just bike gutters with drawn on lines... but it's better than nothing I suppose:)
Yes; not from Copenhagen myself (from Aarhus; which is, btw, dabbling with light railways) but I really appreciate the attention to details and using the proper Danish names for the stations and other places.
24 hour metro is such a game changer. I was there in 2021 for World Pride - not having to worry about night buses or taxis to get back to my flat was amazing. The same route I took at 5 p.m. would work at 5 a.m. which was nice after a full day of tourism and fun. Made the city feel very welcoming and easy to get used to. Coupled with the bike infrastructure and pedestrian-friendly design, it's easily one of my fave cities.
The worst part of using the Copenhagen metro at night, is the 15 (!) minute wait for the next train if you miss one. It is definitely a first world problem :)
One of the coolest things about the Copenhagen metro (as a visitor at least), is the huge front windows and seats right below them as can be seen at 0:16. It's amazing to sit in the front of the trams while they're on top of the world.
I was in Copenhagen in August. I felt its metro system really showed how small-ish citites can have a frequent network (and a 24/7 system!) whilst still having a popular distribution between services, like in Lausanne. I enjoyed the S-tog to, as it gave me slight London Overground vibes. Good video!
This is a great clip that really captures an intelligently designed system in an elegant and loveable city. The Danes have a habit of doing things really well, with a flair for design, but without being ostentatious. Copenhagen's main station is utterly conventional, yet so unique. Nicely functional, yet reminiscent of Beowulf's mead hall.
Hi Reese. This was a great enhancement to my visit to Copenhagen in May. Remember that there is one other transit system and I mention it because it does work with the transit pass - the canal ferry system. It has 7 (I think) beautiful yellow ferries that service 9 stops on both sides of the main canal. They are electric with super capacitors. They plug in at the end of the route and charge fully in 7 minutes. I used it a couple of times and it's a fantastic connector element and transit service all along the canal. Thanks Reese. Paul N.
A fun detail you missed about the S-trains: Though most of the cars only have one set of wheels, that axle is still mounted on a bogie-type construction letting them curve independently of the car. That both allows for a more comfortable ride but also a significant reduction in wear and tear on both wheels and tracks.
I lived in Denmark for 1 year in 1998. I never noticed all those features about the S-trains! I have fond memories of the longer distance trains with the rubber ends.
The interesting thing about the line A and E line timetable is that it dates back to the steam era. Until the 60's the northern part of the line was served by normal steam and diesel-hauled express trains (today's line A), while the "stop service" from Holte (today's line E) were served by the first generation S-Trains. When the northern part of the route became part of the S-Train network, the original timetable was kept. Up until the 90's the A-line didn't stop at all between Holte and Østeport. The original reason for having this timetable was that the weatlhy passengers on the northern part of the line saw S-Trains as a form of transport for the lower classes, so we ended up with this weird S-Train/Express train hybrid that lasted for decades. The original S-Trains on line A also had first class, which was a major headache for DSB, because it meant that they had multiple S-Train sets that could ONLY be used on that line, and when the southern route of the A-line was opened, they had to lock the first class carriage while the train was operating on that section. A troublesome and expense solution just to make a minority of passengers happy, but that's how it was back then.
Reece. This is a superb video. I have holidayed in Malmo on several occasions (I find it cheaper than Copenhagen) and when there I use the Oresund trains on an almost daily basis. As local commentators acknowledge, these trains give many towns in southern Sweden excellent links to the DANISH capital. I would support the call for a video on the Oresund trains. I would also suggest you examine the excellent Pagatog trains which fan out on the Swedish ('Skane') side from Malmo and Lund. Malmo and Lund taken together are nearly the same size as Zurich. In Skane, the Oresund and Pagatog trains taken together form a super system of suburban trains ALMOST AS GOOD AS THE ZURICH S-BAHN!
Great video, but unfortunately you’ve misunderstood how the express/local services works. At 9:28 the E line doesn’t go all the way up to Hillerød. It starts down in Holte. Conversely, only the E line goes to Køge on the southern side, with the A line terminating at Solrød Strand. Evenings, weekends and holidays the E line disappears and the A line stops at all stations because the frequency is reduced.
Living in Copenhagen and working in the rail business, I have to say this is an extremely accurate video. I really enjoy your channel, keep up with the good work!
We were there prior to the opening of M3 and 4, but it was still pretty easy to get around using M1 and M2 and the S-Tøg system, or just by walking (our hotel was at the end of the Strøget by Central Station). Investing in a tourist card got us free transit access and a TON of free tickets to museums and other places.
I grew up in Copenhagen, but left 11 years ago. This video and especially the S tog footage (we lived along the C) was SO incredibly nostalgic, and a great explanation! Will miss the F train if they do swap it out for a metro- it always stood out to me as quirky for not going along the main line and for the train being half the length of the other ones.
Thank you for the wonderful and very informative video. I think that what in particular makes the S-tog unique is the fact that you can bring your bike for free and how certain sections of the train have been designed to accommodate just this. As someone who rarely uses public transit but prefers to go by bike, this enables me to make use of the S-train without leaving my bike at home. This makes it so much more convenient to use the S-train service!
The last intact part of the old rail alignment mentioned at 1:45 is actually still used by a small voluntary community. We have public opening days where people can try railbikes and a handcar
Lived near Egebjerg back in the 80s. Equidistant between two S tog stations. Worked in an office next to Tivoli gardens (which has recently been rebuilt). Impressed on how its come on so much over the years.
Good video (watched the 24 hour availability one aswell). I'm a control room operator on M1/M2 and can agree with a lot of your points. The trains on M3/M4 are totally different in technology and operating them. M1/M2 is like generation 1 and M3/M4 generation 8 or something. I couldn't operate their trains and vice versa, same for the technicians. We do have to close down from time to time to do full system maintenance which is like 5 weekdays every 8th week or so. As you say it's very important to have the system built for 24 hour service from the start, with power sections, track separation and so forth. One thing you left out is independent switch-coupling, disengaging the flank protection on crossovers. Nighttime is ofcourse the busiest time in the metro actually, even though we have the least passengers (sometimes so little you might think it would be more economic to just get them a taxi).
Honestly, during my time in Copenhagen they definitely had my favourite metro- even better than the tube of my hometown, London. It’s so fast and clean, and the lack of barriers (even though you need to buy tickets) is great. The S rail links in really well with the Metro too
Another interesting potential future expansion is the Øresundsmetron/Öresundsmetron, which will connect Malmö with Copenhagen with a metro line. It is supported by both Copenhagen and Malmö city councils.
@@exsandgrounder no, it's going to be a new tunnel to relieve Öresundsbron, especially for when the Fehmarn Belt fixed link is finished. Including the potential railway between Helsingborg and Helsingør, the future might be three rail links across the Öresund straight
Could have been interesting with the regional rail on top. I think in the greater Cph there lives 1,7m and something similar on the Swedish side, so its one metropolitan area. Also, they are debating a new connection over Øresund as the Øresund is reacing its capacity, but also to integrate the metropolis more. Both a metro tunnel to Malmø, a Eurosporet from Cph H to Lund (dual rail line), and a metro between Helsingborg and Helsingør are being considered. Sweden is so dependent on freight trains to the continent today, they want a backup to Øresundsbroen. At the same time we are building the Femern connection to Germany, and Swedish high-speed trains from Stockholm and Goteborg terminates in Copenhagen. On top of that a lot of transit freight between Germany and Sweden over Storebælt and Øresund. The latest debate is about a bridge over Kattegat possible with high speed trains between the two largest cities in Denmark, Copenhagen and Århus. Also they are upgrading all main lines to higher speed and electrify them, while rolling out ETCS over all of it and also upgrading the rolling stock. But maybe that is for another video.
I am actually sitting in a S-train right now so it's quite funny to see a station on your phone and then looking out of the window and seeing the same station
I like to come back and watch this video once a while, just to see what has changed since then. With the south extension of the M4 just opening, and the Copenhagen Letbane finally being finished, it's looking like a much larger system all of a sudden. Although one thing that wasn't mentioned was the plans to extend the S-Tog B line to Roskilde, which wasn't done since they would have to share lines with the regional trains. Also the C line being extended all the way to Helsingør, but again, having to share track with the regional trains if it ever becomes viable.
The DOT who administrates all public transportation of Copenhagen and Zealand has actually shared your video on Facebook, which is pretty nice! That means you did a great job! The only thing they'd like to see is how the buses are connected with both the Metro and S-trains
This is very helpful. I will be traveling by plane to Copenhagen at the end of January and will need to go into the city from the airport. Thanks for the information.
5:45 I literally died when you showed the 5C bus. It's been a subject of a lot of memes and dissatisfaction when it came out first around 2017 because of it's looks. However I gotta say, the 5C and the 2A in Copenhagen are literally some of the nicest busses to be in, when it's not rush hour or weekend.
Love the video. Just a couple of minor corrections: The word "Tog" (Train) in Danish is actually pronounced very much like the English word "Toe". Just FYI. Oh, and BTW the S-tog Voltage is 1650 V DC to be precise :-) ... and on another note: The S-tog axels are abel to ride the curves more smoothly using a curve control whereby the first axel measures the curve and send information to the next axels to adjust to the curve, giving the passengers a nicer ride through some pretty curvy sections here and there.
I never knew that last fact! Definitely comes in handy between Dybbølsbro and København H whenever a train has to switch from the right hand track to the left or vice versa, I was surprised how well it traversed those reverse curves.
Excellent video & summary. I’ve only been to Copenhagen once (in 2017), but used M1, M2, & the Oresundstag extensively while there. It’s intuitive, affordable (which for Copenhagen is saying something), very clean, & enjoyable. My daughter was only 18 months at the time & travelling around Copenhagen with her was a breeze. I also went to Aarhus (Denmark’s second biggest metropolitan area) back in 2003 & was impressed with their bus & bike lane networks which back then, put anything we have here in British Columbia to shame.
I just found this channel, and I really enjoy the content. I have lived in copenhagen my entire life, so i was naturally happy to see a video on this. I really like that you used footage from the specific trainlines, that you were talking about. It is such a small detail, but it makes everything feel smoother for the people that use the service, who watched this video.
I rode the Copenhagen metro from Bella Center to the city centre during a business trip several years ago, and I found it impressive. Therefore, I was very happy to see the same trains implemented on M5 in my hometown of Milan some years later. I can’t wait to see their latest version on M4 now, the new line opening on November 26 that will connect Milan’s city airport with the city centre - like in Copenhagen. The two systems also share the same constructor, Italy’s WeBuild, and the same operator, Milan’s public transport company ATM through its subsidiary Metro Service A/S. If you haven’t already, you should make a video about the Brescia metro (same technology). It’s a great feat for such a small city, and the huge volumes of the underground stations are especially impressive. Also, very unusual for Italy, Brescia is an open system, i.e. no ticket barriers with random ticket checks.
Greetings from the Czech Republic! Watching this video, it made me wonder if you'd consider looking at Prague in a future one. It's similar in size, but contrasting Copanhagen in the approach to trams and metro, which are both much more heavy duty and apparently the metro alone moves some 600 million people each year
I visited Prague for the first time recently and loved all the tram services! There were hardly any long wait times, which was a contrast to coming from Copenhagen, as I find the bus services there easily get caught up in traffic. The metro was also a fun contrast, I definitely see what you mean!
I loved the Copenhagen public transit network when I visited; easy to navigate and use, and took us pretty much everywhere we wanted to go. And that was (just) before the M3 and M4 lines had opened! Visiting the 8 House/Mountain House/etc along the M1 branch and seeing how the city/development was planned to work with public transit was great to see as well. :)
Ah, the memories! I lived in Copenhagen on and off between 2006 and early 2012 out of which some of that time was by Amagerbro so I was a frequent user of the M2 and remember when the line ended at Lergravsparken before it was extended to Kastrup airport, and then the amazement when the extension to the airport was opened. I was also a frequent user of the B line on S-tog (and was jumping for joy when Bx ran as it was a lot faster) as I worked in the western suburbs for a long time with bus transfer from Glostrup. Sadly I don’t have very fond memories of my commute within Copenhagen or even between Malmö and Copenhagen because it was plagued by delays and cancellations and the capacity was nowhere near where it needed to be in relation to the number of people using the services or what kind of traveler (I mean, it wasn’t just commuters). Commuting over the Öresundbridge was pure hell because of the train passing the airport where a mob of travelers with large suitcases would squeeze onto the already very overcrowded train (that was full of commuters) and it was actually to the point of it being difficult to get off the train at your station if you needed to get off at Malmö Syd rather than the central station, Öresundståg was also terrible from a design point of view with very little space for luggage, chronically broken toilets that would leak out water in the low floor part of the trains if you were extra lucky, and they do not have the capacity for the number of people needing to use them, nor should they be used for such long distances as between Elsinore and Gothenburg, they shouldn’t go any further than Elsinore-Helsingborg (or maybe Ängelholm) because they’re super uncomfortable to travel with, and again, no good space for luggage so they’re not fit for longer distances, always late too… It got to the point where I’d call the female voice announcing train delays “Merete” because that was the most annoying sounding Danish female name I could think of at the time. I’ve now been back in my hometown outside of Gothenburg since early 2012, and am eternally grateful I don’t have to travel with DSB or DSB First any longer!
You can take you bicycle on the S-train for free. This combination of train and bike has increased train ridership and improved the economy of the trains. The wide body has made it possible
Really cool video, I learned a lot although I am from Denmark. The reason for the trains having the very wide underbelly is that they are designed to be wide enough to bring your bicycles onto the train, thus supporting a hybrid transportation mode where people from far away are able to ride the last mile on bike, thus eliminating the need to own a car. And historically this has worked really well - Copenhagen has an extremely low car ownership rate compared to other cities, even within Denmark.
This is also not really true. The S-train logo has been hexagonal since the beginning, way before the "hexagonal" trains. The DSB logo was made hexagonal to unify the branding between DSB and S-trains.
Interesting - I didn't know that. An interesting contrast to this is the typical Japanese commuter line, where instead of bringing your bike on the train, you park it at the station. (Of course, people also do that in Copenhagen as well. It was just the difference with the bike car being present on the Copenhagen S-trains).
Hi Reece, I am a follower of your channel since its early stages, I have noticed that even though your content has been always of great quality, it has consolidated to an outstanding level. I know its been hard but there you are! Congratulations!!
Another quirky fact is that there's also DSB trains that crosses the Øresundsbridge and goes directly to Ystad on the Swedish south coast to serve the ferry to the Danish island of Bornholm, which essentially means that Denmark runs a domestic train service within another country. The proposed Øresundsmetro is also really cool, where the Copenhagen metro will be directly connected to central Malmö through a new tunnel under the strait.
Like Nørgaard said, the trains to Ystad were discontinued 5 years ago due to low ridership. Everyone simply took the much cheaper Bornholmerbus instead, and this comes from someone who actually commuted regularly between Bornholm and the Capital area during 2017-18 while I studied on a Bornholmian boarding school. Today the Bornholmerbus is still the most popular transit service between the Island of Bornholm and mainland Denmark.
You should make a video for the - yet under construction - brother of the Copenhagen Metro, the Thessaloniki Metro, in Greece. It's been constructed for almost 20 years now, and it is a very very similar system. It is on track to open in the end of 2023.
I really hope the rail tunnel between Elsinore and Helsingborg gets a go so we end up with The Sound Loop. There are plans also with a freight rail tunnel between Landskrona and Copenhagen. The Sound in its entirety will be a huge construction site for decades to come either way.
the tunnel will most likely happen but we won't get a Øresund loop. the reason Øresund tog doesn't go to Malmø from Helsingør anymore is because if one delay is caused in Sweden it affects every single train on the line, even if it is a train waiting to depart in Helsingør. it is the reason we had so many delays back in the 2010's and before that as well. it would not make any sense to reintroduce more delays again.
Considering the promises the Swedish government gave and did not keep, in regard to the Øresund connection and a greater Øresund region, I have a hard time thinking Denmark would like such a connection, even if Sweden paid fully for it. The Danish government kept its end of the bargain. Sweden are a leech on ALL its neighbouring countries with its refusal to remove the "medarbejderavgift". With this technical move it makes it a very bad deal for Danes, Norwegians, Finns to work in Sweden while Swedes benefit hugely. Always the same with Sweden, Full of words and theoretic s, never living up to the spirit of any deal. Danes and Norwegians have given Sweden individual security guarantees (as UK and US) during your NATO application but you do not even seem to notice but keep bashing on. 65k Swedes work on the Danish side while less than 500 the other way around. Same type of numbers with your other neighbours. When Norway had to close its border to Sweden because you had a raging Covid virus spread your insane government demanded unemployment benefits from Norway to the Swedes that could not work because of your gov´s reckless treatment of own population and neighbours. No more connections making you able to leech further, thank you.
@@axelnils You bet and you can include Norwegians and Finns. I bet you, that the reason why Finland wanted to join NATO, was not only the threat from POOtin, but the realisation last years, that the Swedish governments promises are worthless and Sweden were a vital part of their defence strategy. Finland realised this and told the Swedish government they would apply for NATO, no matter what Sweden did, and Sweden realised their "buffer" were gone and then even managed to get Finland to tie the two NATO applications together. POOtin made his illegal attack against independent democratic Ukraine and then the Swedish government bragged about donating 15.000, 30 year old helmets to Ukraine. Well sounded great, right? It then turned out the &%¤/ had sent a bill to some EU box for 90 million Swedish Kronor. They always brag about "how good they are" but every time its on paper, when reality are dug out. Just after the Øresund bridge were opened, they decided to open their borders for over 200.000 young men with no education or cultural understanding of Western Europe AND placed the majority of them just on the other side of the bridge, not anywhere else, in their long, low population density, country. Those 200.000 ballooned to 2 million people because they used "Swedish family gathering rules" to bring them up to Sweden afterwards. Sweden then, in just 1 single decade, went from having comparable low crime rates with rest of the Nordic countries, to having most murders in ALL of Europe, hereunder easily surpassing nations like Romania and Albania, that usually tops the list. Swedes like to consider themselves the "big brother" in a Nordic context...In that case they are the drugaddicted big brother, that makes you look in your drawers for anything missing each time he comes around to bum you for money, swearing at you while he lies.. Sweden have now morally collapsed and all their society structures are crumbling. Swedish population in 10 years have gone from 9 million to now 11 million. During Covid they BANNED all their elderly, that built the Swedish welfare state, living in care/elderly homes access to ambulances and hospitals AND made a law allowing the staff at these facilities to instead request a deadly dose of morphine to kill them off. SO while the Swedish experiment of having an open society in the middle of a raging pandemic, and their population drank coffee at cafe´s their parents were killed of by the state. On top staff were told they would not need to be Covid tested, symptoms were enough and also that no autopsies would be performed. SO no Covid deaths on paper! Danes thus now have neighbours on either side (Germany/Sweden) that have committed genocide inside a century. WHILE they did that, the then government (with PM Stefan Løfven and Anders Tegnell as the "health/pandemic guru) they even began discussing increased state taxes on dead peoples money. I do not have words covering my disgust and horror. They just had a parliamentarian election and NOT ONE journalist or opposition party mentioned the genocide and the societal and moral collapse they had during the pandemic. Completely taboo. They try to hush their genocide up. I will keep telling this disgusting horrified story, in honour of the thousands of dead that their state killed, the rest of my life or until the perpetrators have been called to justice for crimes against humanity in Haag. A large part of the Swedish population have not even understood the truth about their own government, because of the complete collapse of morale and ethics in the fourth pillar of a functioning democracy, the press. Where are Amnesty International and Human rights watch in this? We are not only mad, we are chocked and sad.
@@Mike-zx1kx I hope your wonderful danish health care system provides you with a therapist to talk to. Being excessively concerned about things outside of your control is dangerous for your mental health.
Another way to reduce outswing is to chop off the corners of the train, like the ex-KCR/MTR Light Rail. Copenhagen's way seems much superior though as the outswing on HK's light rail is too big to create walk-through passageways between two cars. The timetable is also often criticized for 'double stacking' and headways too long making overcrowding a very glaring issue.
Also introducing slight banks on the rails in corners helps improve the clearances too, as the trains will tip slightly inwards counteracted by centrifugal force, so you don't have to make the train itself turn as sharply.
Walkthroughs in the center of cars are unaffected by outswing, just some overlapping floor segments above the mechanical link the pulls the train along, and some flexible fabric bellows connecting the walls and roofs. The interior pictures in this video show how the entire passenger space narrows at every hinge, neatly covered by gray wall panels. Standing on the hinge, passengers can feel the motion. A narrower version is used on long distance and regional trains with doors on both sides of the bendy coupling, so it can be locked when the cars are disconnected.
As I write this, my friend is enjoying a ride on the airport train from Copenhagen to Malmo. I have honestly taken a liking to those s-tog trains. For starters - I love the red livery - Reminiscent of TTC’s retired G1 trains.
What a wonderful video! I live at the south end of the m1 line, and I love the convenience! The metro is wonderful. I do wish Copenhagen reopened their tram network, and established car free days, but those are probably just silly dreams :)
Amazing to think that Copenhagen didn't have a metro system for most of the 20th century and even decomissioned its trams in the 70s. Nowadays, the metro is one of the best, if not the best system I've ever used in my life. Incredible.
I would love it if you made videos about the transit network in Bergen and Trondheim! Bergen is currently doing some huge light rail expansions, and Trondheim is just a spaghetti bowl of bus lines with one tram line and a few trains sprinkled around
When the Metro in Copenhagen were new it didn''t have any platform doors on the outdoor platforms. They only had sensors that triggered if someone jumped down on the track. However, they don't stop people jumping or falling in front of the train so I guess thats why they added them.
The problem was more so the old sensors being not that good. It could detect if something was in the way but never if it was an actual person or just a newspaper in the wind, and would shut down the whole system either way if anything was detected.
Fun fact I do know (since I'm italian) is that with the use of Hitachi Rail Italy metro trains, the society managing Milan's Network, Azienda Trasporti Milanesi or ATM actually owns 30% of the line management. I love how Italy helps other countries with their transit (just like how they do with Padova and Bologna cities, giving them retired busses for little to no price)
Nice overview. It’s a shame you didn’t make the video before my trip to Copenhagen a couple of months ago, I would have explored the metro system a bit more had I been able to watch this beforehand. I was impressed by their system especially the 24 hour service. It made going out in the evening easier without having to worry about when the last train runs like one has to in London or Tokyo. I thought the platforms in the downtown stations felt a bit narrow although I imagine the platform can be extended for future expansion. The only less than stellar experience I had was with the main train station which felt old and in need of refurbishment. I had the pleasure of taking the train from Copenhagen to Stockholm as well although the way finding experience was less than optimal as I ended up on the wrong platform and almost missed my train.
As Troels mentioned you are in luck, as the Central station will see a renovation around 2023-26. The current interior design is from the 1990's and has become fairly run down. The new design will focus more on wider hallways and fewer shops. Though it still won't solve one huge issue which is a lack of waiting areas and especially benches. I've always thought it would be perfect to place that on top of the shops, but apparently no one is interested in giving passengers a place to sit while they're waiting for their train.
Nice video. Notice that not all metro stations have the same design. At "Marmorkirken" the tubes are placed one above the other and not side by side, as on the other stations. This should be because of the lack of space for the station.
Experienced Copenhagen and Malmö on the same weekend and both cities have good transportation and the Öresundståg serves as an Airport Express for both Copenhagen and Malmö which is very convenient.
I was in Copenhagen last August and we really liked their metro. Very efficient and fairly recent. All the station are well designed and all have elevators. I also took a train to Malmo (Øresundståg train I believe) which was very quick. Unfortunately, you can't see the view of the bridge from the train as the tracks are under the road used by cars. I really hopped that in MTL, CDPQ Infra actually went to Copenhagen and took notes. Maybe they didn't as they took the strange decision to only build 1 track between Marie-Curie station and the YUL station. At least it only takes 2 min in theory between the 2 stations so hopefully they should be able to provide a better service from the airport to juste 1 train per 10 minutes during peak hours. It also doesn't look like all REM stations have moving staircase but they should all have elevators.
When talking about the Copenhagen Transit network you should not forget to mention also the many, many, pretty well connected, regional train services that are a great addition to the S-Tog and Metro network. In combination this network of regional trains, S-Togs and metros are one of the best transit systems worldwide.
If you enjoy the video, check out our other explainers and share with a friend!
If you get a chance, a Denver refresh would be awesome! Our transit organization's funding has been limited in the last few years, due to the ballooning cost of the A line and general dissatisfaction amongst our politicians. Some more attention on the system might help get the word out that Denver has transit, and that it deserves funding! Enjoyed the video lots today, those S-trains are funky!
What happened with the dedicated s-train video?
Please do a explainer about Lisbon
@@JamesBond-ko7ky poor small country has cultural problems against public transit, and the geology makes it complicated and expensive to build tunnels near the riverfront. Most of the core should be pedestrianised but won't be. Nonetheless the existing metro is quite cool but... it has low frequency services for a metro, the network is small, insuficient, and planning of expansions is controversial. The old trams are cute for tourists but increasingly inadequate for the aging local population that used to use them. Little updates on suburban trains might be helpful. And the first rule of the new airport club is that we don't talk about the new airport club. /EXPLAINED
@@f.g.9466 I use the lisbon metro everyday, I know their problems, and the cultural problems. But the suburban trains are great, better than the metro. Linha de Sintra is overcrowded in rush hours, but its still the best suburban line in the country, trains every 10 to 20 minutes all day and 5 or less at rush hour, quad track, connections to the metro, etc etc. The things that could be improved are more infraestruture related, like a connection from linha de cascais to linha de cintura. +
As a citizen of Denmark who uses the s-trains as a part of my daily commute, my favorite part of them are the quiet zones, at each end of the trains. They’re small areas where you’re not supposed to speak, so it’s usually insanely quiet. It’s a great time to get a break from the noise of transit and read a book.
Quiet zones exist on commuter trains in Norway as well, but few people in Oslo seem to be capable of reading the signs.
@@justsomeguy5103 Jævlig sant det 😂
Chicago's Metra commuter rail has those too! I have enjoyed reading books on the quiet cars.
@@justsomeguy5103same in germany, like the words "quiet" and "phone call" are similar
That is so true
It is such an honor sharing my clips with you. You're free to write to me another time, if you need clips of other Copenhagen Trains ❤
Yooo
respect!
A big component of what makes the S-trains so great is the bike cars. Multiple cars on each train are specially designed to store your bike during the journey, which is very heavily used by commuters especially. I bike to my local S-train station, bring my bike on the train, then get off and bike the rest of the way to college. This means I don't have to be dependent on connections with buses or other trains - super convenient!
I used the S-trains for my college commute before the bike service became big and free, so I had bikes parked at stations at both ends.
I think the Øresundstrains deserve a bit more acknowledgment in this video, as they are like a third part of this system, complementing the S-tog and the Metro really well. They are the fastest way from the Airport, Ørestad and Tårnby to the central city, and northeast of the city, they operate an S-tog similar service from Copenhagen to Helsingør. Through the city, the are mostly like express S-tog trains
Maybe RM transit could do a video on cross countries commuter services?
Oresundtrains have the unusual quirk of driving on different sides for different countries
*and using different power types
I agree - When visiting Copenhagen I staid at a hotel that was very close to a stop of the Øresundstrains between M1 and M2. I was very surprised when a train coming from Sweden arrived (and how often they do, many times an hour), I expected a standard S-Bahn.
Yep, an in depth video about the Øresundståg would be nice. As you say it's lik an express S-tog in Central Copenhagen. But then after crossing the bridge its a long regional train line to Swedens east coast (Karlskrona and Kalmar) and to Swedens west coast (Gothenburg).
And as a swede living in Karlskrona that has roughly 66 000 residents I think it's quite "weird" that we have a train directly to Copenhagen but not to our own capital...
@@carlmarlid lol. Sweden has some really bizarre quirks with its PT ( despite it being relatively efficient)
It’s easier for me to get to Copenhagen from Karlshamn. That to get from Karlshamn to Växjö.
@@darraghmckenna9127 Hahahah I know exactly what you mean 😅
Just a clarification about B and Bx S-tog @10:00. The B runs ‘normally’. The statement runs only during peak hours is for the Bx line only
I really like seeing trams come back in Copenhagen. My dads uncle was the driver of the last tram in Denmark, Line 5 from the depot to the terminus, then rode shotgun on the final trip back. This was April 22 1972. He would be pleased to see the trams coming back.
well the lines are very much under construction, have witnessed the work and experiences the delays first hand! 😆
The tram project unfortunately looks likely to be something of a disaster. Not technically, but in there simply isn't the demand - or as some else put it "There is going really good room for each passenger".
Once tram lines open, the passenger numbers tend to double.
@@bzdtemp As a commuter on the express bus line that corresponds to the tram, I notice a lot of faults, not only with the management of the construction phase disturbances, but also with the announced speed being very similar to the before project bus service. Throw in the unexplained shut down of the bus lines that covered smaller stops between the express stops.
Back in 1972, Copenhagen should've kept the Line 5 as a tram and just expand and modernized the network instead of just removing the tracks and the wires.
If they kept the Line 5, then imagine 5A (2002-2017)/5C (2017-present) as a tram. Imagine 2A, 250S as trams
Modern trams offer more capacity than buses.
One thing that goes in hand with why the Copenhagen transit infrastructure works so well, but is rarely mentioned, are the correlating bus lines which are incredible (even though we Danes often ridicule the busses for being off schedule constantly haha). But the beauty is how well the bus network links up with the train and metro lines, to the point where no matter where you have to get to in the city, you will usually have 3-5 alternative routes to pick and choose from depending on your needs and timing. And the tickets/cards are standardized for all public transit in the city (and whole country), which makes transit swapping extremely convenient between train, metro, and bus services. On top of this, busses in many parts of the city have priority lanes, and an interval of 5-15 minutes between each bus arrival per bus line - so you almost never have to check the timing schedule, you just hop out and catch whatever means of transportation is available to you first. Once you know the basic systems and where the different lines meet/intersect, it becomes incredibly easy to get from one end of the city to the other with minimal planning -even if you have never been to that part of the city before. And to top it all off, the travel planner (Rejseplanen) which can be found both as an app or in-web browser, is a system that easily offers the optimal transit routes to your desired destination and accounts for all modes of transportation and the time intervals + estimated walking distances between stops etc. So figuring out how to get to any given address takes no more than a minute, and usually the travel time is within half an hour at most. It just makes the city so easy to get around in, on foot, or bike, or even car - as the public transit and biking culture frees up a lot of road space for cars too.
Eh... IDK about that. The whole thing kinda falls apart when it comes to buses. Unless you live within walking distance of an S train or Metro station, chances are you're just driving into the city all the way anyway due to the poor operations of the buses. Many are fairly low frequency, have very winding routes making them unattractive on journey times, and suffer from overcrowding due to using too small buses. And that's on top of the ticket prices being abnormally expensive here.
Heck the modal share for transit is also horrendous in Copenhagen, with only 14% of trips in Copenhagen being done with public transit. Compare that to Stockholm where 47% of trips are done by public transit!
I really agree with you!
Hello from Lund! The fact that I can bike up to the station and take a direct train to a European capital in less than an hour is just so awesome. I just took our new tram today, too! It's really awesome that you've done all the mainland Nordic capitals, and it would be really cool if you did some more about this part of the world. Maybe one on Göteborg or Hamburg?
As a Copenhagener and fellow transit nerd/perfectionist i really appreciate all the detail and how accurate you captured everything. Honored that my favourite transit media personality loves and appreciates our city and systems so much. It's funny how little you appreciate/unaware your own things, until someone from another background and with another perspective, point it out for you and makes you think how good it actually is,. And actually learned a lot about it
Live in just about any other city and you will appreciate how Copenhageners get around. There's still way too much priority given to cars, imo, but it's generally pretty amazing, especially the bike lanes and metro. Maybe not the grumpy bus drivers, though.
@@bugsygoo I honestly feel that the drivers are okay, meanwhile the cycle paths seems so stressful to me😅 a lot of them are still just bike gutters with drawn on lines... but it's better than nothing I suppose:)
Yes; not from Copenhagen myself (from Aarhus; which is, btw, dabbling with light railways) but I really appreciate the attention to details and using the proper Danish names for the stations and other places.
24 hour metro is such a game changer. I was there in 2021 for World Pride - not having to worry about night buses or taxis to get back to my flat was amazing. The same route I took at 5 p.m. would work at 5 a.m. which was nice after a full day of tourism and fun. Made the city feel very welcoming and easy to get used to. Coupled with the bike infrastructure and pedestrian-friendly design, it's easily one of my fave cities.
The worst part of using the Copenhagen metro at night, is the 15 (!) minute wait for the next train if you miss one. It is definitely a first world problem :)
@@kildevang98 and then you get off the metro, and a bus you needed just left and another one is only in 30minutes
@@nexas2316 luckily I live within a 5 minute walk from the metro ;)
What's the point in having a dislike button? Every single video is Top Notch!
Haha, I’m honored!
One of the coolest things about the Copenhagen metro (as a visitor at least), is the huge front windows and seats right below them as can be seen at 0:16. It's amazing to sit in the front of the trams while they're on top of the world.
And a control panel sticker, so you can pretend you're driving the train!
@@KlausKokholmPetersen These stickers are intended for children.
@@automation7295 in my heart I am still a child.
I was in Copenhagen in August. I felt its metro system really showed how small-ish citites can have a frequent network (and a 24/7 system!) whilst still having a popular distribution between services, like in Lausanne. I enjoyed the S-tog to, as it gave me slight London Overground vibes. Good video!
Thanks for watching! I agree, the 24 hour nature is great, as is the S Tog - especially it’s weird and wonderful trains!
I was in Copenhagen in September and agree with your comments.
This is a great clip that really captures an intelligently designed system in an elegant and loveable city. The Danes have a habit of doing things really well, with a flair for design, but without being ostentatious. Copenhagen's main station is utterly conventional, yet so unique. Nicely functional, yet reminiscent of Beowulf's mead hall.
Living in Copenhagen, taking the S-train every day, I'm very surprised at the amount of things I learnt!
Thank you! :)
Hi Reese. This was a great enhancement to my visit to Copenhagen in May. Remember that there is one other transit system and I mention it because it does work with the transit pass - the canal ferry system. It has 7 (I think) beautiful yellow ferries that service 9 stops on both sides of the main canal. They are electric with super capacitors. They plug in at the end of the route and charge fully in 7 minutes. I used it a couple of times and it's a fantastic connector element and transit service all along the canal. Thanks Reese. Paul N.
@@erik_griswold He never mentioned more than 1 canal...... That's what Paul Nielsen meant by "Main Canal"..
Always glad to help Reece, this video turned out great
Thanks as always!
I am literally in copenhagen to film the trains for my own channel, for a day, the day you upload this. The transit hivemind
Nice to hear praise of our transit system. Many people in Copenhagen do not know how good we have it. We are spoiled 😂 Great video!
A fun detail you missed about the S-trains: Though most of the cars only have one set of wheels, that axle is still mounted on a bogie-type construction letting them curve independently of the car. That both allows for a more comfortable ride but also a significant reduction in wear and tear on both wheels and tracks.
I lived in Denmark for 1 year in 1998. I never noticed all those features about the S-trains! I have fond memories of the longer distance trains with the rubber ends.
The interesting thing about the line A and E line timetable is that it dates back to the steam era. Until the 60's the northern part of the line was served by normal steam and diesel-hauled express trains (today's line A), while the "stop service" from Holte (today's line E) were served by the first generation S-Trains. When the northern part of the route became part of the S-Train network, the original timetable was kept. Up until the 90's the A-line didn't stop at all between Holte and Østeport. The original reason for having this timetable was that the weatlhy passengers on the northern part of the line saw S-Trains as a form of transport for the lower classes, so we ended up with this weird S-Train/Express train hybrid that lasted for decades. The original S-Trains on line A also had first class, which was a major headache for DSB, because it meant that they had multiple S-Train sets that could ONLY be used on that line, and when the southern route of the A-line was opened, they had to lock the first class carriage while the train was operating on that section. A troublesome and expense solution just to make a minority of passengers happy, but that's how it was back then.
Reece. This is a superb video. I have holidayed in Malmo on several occasions (I find it cheaper than Copenhagen) and when there I use the Oresund trains on an almost daily basis. As local commentators acknowledge, these trains give many towns in southern Sweden excellent links to the DANISH capital. I would support the call for a video on the Oresund trains. I would also suggest you examine the excellent Pagatog trains which fan out on the Swedish ('Skane') side from Malmo and Lund. Malmo and Lund taken together are nearly the same size as Zurich. In Skane, the Oresund and Pagatog trains taken together form a super system of suburban trains ALMOST AS GOOD AS THE ZURICH S-BAHN!
Great video, but unfortunately you’ve misunderstood how the express/local services works. At 9:28 the E line doesn’t go all the way up to Hillerød. It starts down in Holte. Conversely, only the E line goes to Køge on the southern side, with the A line terminating at Solrød Strand. Evenings, weekends and holidays the E line disappears and the A line stops at all stations because the frequency is reduced.
Living in Copenhagen and working in the rail business, I have to say this is an extremely accurate video. I really enjoy your channel, keep up with the good work!
We were there prior to the opening of M3 and 4, but it was still pretty easy to get around using M1 and M2 and the S-Tøg system, or just by walking (our hotel was at the end of the Strøget by Central Station). Investing in a tourist card got us free transit access and a TON of free tickets to museums and other places.
I grew up in Copenhagen, but left 11 years ago. This video and especially the S tog footage (we lived along the C) was SO incredibly nostalgic, and a great explanation! Will miss the F train if they do swap it out for a metro- it always stood out to me as quirky for not going along the main line and for the train being half the length of the other ones.
Thank you for the wonderful and very informative video. I think that what in particular makes the S-tog unique is the fact that you can bring your bike for free and how certain sections of the train have been designed to accommodate just this. As someone who rarely uses public transit but prefers to go by bike, this enables me to make use of the S-train without leaving my bike at home. This makes it so much more convenient to use the S-train service!
The last intact part of the old rail alignment mentioned at 1:45 is actually still used by a small voluntary community. We have public opening days where people can try railbikes and a handcar
I love this style of videos, focusing on the city as a whole rather than on a single system!! Amazing vid keep it up!
Awesome video, Copenhagen is such a beautiful city
I agrée, it’s really gorgeous from the natural environment to the built one!
@@RMTransit Certainly the built environment, idk how much nature there is😅
Lived near Egebjerg back in the 80s. Equidistant between two S tog stations. Worked in an office next to Tivoli gardens (which has recently been rebuilt). Impressed on how its come on so much over the years.
I have been waiting for the S-tog video to be reuploaded. But see you have done much more with it. 😁🤩👏
I Hope it was worth the wait 😅
@@RMTransit It was. The S-tog rolling stock looks like a hamster with cheeks full of food. 😂 And I like your "Explained" series passing on knowledge.
The staff also call them hamsters.
As a resident of Copenhagen I actually found this very precise and informative. I even learned a few things along the way - Thanks for sharing!
Good video (watched the 24 hour availability one aswell). I'm a control room operator on M1/M2 and can agree with a lot of your points. The trains on M3/M4 are totally different in technology and operating them. M1/M2 is like generation 1 and M3/M4 generation 8 or something. I couldn't operate their trains and vice versa, same for the technicians. We do have to close down from time to time to do full system maintenance which is like 5 weekdays every 8th week or so. As you say it's very important to have the system built for 24 hour service from the start, with power sections, track separation and so forth. One thing you left out is independent switch-coupling, disengaging the flank protection on crossovers. Nighttime is ofcourse the busiest time in the metro actually, even though we have the least passengers (sometimes so little you might think it would be more economic to just get them a taxi).
Honestly, during my time in Copenhagen they definitely had my favourite metro- even better than the tube of my hometown, London. It’s so fast and clean, and the lack of barriers (even though you need to buy tickets) is great. The S rail links in really well with the Metro too
Another interesting potential future expansion is the Øresundsmetron/Öresundsmetron, which will connect Malmö with Copenhagen with a metro line. It is supported by both Copenhagen and Malmö city councils.
Will it utilise Oresundsbron (sorry UK keyboard) or will it have another connection built under or over the Oresund?
@@exsandgrounder it will be on completely new tunnel, I think
@@Brash_Candicoot Thanks!
@@exsandgrounder no problem!
@@exsandgrounder no, it's going to be a new tunnel to relieve Öresundsbron, especially for when the Fehmarn Belt fixed link is finished. Including the potential railway between Helsingborg and Helsingør, the future might be three rail links across the Öresund straight
As a person that has lived in Denmark since they were 3, your accent is amazing.
Could have been interesting with the regional rail on top. I think in the greater Cph there lives 1,7m and something similar on the Swedish side, so its one metropolitan area. Also, they are debating a new connection over Øresund as the Øresund is reacing its capacity, but also to integrate the metropolis more. Both a metro tunnel to Malmø, a Eurosporet from Cph H to Lund (dual rail line), and a metro between Helsingborg and Helsingør are being considered. Sweden is so dependent on freight trains to the continent today, they want a backup to Øresundsbroen. At the same time we are building the Femern connection to Germany, and Swedish high-speed trains from Stockholm and Goteborg terminates in Copenhagen. On top of that a lot of transit freight between Germany and Sweden over Storebælt and Øresund. The latest debate is about a bridge over Kattegat possible with high speed trains between the two largest cities in Denmark, Copenhagen and Århus.
Also they are upgrading all main lines to higher speed and electrify them, while rolling out ETCS over all of it and also upgrading the rolling stock.
But maybe that is for another video.
Yes! Likely a dedicated video!
The metro area has a population of 2 million, the urban area 1.3
I am actually sitting in a S-train right now so it's quite funny to see a station on your phone and then looking out of the window and seeing the same station
Thank you so much for using my clips! If you need any more you're welcome to message me :)
Yes
Thanks for the clips!
I like to come back and watch this video once a while, just to see what has changed since then.
With the south extension of the M4 just opening, and the Copenhagen Letbane finally being finished, it's looking like a much larger system all of a sudden.
Although one thing that wasn't mentioned was the plans to extend the S-Tog B line to Roskilde, which wasn't done since they would have to share lines with the regional trains.
Also the C line being extended all the way to Helsingør, but again, having to share track with the regional trains if it ever becomes viable.
The DOT who administrates all public transportation of Copenhagen and Zealand has actually shared your video on Facebook, which is pretty nice! That means you did a great job!
The only thing they'd like to see is how the buses are connected with both the Metro and S-trains
I swear I love this channel
This is very helpful. I will be traveling by plane to Copenhagen at the end of January and will need to go into the city from the airport. Thanks for the information.
It's nice to see a well researched film like this.
5:45 I literally died when you showed the 5C bus. It's been a subject of a lot of memes and dissatisfaction when it came out first around 2017 because of it's looks. However I gotta say, the 5C and the 2A in Copenhagen are literally some of the nicest busses to be in, when it's not rush hour or weekend.
They look good to me!
Now, the M4 drives to Copenhagen South.
5:46 oh. my. god. Look at. that. bus. 😂
Also, that A&E line express operation is genius. I love it
Love the video. Just a couple of minor corrections: The word "Tog" (Train) in Danish is actually pronounced very much like the English word "Toe". Just FYI. Oh, and BTW the S-tog Voltage is 1650 V DC to be precise :-) ... and on another note: The S-tog axels are abel to ride the curves more smoothly using a curve control whereby the first axel measures the curve and send information to the next axels to adjust to the curve, giving the passengers a nicer ride through some pretty curvy sections here and there.
I never knew that last fact! Definitely comes in handy between Dybbølsbro and København H whenever a train has to switch from the right hand track to the left or vice versa, I was surprised how well it traversed those reverse curves.
Excellent video & summary. I’ve only been to Copenhagen once (in 2017), but used M1, M2, & the Oresundstag extensively while there. It’s intuitive, affordable (which for Copenhagen is saying something), very clean, & enjoyable. My daughter was only 18 months at the time & travelling around Copenhagen with her was a breeze.
I also went to Aarhus (Denmark’s second biggest metropolitan area) back in 2003 & was impressed with their bus & bike lane networks which back then, put anything we have here in British Columbia to shame.
I just found this channel, and I really enjoy the content. I have lived in copenhagen my entire life, so i was naturally happy to see a video on this. I really like that you used footage from the specific trainlines, that you were talking about. It is such a small detail, but it makes everything feel smoother for the people that use the service, who watched this video.
I rode the Copenhagen metro from Bella Center to the city centre during a business trip several years ago, and I found it impressive. Therefore, I was very happy to see the same trains implemented on M5 in my hometown of Milan some years later. I can’t wait to see their latest version on M4 now, the new line opening on November 26 that will connect Milan’s city airport with the city centre - like in Copenhagen. The two systems also share the same constructor, Italy’s WeBuild, and the same operator, Milan’s public transport company ATM through its subsidiary Metro Service A/S.
If you haven’t already, you should make a video about the Brescia metro (same technology). It’s a great feat for such a small city, and the huge volumes of the underground stations are especially impressive. Also, very unusual for Italy, Brescia is an open system, i.e. no ticket barriers with random ticket checks.
Greetings from the Czech Republic! Watching this video, it made me wonder if you'd consider looking at Prague in a future one. It's similar in size, but contrasting Copanhagen in the approach to trams and metro, which are both much more heavy duty and apparently the metro alone moves some 600 million people each year
I visited Prague for the first time recently and loved all the tram services! There were hardly any long wait times, which was a contrast to coming from Copenhagen, as I find the bus services there easily get caught up in traffic. The metro was also a fun contrast, I definitely see what you mean!
Fun fact. The black VW Passat spotted at 0:04 with blue plates, is a diplomacy vehicle.
Would you consider doing a video about the truly terrible rail networks in Dublin, Ireland?
I loved the Copenhagen public transit network when I visited; easy to navigate and use, and took us pretty much everywhere we wanted to go. And that was (just) before the M3 and M4 lines had opened! Visiting the 8 House/Mountain House/etc along the M1 branch and seeing how the city/development was planned to work with public transit was great to see as well. :)
Ah, the memories! I lived in Copenhagen on and off between 2006 and early 2012 out of which some of that time was by Amagerbro so I was a frequent user of the M2 and remember when the line ended at Lergravsparken before it was extended to Kastrup airport, and then the amazement when the extension to the airport was opened. I was also a frequent user of the B line on S-tog (and was jumping for joy when Bx ran as it was a lot faster) as I worked in the western suburbs for a long time with bus transfer from Glostrup.
Sadly I don’t have very fond memories of my commute within Copenhagen or even between Malmö and Copenhagen because it was plagued by delays and cancellations and the capacity was nowhere near where it needed to be in relation to the number of people using the services or what kind of traveler (I mean, it wasn’t just commuters). Commuting over the Öresundbridge was pure hell because of the train passing the airport where a mob of travelers with large suitcases would squeeze onto the already very overcrowded train (that was full of commuters) and it was actually to the point of it being difficult to get off the train at your station if you needed to get off at Malmö Syd rather than the central station, Öresundståg was also terrible from a design point of view with very little space for luggage, chronically broken toilets that would leak out water in the low floor part of the trains if you were extra lucky, and they do not have the capacity for the number of people needing to use them, nor should they be used for such long distances as between Elsinore and Gothenburg, they shouldn’t go any further than Elsinore-Helsingborg (or maybe Ängelholm) because they’re super uncomfortable to travel with, and again, no good space for luggage so they’re not fit for longer distances, always late too…
It got to the point where I’d call the female voice announcing train delays “Merete” because that was the most annoying sounding Danish female name I could think of at the time.
I’ve now been back in my hometown outside of Gothenburg since early 2012, and am eternally grateful I don’t have to travel with DSB or DSB First any longer!
Love these trains, and transit system
Thanks for explaining the A and E line thing. I’ve always been idly curious about that.
Can you do a video on the increase in Northern European use of trams and light rail?
You can take you bicycle on the S-train for free. This combination of train and bike has increased train ridership and improved the economy of the trains. The wide body has made it possible
Really cool video, I learned a lot although I am from Denmark. The reason for the trains having the very wide underbelly is that they are designed to be wide enough to bring your bicycles onto the train, thus supporting a hybrid transportation mode where people from far away are able to ride the last mile on bike, thus eliminating the need to own a car. And historically this has worked really well - Copenhagen has an extremely low car ownership rate compared to other cities, even within Denmark.
This is also not really true. The S-train logo has been hexagonal since the beginning, way before the "hexagonal" trains. The DSB logo was made hexagonal to unify the branding between DSB and S-trains.
Interesting - I didn't know that.
An interesting contrast to this is the typical Japanese commuter line, where instead of bringing your bike on the train, you park it at the station.
(Of course, people also do that in Copenhagen as well. It was just the difference with the bike car being present on the Copenhagen S-trains).
thank you for using my friend’s clip!
Thank you to your friend!
Didn’t expect to get interesting Disneyland facts in addition to transit facts, and I am not complaining! Love the helpful diagrams + maps
Hi Reece, I am a follower of your channel since its early stages, I have noticed that even though your content has been always of great quality, it has consolidated to an outstanding level. I know its been hard but there you are! Congratulations!!
Another quirky fact is that there's also DSB trains that crosses the Øresundsbridge and goes directly to Ystad on the Swedish south coast to serve the ferry to the Danish island of Bornholm, which essentially means that Denmark runs a domestic train service within another country.
The proposed Øresundsmetro is also really cool, where the Copenhagen metro will be directly connected to central Malmö through a new tunnel under the strait.
The 'InterCity Bornholm' service shut down in 2017. Today you take the Øresundstog to Malmö Hyllie and switch to the local Pågatåg to Ystad.
Like Nørgaard said, the trains to Ystad were discontinued 5 years ago due to low ridership. Everyone simply took the much cheaper Bornholmerbus instead, and this comes from someone who actually commuted regularly between Bornholm and the Capital area during 2017-18 while I studied on a Bornholmian boarding school. Today the Bornholmerbus is still the most popular transit service between the Island of Bornholm and mainland Denmark.
As a local, this is so interesting. A lot of new information. Thanks.
You should make a video for the - yet under construction - brother of the Copenhagen Metro, the Thessaloniki Metro, in Greece. It's been constructed for almost 20 years now, and it is a very very similar system. It is on track to open in the end of 2023.
I really hope the rail tunnel between Elsinore and Helsingborg gets a go so we end up with The Sound Loop. There are plans also with a freight rail tunnel between Landskrona and Copenhagen. The Sound in its entirety will be a huge construction site for decades to come either way.
the tunnel will most likely happen but we won't get a Øresund loop. the reason Øresund tog doesn't go to Malmø from Helsingør anymore is because if one delay is caused in Sweden it affects every single train on the line, even if it is a train waiting to depart in Helsingør. it is the reason we had so many delays back in the 2010's and before that as well. it would not make any sense to reintroduce more delays again.
Considering the promises the Swedish government gave and did not keep, in regard to the Øresund connection and a greater Øresund region, I have a hard time thinking Denmark would like such a connection, even if Sweden paid fully for it. The Danish government kept its end of the bargain. Sweden are a leech on ALL its neighbouring countries with its refusal to remove the "medarbejderavgift". With this technical move it makes it a very bad deal for Danes, Norwegians, Finns to work in Sweden while Swedes benefit hugely. Always the same with Sweden, Full of words and theoretic s, never living up to the spirit of any deal. Danes and Norwegians have given Sweden individual security guarantees (as UK and US) during your NATO application but you do not even seem to notice but keep bashing on. 65k Swedes work on the Danish side while less than 500 the other way around. Same type of numbers with your other neighbours. When Norway had to close its border to Sweden because you had a raging Covid virus spread your insane government demanded unemployment benefits from Norway to the Swedes that could not work because of your gov´s reckless treatment of own population and neighbours. No more connections making you able to leech further, thank you.
@@Mike-zx1kx Loool Danes mad.
@@axelnils You bet and you can include Norwegians and Finns. I bet you, that the reason why Finland wanted to join NATO, was not only the threat from POOtin, but the realisation last years, that the Swedish governments promises are worthless and Sweden were a vital part of their defence strategy. Finland realised this and told the Swedish government they would apply for NATO, no matter what Sweden did, and Sweden realised their "buffer" were gone and then even managed to get Finland to tie the two NATO applications together. POOtin made his illegal attack against independent democratic Ukraine and then the Swedish government bragged about donating 15.000, 30 year old helmets to Ukraine. Well sounded great, right? It then turned out the &%¤/ had sent a bill to some EU box for 90 million Swedish Kronor. They always brag about "how good they are" but every time its on paper, when reality are dug out.
Just after the Øresund bridge were opened, they decided to open their borders for over 200.000 young men with no education or cultural understanding of Western Europe AND placed the majority of them just on the other side of the bridge, not anywhere else, in their long, low population density, country. Those 200.000 ballooned to 2 million people because they used "Swedish family gathering rules" to bring them up to Sweden afterwards. Sweden then, in just 1 single decade, went from having comparable low crime rates with rest of the Nordic countries, to having most murders in ALL of Europe, hereunder easily surpassing nations like Romania and Albania, that usually tops the list. Swedes like to consider themselves the "big brother" in a Nordic context...In that case they are the drugaddicted big brother, that makes you look in your drawers for anything missing each time he comes around to bum you for money, swearing at you while he lies.. Sweden have now morally collapsed and all their society structures are crumbling. Swedish population in 10 years have gone from 9 million to now 11 million. During Covid they BANNED all their elderly, that built the Swedish welfare state, living in care/elderly homes access to ambulances and hospitals AND made a law allowing the staff at these facilities to instead request a deadly dose of morphine to kill them off. SO while the Swedish experiment of having an open society in the middle of a raging pandemic, and their population drank coffee at cafe´s their parents were killed of by the state. On top staff were told they would not need to be Covid tested, symptoms were enough and also that no autopsies would be performed. SO no Covid deaths on paper!
Danes thus now have neighbours on either side (Germany/Sweden) that have committed genocide inside a century. WHILE they did that, the then government (with PM Stefan Løfven and Anders Tegnell as the "health/pandemic guru) they even began discussing increased state taxes on dead peoples money. I do not have words covering my disgust and horror.
They just had a parliamentarian election and NOT ONE journalist or opposition party mentioned the genocide and the societal and moral collapse they had during the pandemic. Completely taboo. They try to hush their genocide up.
I will keep telling this disgusting horrified story, in honour of the thousands of dead that their state killed, the rest of my life or until the perpetrators have been called to justice for crimes against humanity in Haag. A large part of the Swedish population have not even understood the truth about their own government, because of the complete collapse of morale and ethics in the fourth pillar of a functioning democracy, the press.
Where are Amnesty International and Human rights watch in this?
We are not only mad, we are chocked and sad.
@@Mike-zx1kx I hope your wonderful danish health care system provides you with a therapist to talk to. Being excessively concerned about things outside of your control is dangerous for your mental health.
Another way to reduce outswing is to chop off the corners of the train, like the ex-KCR/MTR Light Rail. Copenhagen's way seems much superior though as the outswing on HK's light rail is too big to create walk-through passageways between two cars. The timetable is also often criticized for 'double stacking' and headways too long making overcrowding a very glaring issue.
Also introducing slight banks on the rails in corners helps improve the clearances too, as the trains will tip slightly inwards counteracted by centrifugal force, so you don't have to make the train itself turn as sharply.
Walkthroughs in the center of cars are unaffected by outswing, just some overlapping floor segments above the mechanical link the pulls the train along, and some flexible fabric bellows connecting the walls and roofs.
The interior pictures in this video show how the entire passenger space narrows at every hinge, neatly covered by gray wall panels. Standing on the hinge, passengers can feel the motion.
A narrower version is used on long distance and regional trains with doors on both sides of the bendy coupling, so it can be locked when the cars are disconnected.
As I write this, my friend is enjoying a ride on the airport train from Copenhagen to Malmo. I have honestly taken a liking to those s-tog trains. For starters - I love the red livery - Reminiscent of TTC’s retired G1 trains.
And yes, highlight the cars that have big bicycle icons on them. Meant to increase the bicycle usage for commuters.
Woooooooooooooooooooooooooo i been waiting for months for Reece to cover my home city
I'm planning to move to Denmark, and probably Copenhagen, and this video is so helpful and interesting.
Thank you for the great content!
What a wonderful video! I live at the south end of the m1 line, and I love the convenience! The metro is wonderful. I do wish Copenhagen reopened their tram network, and established car free days, but those are probably just silly dreams :)
my danish friend was surprised how shocked i was of the sheer size of the insides of the s-tog trains, they truly are massive on the inside
The Copenhagen light rail definitely gives me vibes of the Purple Line in MD
Having a intro into the city with map and footage really gives context
Amazing to think that Copenhagen didn't have a metro system for most of the 20th century and even decomissioned its trams in the 70s. Nowadays, the metro is one of the best, if not the best system I've ever used in my life. Incredible.
Thank you for posting this video again! Took a lot of trains in Copenhagen today in fact 😅
In budapest it the morning rush, m4 trains come every 1:50 min. Its amaizing
As a Dane myself your pronunciation of Ø made me giggle alot. Thats about what i got ouf of the vid!!! :D
Edit: You did pretty well tho.
I would love it if you made videos about the transit network in Bergen and Trondheim! Bergen is currently doing some huge light rail expansions, and Trondheim is just a spaghetti bowl of bus lines with one tram line and a few trains sprinkled around
When the Metro in Copenhagen were new it didn''t have any platform doors on the outdoor platforms. They only had sensors that triggered if someone jumped down on the track. However, they don't stop people jumping or falling in front of the train so I guess thats why they added them.
The problem was that trash like newspapers also triggered the sensors.
The problem was more so the old sensors being not that good. It could detect if something was in the way but never if it was an actual person or just a newspaper in the wind, and would shut down the whole system either way if anything was detected.
But they didn't added screen doors until 2015.
Fun fact I do know (since I'm italian) is that with the use of Hitachi Rail Italy metro trains, the society managing Milan's Network, Azienda Trasporti Milanesi or ATM actually owns 30% of the line management. I love how Italy helps other countries with their transit (just like how they do with Padova and Bologna cities, giving them retired busses for little to no price)
Nice overview. It’s a shame you didn’t make the video before my trip to Copenhagen a couple of months ago, I would have explored the metro system a bit more had I been able to watch this beforehand. I was impressed by their system especially the 24 hour service. It made going out in the evening easier without having to worry about when the last train runs like one has to in London or Tokyo. I thought the platforms in the downtown stations felt a bit narrow although I imagine the platform can be extended for future expansion. The only less than stellar experience I had was with the main train station which felt old and in need of refurbishment. I had the pleasure of taking the train from Copenhagen to Stockholm as well although the way finding experience was less than optimal as I ended up on the wrong platform and almost missed my train.
You are quite right about the central station, and luckily it is up for refurbishment soon.
As Troels mentioned you are in luck, as the Central station will see a renovation around 2023-26. The current interior design is from the 1990's and has become fairly run down. The new design will focus more on wider hallways and fewer shops. Though it still won't solve one huge issue which is a lack of waiting areas and especially benches. I've always thought it would be perfect to place that on top of the shops, but apparently no one is interested in giving passengers a place to sit while they're waiting for their train.
Haha, maybe next time! Always look to see if I have a video as I have more and more!
Nice video. Notice that not all metro stations have the same design. At "Marmorkirken" the tubes are placed one above the other and not side by side, as on the other stations. This should be because of the lack of space for the station.
I’m getting sentimental watching this. I lived in Copenhagen ln 2019. I used many of these trains. Seems like another life
Ah nostalgia, footage from my city of birth and youth.
Thank you for doing another great video!
Experienced Copenhagen and Malmö on the same weekend and both cities have good transportation and the Öresundståg serves as an Airport Express for both Copenhagen and Malmö which is very convenient.
the frequent videos are so nice
Happy to hear you enjoy them!
10:18 "...forming a horrifying caricature of fingers."
Reece! After Oslo, Copenhagen and Helsinki, I now wait for a video on Gothenburg which is changing a lot right now! 😎😎😎
Great video!
Thank you!
I was in Copenhagen last August and we really liked their metro. Very efficient and fairly recent. All the station are well designed and all have elevators.
I also took a train to Malmo (Øresundståg train I believe) which was very quick. Unfortunately, you can't see the view of the bridge from the train as the tracks are under the road used by cars.
I really hopped that in MTL, CDPQ Infra actually went to Copenhagen and took notes. Maybe they didn't as they took the strange decision to only build 1 track between Marie-Curie station and the YUL station. At least it only takes 2 min in theory between the 2 stations so hopefully they should be able to provide a better service from the airport to juste 1 train per 10 minutes during peak hours.
It also doesn't look like all REM stations have moving staircase but they should all have elevators.
When talking about the Copenhagen Transit network you should not forget to mention also the many, many, pretty well connected, regional train services that are a great addition to the S-Tog and Metro network. In combination this network of regional trains, S-Togs and metros are one of the best transit systems worldwide.
Very nice video. The only thing I think is missing, is a slide showing the bus network and how it connects to the train/metro networks.