Denmark’s main rail line breaks down for the third time in four days

On Tuesday afternoon, 13 October, Denmark’s most important rail link came to a standstill once again. A high-voltage cable fell onto the overhead line on Funen, and electric trains between Odense and Fredericia, the main line linking Copenhagen and the islands of Zealand and Funen with Jutland and the rest of mainland Europe, stopped running for the rest of the day.

Hundreds of passengers were left stranded at Fredericia station, waiting for replacement buses. Travellers who contacted Danish tabloid Ekstra Bladet described chaotic scenes: very little information on the station screens, very few staff from DSB, Denmark’s state-owned rail operator, to guide people, and no system for boarding the buses other than first come, first served, while full trains kept arriving and emptying more passengers onto the platforms. One frustrated passenger called it unreasonable chaos, given what DSB charges for its tickets.

By 16:30, DSB said it was working to find more buses on top of the 40 already running between Odense and Fredericia. Asked what it had to say to the stranded passengers, DSB’s press office replied that the company was doing what it could, and pointed to the live blog on its website. In the early evening, DSB finally brought in diesel trains, with the first departures from Odense at 18:06 and from Fredericia at 18:27.

Four days, three breakdowns

Tuesday’s chaos did not come out of nowhere. It was the third major disruption on the same stretch in just four days. On Friday, a fire in a signal hut at Aarup caused signal faults between Middelfart and Odense. Early on Monday, a fallen tree on the overhead line on West Funen stopped all trains between Odense and Fredericia. DSB had already warned that journeys would take longer all week, with regional trains replaced by buses until Sunday 18 October.

Sources: DSB, DR/Ritzau, Ekstra Bladet.

Not DSB’s cable, but DSB’s passengers

To be fair, DSB does not own the tracks. Signals, overhead lines and cables are the responsibility of Banedanmark, the state infrastructure company, and no train operator can prevent a tree from falling or a cable from coming down.

But what happens to passengers after the failure is DSB’s job, and on Tuesday it failed that test. A broken cable is bad luck. Hundreds of people left without clear information, with few staff and a scramble for buses, is a matter of planning. After three disruptions in four days on the same line, DSB had every reason to be ready with extra staff, clear signage and an organised bus operation. Pointing frustrated travellers to a live blog is not crisis management.

Paying more for less

The frustration is about more than one bad afternoon. In January, ticket prices rose again, by an average of 1 percent, with higher fares for longer journeys across the Great Belt and for commuter cards. At the same time, DSB has struggled to meet its own goals. Its target is for at least 75 percent of passengers to arrive on time, and earlier this year it missed that target for five months in a row, with February the worst month in a year.

DSB has argued that today’s problems are the price of the major upgrades now under way across the network, which will eventually deliver a much better railway. That may be true. But passengers paying for a service today are entitled to expect that, when things go wrong, someone is there to help them.

What you can claim

If you were delayed, you may be entitled to compensation. Under DSB’s Basis Rejsetidsgaranti, passengers who arrive 30 minutes or more late can claim part of their ticket price back. If you are, or expect to be, more than 60 minutes late, you can also choose to cancel the trip with a full refund or postpone it, and claim up to DKK 75 for food and drink. Keep your receipts, and apply at dsb.dk.

DSB Basis Rejsetidsgaranti for single journeys. Commuter cards follow separate rules. Source: DSB.