Odense light rail suspended indefinitely after bridge safety concerns

Odense’s light rail system has halted all operations from Saturday after safety doubts over a pedestrian bridge near the city’s university hospital, Danish broadcaster DR reports.

The suspension follows the discovery on May 22 that a contractor, OHPT, had removed structural supports from the bridge. While initial restrictions were placed on train movements, authorities have now prohibited all light rail traffic beneath the structure until further notice.

Replacement buses will serve the entire route from 5 a.m. to midnight daily, with services running every 15 minutes. However, Odense Letbane’s commercial director, Lotte Stensberg, said securing enough drivers poses a challenge. “To keep ten buses running for a week, we need up to 30 drivers,” she told DR. The operator, Keolis, cannot redeploy light rail staff to drive buses, as many lack the updated licenses required for larger vehicles.

Instead, light rail drivers will act as guides at stops, directing passengers to the correct replacement services. Stensberg acknowledged the “extraordinary effort” required to maintain operations but said it was too early to estimate costs or determine who would cover them.

OHPT, the contractor responsible for the bridge work, maintains the structure remains safe. In a written statement, director Danilo Mastrangeli said the company had provided technical data to independent advisors for review and argued there was “no justification” for the continued suspension. “Under no circumstances has the structural stability of the bridges been compromised,” he wrote.

Authorities, including the Danish Transport Agency, must approve any solution before light rail service can resume.