SF minister criticises chaos after latest train disruptions

Denmark’s transport minister Signe Munk (Socialist People’s Party) said she was “not at all satisfied” after fresh delays and cancellations disrupted train services on Tuesday morning.

In an emailed statement to DR, Munk said passengers faced “obvious frustration” waiting in summer heat because of repeated failures by Banedanmark and DSB to provide adequate replacement buses. She called for a full report and warned that “preventable mistakes must not recur.”

DSB, the state-owned train operator, blamed Vejdirektoratet, the national roads authority, for the latest disruption. Tony Bispeskov, DSB’s communications director, said the agency received a last-minute notice at 03:00 on Tuesday that electrification repairs on the line between Odense and Fredericia would not be completed by the planned 04:00 deadline. The delay forced DSB to cancel trains and organise roughly 50 replacement buses with only a few hours’ notice.

“We cannot guarantee our customers alternative transport when we are given such short notice,” Bispeskov said. He added that DSB had planned its schedules on the assumption that the work would finish on Monday night as originally scheduled.

Vejdirektoratet said in a written response that the repair work had proceeded as planned until about 02:00, when a fault was discovered in the overhead power system. The agency said it believed the fault could be fixed in time but later concluded a full inspection was needed, leaving insufficient notice for DSB to arrange buses.

“We regret that DSB was not informed in time and will review all procedures with them,” the roads authority said.

Bispeskov expressed understanding that Vejdirektoratet is less experienced with large rail projects but stressed that agreements must be honoured so passengers can rely on published timetables.