Odense light rail may shut down completely within a week

The entire Odense light rail system could halt operations as early as next Friday due to unresolved safety issues, the transit agency’s director Dan Ravn told Danish broadcaster DR on Friday.

The crisis stems from an unsupported pedestrian bridge over the tracks near the new Odense University Hospital (Nyt OUH), which was discovered last week. The Danish Transport Authority has barred trains from passing beneath the bridge until structural supports are reinstalled—yet the agency responsible for the bridge failed to notify the light rail operator before removing them.

While limited service resumed last week between Tarup Center and IKEA, the rest of the network—including the section beneath the bridge—has relied on replacement buses. Ravn said that even this reduced service may now collapse.

The core issue is that trains requiring mandatory maintenance inspections cannot reach the system’s central workshop because the bridge blocks their route. “We have trains approaching their maximum allowed kilometrage,” Ravn said. Without inspections, they cannot legally operate.

Starting Saturday, service between Tarup Center and IKEA will drop from every 20 minutes to every 30 minutes. If the Transport Authority does not approve a solution by next Friday, Ravn warned, “we will not be able to maintain any operations at all” on that segment. Replacement buses would then serve the entire network.

Ravn confirmed that negotiations with the Transport Authority have yet to yield a workaround, as any temporary fix would require the same documentation as a full reopening.