Danish rail operator proposes fewer trains and longer trips to fix delays

Danish commuters have sharply criticised a proposal by DSB’s managing director to reduce train services and extend travel times in an attempt to improve punctuality, DR reports.

The state-owned rail operator’s plan—described as a way to make the network more “robust”—comes as Denmark faces its worst delay rates in 11 years. In 12 of the past 13 months, DSB failed to meet its contractual obligation that at least 75% of passengers arrive within three minutes of schedule. April saw the lowest on-time performance in years, with only about 60% of journeys arriving as planned.

Flemming Jensen, DSB’s managing director, told Jyllands-Posten the approach had shown promise on parts of the coastal line in North Zealand. But pendler representatives dismissed the claim. “With the current timetable, we already have massive daily delays—many of them severe,” said Kim Kjellerup, a commuter advocate for the coastal route. “People are forced to choose between a nightmare on the rails or a nightmare on the roads. Now they want to export this failure elsewhere? Good luck with that.”

Jacob Hvidkjær, a frequent traveller between Aarhus and Copenhagen, questioned why DSB wasn’t adopting solutions from better-performing rail systems abroad. “There are plenty of examples of stable train operations out there,” he said. Consultant Kim Berg Christensen called longer travel times an unacceptable fix: “The trip is already long enough.”

Robert Hansen, a commuter representative in Næstved, said the proposal left him “speechless.” “I nearly choked on my coffee—I thought it was a joke,” he told DR Sjælland.

DSB cited ongoing infrastructure upgrades, faulty IC4 trains, IT failures in staff scheduling, and speed restrictions due to track defects as key factors behind the disruptions. The operator has launched an internal analysis to identify deeper causes.