Oresund Railway
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| Oresund Railway | |
 The Oresund Bridge |
|
| Info | |
|---|---|
| Type | High-speed railway |
| System | Danish railways Swedish railways |
| Termini | Fosieby Copenhagen H |
| Stations | 4 |
| Operation | |
| Opened | 2000 |
| Owner | Banverket Banedanmark |
| Operator(s) | DSB DSBFirst SJ Skåne commuter rail Railion |
| Character | Passenger and freight |
| Rolling stock | X2 X31 EG |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 38 km |
| Track length | 76 km |
| No. of tracks | Double |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 81⁄2 in) |
| Electrification | 15 kV 16⅔ Hz AC 25 kV 50 Hz AC |
Oresund Railway (Swedish: Öresundbanan, Danish: Øresundbanen) is a railway between Copenhagen in Denmark and Malmö in Sweden via the Oresund Bridge. On the Swedish side the railway infrastructure is managed by Banverket, on the Danish side the railway infrastructure is managed by Banedanmark.
The railway line continues from the Kontinentalbanan south of Malmö and heads west passing over the Oresund Bridge on the lower section, the artificial island Peberholm, under Copenhagen Airport to Copenhagen Central Station. In Malmö the tunnel City Tunnel, Malmö is being built to connect the railway directly to Malmö Central Station, without having to operate it as a terminus station.
Since 11 January 2009, Oresundtrains are operated by DSBFirst between Copenhagen and Malmö, with connections to Gothenburg, Kalmar and Karlskrona. On the Danish side, many trains continue northwards on Kystbanen to Elsinore. DSB operates Oresundtrains to Ystad with ferry connection to Bornholm. SJ operates X 2000 high-speed trains between Stockholm - Malmö - Copenhagen and Oresundtrains between Gothenburg - Copenhagen. Freight trains are operated by Railion using EG locomotives.
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[edit] History
Plans for connecting Scania and Zealand with a bridge had been raised throughout the entire 20th century, but in 1991 a company was created to start the work. Construction of the Oresund Bridge and Oresund Railway started in 1995 and was completed in 2000.
[edit] Plans
A new tunnel under the city of Malmö, the City Tunnel, is being built and is expected to be finished in the winter 2010/2011. It will allow trains right through the Malmö Central Station, a new station in the southern inner city and will save 5-10 minutes for passengers passing through Malmö, and about 15-20 min for those to the southern inner city.
[edit] Border technicalities
One of the challenges with the line was incompatibility between the railway electrification between Denmark and Sweden. Denmark uses 25 kV 50 Hz AC while Sweden uses 15 kV 16⅔ Hz AC. Also the signalling system is different between the two countries. The problem was solved by switching the signalling system on Peberholm while the entire bridge uses the Danish electrical system. All the trains that operate on the line must therefore be equipped with dual electrical adaption systems, and dual signalling system, including a minority of the X2 trains operated throughout Sweden by SJ.
Also, on double tracks in Denmark, trains run on the right hand side and in Sweden on the left. On the Oresund Railway trains runs on right, changing side at the Malmö terminus station.
[edit] Line
Sweden
- Fosieby (0 / 38 km) - line leaves Kontinentalbanan
- Malmö South Station (4 / 34 km)
- Lernacken (10 / 28 km) - Enter the Oresund Bridge, switch of electric current.
Denmark
- Peberholm (21 / 17 km) - Change of signaling system
- Copenhagen Airport / Kastrup Station (29 /9 km)
- Tårnby Station (31 / 7 km)
- Ørestad Station (32 / 6 km) - Metro crosses the Oresund Railway
- Copenhagen Central Station (38 / 0 km) - terminus
X2000 trains only stop at Malmö C, Copenhagen Airport / Kastrup and Copenhagen H. Oresundtrains stop at all stations.
