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 Logo of DSB | |
 Flag of DSB | |
| Company type | Independent Public Company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Rail transport |
| Founded | 1 October 1885 |
| Headquarters | Copenhagen,Denmark |
Key people | Flemming Jensen, CEO |
| Products | Passenger rail transport |
| Revenue | DKK 12.3 Billion (2015)[1] |
| DKK 522 Million (2015)[1] | |
| DKK 745 million (2005)[2] | |
| Owner | Danish Ministry of Transport |
Number of employees | 9,078 (2005 average)[2] |
| Subsidiaries | DSB S-tog A/S, DSB Vedligehold A/S |
| Website | www.dsb.dk |
 DSB-operated railway lines in 2018 (red). | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Locale | Denmark |
| Dates of operation | 1885– |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)standard gauge |
DSB, an abbreviation ofDanske Statsbaner (pronounced[ˈtænskəˈstɛˀtsˌpɛːnɐ],Danish State Railways), is the largestDanish train operating company. It's also the largest train operating company inScandinavia. While DSB is responsible for passenger train operation on most of the Danish railways, goods transport and railway maintenance are outside its scope. DSB runs acommuter rail system, called theS-train, in the area around the Danish capital,Copenhagen, that connects the different areas and suburbs in the greater metropolitan area. Between 2010 and 2017, DSB operated trains inSweden.
DSB was founded in 1885, when thestate-owned companiesDe jysk-fynske Statsbaner andDe sjællandske Statsbaner merged. DSB was established in 1885, after the state in 1867 under the name De Jutland-Fynske Statsbaner took over the private company Det Danske Jernbanedriftselskab and in 1880 they also took over the privately owned Zealand Railway Company.[3]
The first railways in Denmark were built and operated by private companies. The railways inFunen andJutland were built byPeto and Betts who also supplied the locomotives (built byCanada Works,Birkenhead). Most of the technical staff was also recruited from Britain, notably from theEastern Counties Railway. When Peto and Betts went intoinsolvency, the Danish state took overDet danske Jernbane-Driftsselskab (The Danish Railway Operating Company) as of 1 September 1867 under the nameDe jysk-fyenske Jernbaner (the Funen and Jutland Railways), from 1874De danske Statsbaner i Jylland og Fyn (The Danish State Railways in Jutland and Funen). The network was extended by new construction and by acquisition of the privately operated lines fromSilkeborg toHerning (1 November 1879) and fromGrenaa toRanders andAarhus (1 April 1881).
The Danish state took overDet sjællandske Jernbaneselskab (theZealand Railway Company) on 1 January 1880, formingDe sjællandske Statsbaner (the State Railways of Zealand). With the majority of railways on both sides of theGreat Belt thus owned by the Danish state, it was not until 1 October 1885 that the companies of Jutland/Funen and Zealand merged into one national railway company,De danske Statsbaner (the Danish State Railways), the merger being finalised on 1 April 1893.
After the merger, new lines were constructed and a new generation of rolling stock and locomotives were introduced by chief mechanical engineerOtto Busse. After Busse's retirement, however, DSB ceased to design its own locomotives and increasingly came to rely on outside suppliers, mainlyBorsig ofBerlin.
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The 1930s were a decade of innovation and modernisation for DSB. New railway bridges were built across theLittle Belt (1935), theStorstrøm (1937) andOddesund (1938), eliminating the costly and time-consuming process of transfer by steam ferry. The suburban lines in and around Copenhagen were electrified for multiple-unit operation at 1,500 Volts DC (S-trains). Early experiments withDiesel propulsion led to the development of the all-purpose MO class heavydiesel-electric railcar equipped formultiple-unit operation, afterWorld War II also fitted forpush-pull operation with a driving trailer. Several classes of mainline diesel-electric locomotives were also built as prototypes byBurmeister and Wain of Copenhagen andFrichs of Aarhus, but further development was cut short by theGerman occupation and the consequent shortage of oil supplies, forcing DSB to rely on coal-burning steam locomotives for mainline duties.
Coinciding with the opening of theLittle Belt Bridge in 1935, DSB introduced their newexpress train concept known aslyntog ("lightning trains"). These diesel-powered three- and four-coach trains, having a power car at each end with a power pack identical to that of the MO railcar series, featured a then-impressive top speed of 120 km/h as well as a high level of comfort, and they proved themselves DSB's most commercially successful initiative of the 1930s.
World War II left DSB with a fleet of outdated and worn-out trains, and apart from a series of second-generation MO railcars and the class MT multi-purpose centercab engines built byFrichs, domestic industry was unable to provide the kind of motive power required. Instead, DSB looked to foreign suppliers.
General Motors' diesel-electric locomotives had proved themselves in the US and Canada before the war. DSB'sMV class A1A-A1A diesel locomotives, built on license from GM and delivered fromNOHAB starting in 1954, were found to be very reliable and economically feasible compared to the steam locomotives, eventually putting the age of steam to an end as well as being a decisive factor in DSB's choice of motive power for nearly three decades. They were followed by the equally successfulMX class with a lower axle load for branch line services and theMZ class for heavy express services.
Based on threediesel-hydraulic shunting locomotives built byHenschel and acquired by DSB,Frichs developed their own version of the class MH shunter, which replaced the steam-powered shunting engines. After the success of theDeutsche Bundesbahn'sDB Class VT 11.5 class onTrans Europ Express services, DSB acquired eleven power cars and matching intermediate cars to replace the first-generationlyntog.
The 1960s were marked by an increasingly poor economy for DSB, leading to a steady staff reduction throughout the decade. However, this was also accompanied by the appearance of new technology, notably the utilisation of electronic equipment, improving the safety and efficiency of DSB's railway traffic. In 1972, along with the celebration of the 125th anniversary of railways in Denmark, DSB introduced a new corporate design by architect Jens Nielsen, inspired byBritish Rail andCanadian National Railways, with red as the dominant colour (with engine rooms of locomotives painted black), replacing the traditional maroon livery with yellow winged wheel symbols. DSB's position was additionally strengthened by the1973 oil crisis.
Following the lead of theNederlandse Spoorwegen, British Rail andDeutsche Bundesbahn, DSB in 1974 introduced a fixed interval timetable for its long-distance locomotive-hauledIntercity trains as well as the commuter services to and from Copenhagen. On regional services inFunen andJutland, the prewar design MO classrailcars were displaced by MR class DMUs, a licensed version of the Deutsche Bundesbahnclass 628.
In 1990, after a delay of several years, theIC3 trains came into use, initially aslyntog, and in 1991 as ordinary intercity trains. The IC3 trains, being a specimen of theFlexliner type of multiple units, have a distinct appearance due to the rubber-framed ends, allowing access between trainsets when coupled together. The re-engined Flexliners are now (2014) nearing the end of their service life, but due to problems with theAnsaldo Breda built successor classIC4 they are expected to remain in service for another five to ten years.
TheGreat Belt Fixed Link was opened for railway traffic in 1997 (a year before road traffic), replacing DSB'srailway ferries. In 1997, infrastructural duties were branched off into a new agency under the Danish Ministry of Transport, Banestyrelsen (now:Banedanmark), leaving DSB with the task of train operation. A new design was presented on 30 April 1998, as well as the announcement of the "Good Trains for All" plan, seeking to replace old and less comfortable trains by 2006/2007. DSB was turned into an independent public corporation on 1 January 1999.[4]
The goods department of DSB, DSB Gods, was merged with Railion (nowDB Cargo) in 2001, and DSB now solely manages passenger rail service, including the operation of railway stations.[5] In 2003,Arriva, in competition with DSB, won the tender for operating a number of regional railway services inJutland:Tønder-Esbjerg,Esbjerg-Struer,Skjern-Aarhus,Struer-Langå-Aarhus andStruer-Thisted. In 2007, theØresundståg services were hived off into a separate company,DSBFirst, but the contract was terminated in 2011 after financial problems.[6]
DSB operated services from 2009 in Sweden.[7] In 2010, it purchased a 50 % shareholding in German operatorVias fromFrankfurt Transport Company.[8] All the operating companies in Sweden and Germany were sold between 2013 and 2019.
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DSB is an independent public state-owned corporation under theDanish Ministry of Transport and Energy. This has been the case since 1999, and is the result of a former political desire to privatise the Danish railways.[9][10] Thus, DSB now operates on a for-profit basis, although it retains certain public service commitments via contracts with the Ministry of Transport and Energy. In March 2015, the ongoing privatization process was put on hold until at least 2024, as part of a broad centre-left political majority agreement on passenger rail-transport.[11][12]
As of 2005, DSB employs about 9,000 people. Keld Sengeløv became president and CEO in February 2004, after a career in the DSB organization since 1997, but died from an undisclosed illness while travelling with friends in Scotland on 3 September 2006.[13] His successor was Søren Eriksen, who was dismissed in March 2011 following the discovery of financial and contractual irregularities.[14] He was largely exonerated in a subsequent inquiry.[citation needed] His successor, Jesper Lok, was announced in December 2011 and took office in April 2012, but resigned in 2014. Since 2015, former fighter pilot Flemming Jensen has been CEO for the corporation.[15]
DSB SOV (Selvstændig Offentlig Virksomhed / Independent Public Company)
As an originally state-owned company, DSB has experienced several reforms since its establishment in 1885. In particular, the large scaleprivatization reforms of Denmark in the 1990s, has resulted in the selling andoutsourcing of many railway lines and services across the country.
DSB currently operates several types of passenger trains, varying in number of stops and motive power. Apart from theS-trains, types available for the general public include:
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55°41′15″N12°34′46″E / 55.68750°N 12.57944°E /55.68750; 12.57944