The Copenhagen Metro

The Copenhagen Metro is one of the most modern systems in the world. The metro’s latest development is an extension to the airport, which will open in 2007. There are also future plans for a city ‘Circle Line’, which would be one of the biggest construction projects modern Copenhagen has ever seen.

The Copenhagen Metro has two lines which run from the suburban area of Vanløse to Vestamager and Lergravsparken, both situated on the island of Amager. The lines opened in 2002 and 2003 respectively. An extension from Lergravsparken, which will link the existing line with the Copenhagen Airport, is planned to open in October next year. It takes 23 minutes to travel through the entire system. Most passengers, though, spend a maximum of 6-7 minutes at a time in the metro. The lines cover 21 km (10 km in tunnels and 11 km on elevated tracks and embankments).

The Orestad Development Corporation is responsible for constructing the metro. The Corporation was established in 1993 and is owned by the Municipality of Copenhagen (55% holding) and by the Danish State, through the Minister of Transport (45% holding).

The work on the two lines was done by several large international contractors, joined in the consortium COMET (The Copenhagen Metro Construction Group). The train and safety systems were delivered by the Italian company, Ansaldo Trasporti Sistemi Ferroviari and the extending phase is being constructed by a subsidiary company of the Orestad Development Corporation.

The metro is operated by Ansaldo Trasporti Sistemi Ferroviari with Metro Service as subcontractor .The operator is in charge of not only operating and maintaining the total systems but also for manning the trains with Metro Stewards and customer services in general.

Stations

The 17 stations of the metro are constructed as either tunnel stations, on embankments or on elevated sections. Nine of them are constructed underground and eight above ground.

Tunnel stations

The tunnel stations are situated between 9 and 18 metres below ground. The station area is 60 metres long and 20 metres wide. From outside the tunnel station is visually unobtrusive and it creates an area where a square has been established. The square contains a series of skylight wells, a glass lift, a descending staircase, as well as signs and other requisite furnishings.

All underground stations are equipped with platform screen doors which completely separates the platform from the tunnel area. The doors have the purpose of optimising safety as they can entirely prevent any access from platforms to the tunnel. Any unscheduled opening of the doors will cause the immediate stopping of all trains running in that specific tunnel section. The transparent sliding doors are controlled by the safety system and open only simultaneously with the doors of the train, when the train stops at the station. Furthermore, the platform screen doors increases the comfort for the passengers in the station, as they will be spared the inevitable wind in the tunnel.

Above ground stations

The stations on the embankments and elevated parts of the metro are similar in design. They are designed as steel and glass constructions resting between the railway’s track constructions. The design helps avoid giving them a massive appearance that would otherwise dominate the surroundings. A forecourt is established in front of all stations with easy access for buses, taxis, passengers, cars, and with room for cycle racks.

Like the underground stations, the platforms are designed as ‘islands’. The stations are open, with protective windscreens. There are no platform doors, as on the underground stations, but an infra red monitoring system stops the train if anyone falls or jumps onto the track from the platform.

Extending the Metro

In 2007, an extension of 4.5km will open when the metro line is extended to Copenhagen Airport. The metro trains will continue from Lergravsparken to Copenhagen Airport. The trip from Lergravsparken to Copenhagen Airport will take only 9 minutes. A trip from the city centre, Kongens Nytorv to the airport is expected to take no more than 13 minutes.

Up to 4km of the metro line will be constructed above ground, partly on embankment, whilst the remaining 0.5km of the extension will run underground. The construction work began in November 2003 and since then there has been great activity on the planned extension as a whole. Most of the civil works have already been completed and now only the technical installations and testing of systems remains to be done.

The extension of the metro will have five stations, which are all constructed above ground. The stations are similar in design compared to the two other lines. That is, apart from the station of the Copenhagen Airport that will be built on a bridge crossing both a highway and a regional train line. The special construction of the station provides direct access to the arrival and departure area of the airport.

To give easy access to crossing the alignment, some bicycle and pedestrian tunnels and bridges have been constructed along the alignment. Also, a number of road crossings have been constructed.

A substantial part of the extension’s alignment already existed before the decision to construct the metro extension was made. The alignment (the Amager Line) opened in 1907. During most of the 20th century the Amager Line was operating with trains transporting passengers and goods. In 1947, the passenger transport stopped but right until the 1990’s there were still goods being transported on the line. In fact, the line was never officially closed.

The City Circle Line

A recent report issued by the Ministry of Transport and the municipalities of Copenhagen and Frederiksberg envisions an extension of the Copenhagen Metro. The extending phase of the metro, the City Circle Line (Cityringen), will be 15km long, have 17 stations, and will run underground. In scale the City Circle Line will be the most extensive construction work in the history of modern Copenhagen. Duration time of the further planning and construction phase of the City Circle Line is expected to be 11 years. In general, the design and the technical solutions are expected to reflect the kind used on the current metro lines.

When finished, the City Circle Line will cover major parts of the city centre as well as the Østerbro, Nørrebro, and Vesterbro districts and the Municipality of Frederiksberg currently not covered by S-train or metro line service. A round trip on the City Circle Line is expected to take approximately 24 minutes.