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RAIL

Veolia takes over Öresund train services

Veolia Transport is to take over rail operations on the Swedish side of the Öresund after an agreement reached in light of financial difficulties at Danish-British operator DSB First, according to a statement from regional transport firm Skånetrafiken.

Published: 28 June 2011 10:06 CEST
Veolia takes over Öresund train services

Veolia will operate services until the end of 2013, by which time a new tender procurement process will have been completed.

“It is a comprehensive transport system which can not be easily taken over from one day to another. We are therefore happy with this solution, which means that DSB First will progressively hand over responsibility over six months,” said Gunnar Wulff, CEO of Öresundtåg AB, the firm which represents Swedish stakeholders.

Wulff welcome the deal which ends months of speculation and uncertainty over the future of the services after it emerged that DSB First had run into financial difficulties.

DSB First’s precarious situation was cited as the reason for terminating the agreement and it was assured that the deal would ensure that trans-Öresund trains would continue to operate as normal in the interim period.

“We will immediately commence a new tender procurement process. This will take at least two years to complete, and Veolia’s contract thus runs to the end of 2013/ beginning of 2014.”

DSB First will furthermore be paid 45 million kronor ($7 million) in compensation for additional expenses incurred as a result of the rebuilding of Malmö central station.

Öresundståg AB will also cover losses incurred by DSB First on rail services in Sweden until full control is handed over to Veolia by December.

Since DSB First reported problems with its finances back in March several firms have expressed an interest in taking over the Öresund services, with Veolia considered to be the best option in the circumstances.

The agreement has also been heralded as a step in the right direction for DSB First’s battle to avoid bankruptcy.

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TRAVEL

Could Oslo-Copenhagen overnight train be set for return?

A direct overnight rail service between the Norwegian and Danish capitals has not operated since 2001, but authorities in Oslo are considering its return.

Published: 2 September 2021 14:56 CEST

Norway’s transport minister Knut Arild Hareide has asked the country’s railway authority Jernbanedirektoratet to investigate the options for opening a night rail connection between Oslo and Copenhagen.

An answer is expected by November 1st, after which the Norwegian government will decide whether to go forward with the proposal to directly link the two Nordic capitals by rail.

Jernbanedirektoratet is expected to assess a timeline for introducing the service along with costs, market and potential conflicts with other commercial services covering the route.

“I hope we’ll secure a deal. Cross-border trains are exciting, including taking a train to Malmö, Copenhagen and onwards to Europe,” Hareide told Norwegian broadcaster NRK.

The minister said he envisaged either a state-funded project or a competition awarding a contract for the route’s operation to the best bidder.

A future Oslo-Copenhagen night train rests on the forthcoming Jernbanedirektoratet report and its chances of becoming a reality are therefore unclear. But the Norwegian rail authority earlier this year published a separate report on ways in which passenger train service options from Norway to Denmark via Sweden can be improved.

“We see an increasing interest in travelling out of Norway by train,” Jernbanedirektoratet project manager  Hanne Juul said in a statement when the report was published in January.

“A customer study confirmed this impression and we therefore wish to make it simpler to take the train to destinations abroad,” Juul added.

Participants in the study said that lower prices, fewer connections and better information were among the factors that would encourage them to choose the train for a journey abroad.

Norway’s rail authority also concluded that better international cooperation would optimise cross-border rail journeys, for example by making journey and departure times fit together more efficiently.

The Femahrn connection between Denmark and Germany, currently under construction, was cited as a factor which could also boost the potential for an overland rail connection from Norway to mainland Europe.

Night trains connected Oslo to Europe via Copenhagen with several departures daily as recently as the late 1990s, but the last such night train between the two cities ran in 2001 amid dwindling demand.

That trend has begun to reverse in recent years due in part to an increasing desire among travellers to select a greener option for their journey than flying.

Earlier this summer, a new overnight train from Stockholm to Berlin began operating. That service can be boarded by Danish passengers at Høje Taastrup near Copenhagen.

READ ALSO: What you need to know about the new night train from Copenhagen to Germany

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