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Train passengers travelled free on Denmark’s busiest post-Christmas day

IT failures meant that many passengers travelled free on Boxing Day, one of the busiest days of the year for Danish rail operator DSB.

Published: 27 December 2017 08:32 CET
Train passengers travelled free on Denmark’s busiest post-Christmas day
File photo: Finn Frandsen/Polfoto/Ritzau

The technical issues resulted in a loss of income for the independent public rail company, reports news agency Ritzau.

Due to an IT breakdown, passengers were unable to purchase tickets via DSB’s ticket machines, website or app for several hours on Tuesday – a day when many were returning home after spending Christmas with families.

The problem began at around midday, with DSB announcing that passengers were free to board trains without tickets, with on-board staff aware of the issue. Any fines issued could be appealed, DSB also wrote.

A second announcement at around 3pm confirmed ticket sales were back online.

READ ALSO: Coffee and cake sales could roll back on board Danish trains

TRAVEL NEWS

Swedish government shelves plans for two fast train links

Sweden's government has called for a halt to planning to faster train links between Gothenburg and Borås and Jönköping and Hässleholm, in a move local politicians have called "a catastrophe".

Published: 23 December 2022 15:53 CET
Swedish government shelves plans for two fast train links

In an announcement slipped out just before Christmas Eve, the government said it had instructed the Swedish Transport Administration to stop all planning for the Borås to Gothenburg link, stop the ongoing work on linking Hässleholm and Lund. 

“The government wants investments made in the railway system to first and foremost make it easier for commuting and cargo traffic, because that promotes jobs and growth,” infrastructure minister Andreas Carlson said in a press release. “Our approach is for all investments in the railways that are made to be more cost effective than if the original plan for new trunk lines was followed.” 

Ulf Olsson, the Social Democrat mayor in Borås, told the TT newswire that the decision was “a catastrophe”. 

“We already have Sweden’s slowest railway, so it’s totally unrealistic to try to build on the existing railway,” he said. We are Sweden’s third biggest commuting region and have no functioning rail system, and to release this the day before Christmas Eve is pretty symptomatic.”

Per Tryding, the deputy chief executive for the Southern Sweden Chamber of Commerce, complained that the decision meant Skåne, Sweden’s most southerly county, would now have no major rail infrastructure projects. 

“Now the only big investment in Skåne which was in the plan is disappearing, and Skåne already lay far behind Gothenburg and Stockholm,” he said.

“This is going to cause real problems and one thing that is certain that it’s going to take a very long time, whatever they eventually decide. It’s extremely strange to want to first suspend everything and then do an analysis instead of doing it the other way around.”  

The government’s instructions to the transport agency will also mean that there will be no further planning on the so-called central parts of the new planned trunk lines, between Linköping and Borås and Hässleholm and Jönköping. 

Carlson said that the government was prioritising “the existing rail network, better road standards, and a build-out of charging infrastructure”.

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