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FORMULA 1

Copenhagen lord mayor parks Formula 1 project

Danish motorsport fans’ dreams of seeing Formula 1 in the streets of Copenhagen appear to have broken down after the city’s lord mayor Frank Jensen said the project would be shelved.

Copenhagen lord mayor parks Formula 1 project
Copenhagen's lord mayor Frank Jensen. Photo: Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix

Jensen has advised finance minister Kristian Jensen and entrepreneur Helge Sander, the primary backer of the project, not to take plans any further.

“I am asking for it to be stopped now. That means that I have told my colleagues in the small minority (of supporters) that I have, that this is my view. They have taken it into account,” Jensen told newspaper Politiken on Friday.

The plans to bring the event to Copenhagen, which last year saw details released of a potential track in the streets of the city, was too high-risk to continue with, Jensen said.

“I went into this positively and have openly assessed whether it would be possible to bring Formula 1 to Denmark and Copenhagen for a three-year period. As things have progressed, it has become clear that there are high expectations regarding public funding for the motor race,” he said.

“The narrow majority I had at Copenhagen City Hall supporting this project has always maintained that it must not cost the municipality money,” he continued.

The lord mayor also said he felt that the project had not had a unifying effect in the city.

Finance minister Kristian Jensen had also set requirements for the project including overall political support from the municipality, which was found to be lacking.

The plan, which was headed by former MP Sander and millionaire Lars Seier Christensen had an estimated minimum investment of 300 million kroner (40.3 million euros).

It could have seen drivers Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and company racing in Copenhagen in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

But doubt emerged earlier this year over the viability of the plan, with disagreements between the city's municipality and the government over funding.

READ ALSO: Copenhagen Formula 1 plan in doubt over municipal financing

TRANSPORT

Copenhagen Metro lines reopen after two-week closure

Lines M3 and M4 of the Copenhagen Metro are back in service having reopened on Sunday, one day ahead of schedule.

Copenhagen Metro lines reopen after two-week closure

The two lines had been closed so that the Metro can run test operations before opening five new stations on the M4 line this summer.

The tests, which began on February 10th, are now done and the lines were running again as of Sunday evening, a day ahead of the original planned reopening on Monday February 26th.

“We are very pleased to be able to welcome our passengers on to our two lines M3 and M4,” head of operations with the Metro Søren Boysen said.

“The whole test procedure exceeded all expectations and went faster than expected and we can therefore get a head start on our reopening now,” he said.

Time set aside for potential repeat tests was not needed in the event, allowing the test closures to be completed ahead of time.

“Several of our many tests went better than expected and we have therefore not used all the time we needed for extra tests,” Boysen said.

The two lines serve around one million passengers every week, according to the Metro company.

READ ALSO: Copenhagen city government greenlights extension to Metro line

The new stops on the M4 line will be located south of central Copenhagen in the Valby and Sydhavn areas. The will have the names Haveholmen, Enghave Brygge, Sluseholmen, Mozarts Plads and København Syd (Copenhagen South).

The M3 and M4 lines, the newer sections of the Metro, opened in 2019 and 2020 respectively.

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