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Banedanmark

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Banedanmark - Rail Net Denmark
Company typeGovernment agency
IndustryRail transport
GenreTrack (rail transport)
PredecessorBanestyrelsen
Founded1997
FateActive
Headquarters
Copenhagen
,
Denmark
Area served
All of Denmark
Key people
Jesper Hansen
Revenue885 mio. €[1]
Total assets12.33 bn € [2]
OwnerDanish Ministry of Transport
Number of employees
2,200 (2012) [3]
Websitewww.bane.dk
The former headquarters of Banedanmark in Copenhagen

Banedanmark (pronounced [ˈpɛːnəˌtænmɑk]; previously Banestyrelsen) is a Danish company that is responsible for the maintenance and traffic control on all of the state owned Danish railway network.

History

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In 1997, Banedanmark came into existence, having been branched off from DSB as a government agency. Between 2004 and 2010, Banedanmark was a state-owned company that was controlled by the Danish Ministry of Transport.[4][5] During 2010, Banedanmark was reorganised, once again becoming a government agency under the Danish Ministry of Transport.[6]

One of the first projects overseen by Banedanmark, although most of the construction work had already been completed prior to its creation, was the Øresund Bridge, a combined railway and motorway bridge spanning the Øresund strait between Denmark and Sweden. The bridge, which was recognised under the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) framework as Priority Project 11, was opened to traffic in 1999.[7]

During 2008, Banedanmark announced plans for the conversion of signalling across the entire Danish railway network to European Train Control System (ETCS) Level 2. This measure was necessitated by the near obsolete nature of parts of the network's signalling. In 2009, the Danish government approved funding of €3.3 billion over several years to Banedanmark for the project; at the time, the projected completion date was 2021. This programme makes Denmark the first European country to attempt a complete conversion of a national network to ETCS Level 2.[8] Additional funding for the initiative was provided by the European Union.[9][10] The resignalling work was put out to competitive tender, and contracts awarded to Thales for Western Denmark and Alstom for Eastern Denmark in July 2012.[11][12] At the same time, Banedanmark was also undertaking the progressive electrification of several unelectrified lines;[13][14] accordingly, the organisation originally planned for the ETCS rollout to be synchronised with these electrification efforts as to minimise cost and the infrastructure changes required.[15]

However, during the late 2010s, the ETCS programme reportedly ran into issues with the retrofitting of existing rolling stock to use the new signalling system; the IC3 fleet of long distance diesel multiple units proved to be a particular source of problems, thus the end date of the rollout was postponed considerably.[15] Freight operators were also reportedly unable to upgrade some of their locomotives to be ETCS compatible yet.[16] These difficulties were in part compounded by the sweeping scale of the programme; no other nation had attempted such a conversion before and was regarded as one of the largest resignalling schemes in the world.[17] During August 2022, it was announced that work to replace legacy signalling with ETCS on the Holstebro - Herning and Vejle - Skanderborg lines in Jutland had been completed; it was anticipated that the ETCS rollout would continue through to 2030. Advantages of the new signalling included better train punctuality, more stable operation, and more detailed traffic information.[18]

Another major undertaking involving the agency was the Fehmarn Belt fixed link, a immersed tunnel between the Danish island of Lolland with the German island of Fehmarn; it is one part of the wider Priority Project 20 of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T), which shall construct a high-speed rail line between Copenhagen and Hamburg.[7] The full line consists of several railway lines, both new-build and upgraded existing ones, that will facilitate trains travelling at minimum top speed of 200 km/h across all sections.[19] These include the Copenhagen–Ringsted Line, which was opened on 31 May 2019 and will be upgraded to 250 km/h operations in 2023, the Sydbanen (Ringsted–Rødbyhavn), to be electrified and suitable for 200 km/h operations by 2024,[20] and the Fehmarn Belt Tunnel (Rødbyhavn–Puttgarden) itself, which is projected to be completed during 2028.[19][21]

In the 2010s, it was decided to roll out communications-based train control (CBTC) on the S-Bahn suburban rail network serving Copenhagen.[22][23] The benefits of this system, which is to be certified to operate at Grade of Automation 4 (GoA4), facilitates full automation of the network, more accurate passenger information, and enables the driverless operation of trains, although this latter benefit is not expected to occur much before 2037. During September 2022, Banedanmark announced the installation of CBTC equipment across the S-Bane had been completed, although some work remained to fully commission all of its capabilities.[24]

References

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  1. ^ "Samlet økonomisk resultat 2012". Bane.dk. 23 March 2012. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 23 August 2013.
  2. ^ "Den danske jernbane er 33 mia. Kr. Værd". Archived from the original on 10 May 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
  3. ^ "Ansatte i Banedanmark". Bane.dk. 14 February 2012. Archived from the original on 23 November 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
  4. ^ "Transportministeriet: Banedanmark" (in Danish). Danish Ministry of Transport. Archived from the original on 7 February 2009. Retrieved 28 January 2009.
  5. ^ "Banedanmarks historie" (in Danish). Banedanmark. Archived from the original on 26 December 2008. Retrieved 28 January 2009.
  6. ^ Af Morten Henriksen (14 April 2010). "Banedanmarks bestyrelse fyret - Nationalt". www.b.dk. Retrieved 23 August 2013.
  7. ^ a b "Priority Project 20: Railway axis Fehmarn Belt". 30 Priority Projects TEN-T. European Commission. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  8. ^ "Level 2 rolls out across the Danish network". Railway Gazette International. 24 April 2009.
  9. ^ Smith, Kevin (31 July 2014). "EU allocates €50m to TEN-T rail projects". International Railway Journal.
  10. ^ Preston, Robert (30 June 2022). "EU to provide €5.4bn for TEN-T projects". International Railway Journal.
  11. ^ Bowers, Denis (25 January 2012). "Banedanmark reveals preferred bidders for Danish ERTMS programme". International Railway Journal.
  12. ^ Smith, Kevin (17 July 2012). "Alstom nets Danish onboard ERTMS contract". International Railway Journal.
  13. ^ Barrow, Keith (18 May 2015). "Contractor chosen for Danish electrification programme". International Railway Journal.
  14. ^ Clinnick, Richard (28 October 2021). "Banedanmark completes Ringsted - Næstved electrification". International Railway Journal.
  15. ^ a b Smith, Kevin (12 April 2022). "Restoring order to Denmark's signalling programme". International Railway Journal.
  16. ^ Smith, Kevin (20 April 2022). "ERTMS rollout threatens Scandinavian rail freight, warns DB". International Railway Journal.
  17. ^ Smith, Kevin (3 November 2015). "Denmark's new network takes shape". International Railway Journal.
  18. ^ Artymiuk, Simon (22 August 2022). "Banedanmark completes latest Jutland ETCS rollout". International Railway Journal.
  19. ^ a b Burroughs, David (7 February 2020). "Fehmarnbelt Fixed Link rail consultancy contract awarded". International Railway Journal. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  20. ^ "Faser i arbejdet" (in Danish). Banedanmark. 22 May 2017. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  21. ^ Burroughs, David (7 October 2021). "Crossing the Fehmarnbelt strait". International Railway Journal.
  22. ^ Cuenca, Oliver (26 January 2021). "DSB awards contract for Copenhagen S-Bane automation project". International Railway Journal.
  23. ^ Smith, Kevin (18 March 2022). "DSB appoints Ricardo to support Copenhagen S-Bane automation project". International Railway Journal.
  24. ^ Preston, Robert (29 September 2022). "CBTC installation complete on Copenhagen S-Bane". International Railway Journal.
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