DSB (Danish State Railways)

DSB Danske Statsbaner (Danish State Railways)

DSB, is an abbreviation of Danske Statsbaner, it is Danish State Railways, it is the largest Danish train operating company, and the largest in Scandinavia. While DSB is responsible for passenger train operation on most of the Danish railways, goods transport and railway maintenance are outside its scope. DSB runs a commuter rail system, called the S-train, in the area around the Danish capital, Copenhagen, that connects the different areas and suburbs in the greater metropolitan area. Between 2010 and 2017, DSB operated trains in Sweden.

DSB was founded in 1885, when the state-owned companies De jysk-fynske Statsbaner and De sjællandske Statsbaner merged. DSB was established in 1885, after the state in 1867 under the name De Jutland-Fynske Statsbaner took over the private company Det Danske Jernbanedriftselskab and in 1880 they also took over the privately owned Zealand Railway Company.

DSB History

The first railways in Denmark were built and operated by private companies. The railways in Funen and Jutland were built by Peto and Betts who also supplied the locomotives (built by Canada Works, Birkenhead). Most of the technical staff was also recruited from Britain, notably from the Eastern Counties Railway. When Peto and Betts went into insolvency, the Danish state took over Det danske Jernbane-Driftsselskab (The Danish Railway Operating Company) as of 1 September 1867 under the name De jysk-fyenske Jernbaner (the Funen and Jutland Railways), from 1874 De Danske Statsbaner i Jylland og Fyn (The Danish State Railways in Jutland and Funen). The network was extended by new construction and by acquisition of the privately operated lines from Silkeborg to Herning (1 November 1879) and from Grenaa to Randers and Aarhus (1 April 1881).

The Danish state took over Det Sjællandske Jernbaneselskab (The Zealand Railway Company) on 1 January 1880, forming De sjællandske Statsbaner (the State Railways of Zealand). With the majority of railways on both sides of the Great Belt thus owned by the Danish state, it was not until 1 October 1885 that the companies of Jutland/Funen and Zealand merged into one national railway company, De Danske Statsbaner (the Danish State Railways), the merger being finalised on 1 April 1893.

After the merger, new lines were constructed and a new generation of rolling stock and locomotives were introduced by chief mechanical engineer Otto Busse. After Busse's retirement, however, DSB ceased to design its own locomotives and increasingly came to rely on outside suppliers, mainly Borsig of Berlin.

The 1930s were a decade of innovation and modernisation for DSB. New railway bridges were built across the Little Belt (1935), the Storstrøm (1937) and Oddesund (1938), eliminating the costly and time-consuming process of transfer by steam ferry. The suburban lines in and around Copenhagen were electrified for multiple-unit operation at 1,500 Volts DC (S-trains). Early experiments with Diesel propulsion led to the development of the all-purpose MO class heavy diesel-electric railcar equipped for multiple-unit operation, after World War II also fitted for push-pull operation with a driving trailer. Several classes of mainline diesel-electric locomotives were also built as prototypes by Burmeister and Wain of Copenhagen and Frichs of Aarhus, but further development was cut short by the German occupation and the consequent shortage of oil supplies, forcing DSB to rely on coal-burning steam locomotives for mainline duties.

Coinciding with the opening of the Little Belt Bridge in 1935, DSB introduced their new express train concept known as lyntog ("lightning trains"). These diesel-powered three- and four-coach trains, having a power car at each end with a power pack identical to that of the MO railcar series, featured a then-impressive top speed of 120 km/h as well as a high level of comfort, and they proved themselves DSB's most commercially successful initiative of the 1930s.

World War II left DSB with a fleet of outdated and worn-out trains, and apart from a series of second-generation MO railcars and the class MT multi-purpose centercab engines built by Frichs, domestic industry was unable to provide the kind of motive power required. Instead, DSB looked to foreign suppliers.

General Motors' diesel-electric locomotives had proved themselves in the US and Canada before the war. DSB's MV class A1A-A1A diesel locomotives, built on license from GM and delivered from NOHAB starting in 1954, were found to be very reliable and economically feasible compared to the steam locomotives, eventually putting the age of steam to an end as well as being a decisive factor in DSB's choice of motive power for nearly three decades. They were followed by the equally successful MX class with a lower axle load for branch line services and the MZ class for heavy express services.

Based on three diesel-hydraulic shunting locomotives built by Henschel and acquired by DSB, Frichs developed their own version of the class MH shunter, which replaced the steam-powered shunting engines. After the success of the Deutsche Bundesbahn's DB Class VT 11.5 class on Trans Europ Express services, DSB acquired eleven power cars and matching intermediate cars to replace the first-generation lyntog.

DSB (Railway Company) Overview

DSB Locale: Denmark
DSB Dates of Operation: 1885–
DSB Track Gauge: 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
DSB Company Type: Independent Public Company
DSB Industry: Rail transport
DSB Founded: 1 October 1885
DSB Headquarters: Copenhagen, Denmark
DSB Key People: Flemming Jensen, CEO
DSB Products: Passenger Rail transport
DSB Revenue: DKK 12.3 Billion (2015)
DSB Operating Income: DKK 522 Million (2015)
DSB Net Income: DKK 745 million (2005)
DSB Owner: Danish Ministry of Transport
DSB Number of Employees: 9,078 (2005 average)
DSB Subsidiaries: DSB S-tog A/S, DSB Vedligehold A/S
DSB Coordinates: 55°41′15″N 12°34′46″E