DSB Danish State Railways Future

DSB Danish State Railways Future

The 1960s were marked by an increasingly poor economy for DSB, leading to a steady staff reduction throughout the decade. However, this was also accompanied by the appearance of new technology, notably the utilisation of electronic equipment, improving the safety and efficiency of DSB's railway traffic. In 1972, along with the celebration of the 125th anniversary of railways in Denmark, DSB introduced a new corporate design by architect Jens Nielsen, inspired by British Rail and Canadian National Railways, with red as the dominant colour (with engine rooms of locomotives painted black), replacing the traditional maroon livery with yellow winged wheel symbols. DSB's position was additionally strengthened by the 1973 oil crisis.

Following the lead of the Nederlandse Spoorwegen, British Rail and Deutsche Bundesbahn, DSB in 1974 introduced a fixed interval timetable for its long-distance locomotive-hauled Intercity trains as well as the commuter services to and from Copenhagen. On regional services in Funen and Jutland, the prewar design MO class railcars were displaced by MR class DMUs, a licensed version of the Deutsche Bundesbahn class 628.

In 1990, after a delay of several years, the IC3 trains came into use, initially as lyntog, and in 1991 as ordinary intercity trains. The IC3 trains, being a specimen of the Flexliner type of multiple units, have a distinct appearance due to the rubber-framed ends, allowing access between trainsets when coupled together. The re-engined Flexliners are now (2014) nearing the end of their service life, but due to problems with the Ansaldo Breda built successor class IC4 they are expected to remain in service for another five to ten years.

The Great Belt Fixed Link was opened for railway traffic in 1997 (a year before road traffic), replacing DSB's railway ferries. In 1997, infrastructural duties were branched off into a new agency under the Danish Ministry of Transport, Banestyrelsen (now: Banedanmark), leaving DSB with the task of train operation. A new design was presented on 30 April 1998, as well as the announcement of the "Good Trains for All" plan, seeking to replace old and less comfortable trains by 2006/2007. DSB was turned into an independent public corporation on 1 January 1999.

The goods department of DSB, DSB Gods, was merged with Railion (now DB Cargo) in 2001, and DSB now solely manages passenger rail service, including the operation of railway stations. In 2003, Arriva, in competition with DSB, won the tender for operating a number of regional railway services in Jutland: Tønder-Esbjerg, Esbjerg-Struer, Skjern-Aarhus, Langå–Struer-Aarhus and Struer-Thisted. In 2007, the Øresundståg services were hived off into a separate company, DSBFirst, but the contract was terminated in 2011 after financial problems.

DSB operated services from 2009 in Sweden. In 2010, it purchased a 50 % shareholding in German operator Vias from Frankfurt Transport Company. All the operating companies in Sweden and Germany were sold between 2013 and 2019.

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