On Sunday, 29 September 2019, the city of Copenhagen will get a new metro line: Cityringen. The Queen of Denmark, Margrethe II, will inaugurate the new line at City Hall Square.
This ceremony will take place in the presence of further members of the royal family, the Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, the Transport Minister Benny Engelbrecht and the Mayor of Copenhagen Frank Jensen.
Opening Day Timetable
- 1pm: The celebrations will begin with a live concerts featuring Danish artists.
- 2pm: The opening ceremony will begin.
- 3pm: The Cityringen metro line will open at Rådhuspladsen and Frederiksberg stations. There will also be more live music.
- 4pm: All stations will open to passengers. They will be able to travel for free on the city’s metro system until midnight. This applies to the city’s existing lines as well as the new Cityringen line.
Further festivities will take place in Frederiksberg. The new Cityringen line and the future M4 metro both contribute to Copenhagen’s laudable and ambitious efforts to become the world’s first carbon neutral capital by 2025.
“With Cityringen we go from a metro line to an actual metro network. It will change the way we use the city and leave its mark on the city life for many years to come. With three very beautiful metro stations the rest of the capital is tied closer to Frederiksberg. I look forward to open Cityringen for children and adults and provide future generations with a sustainable means of transport that contributes tremendously to Frederiksberg's high climate ambitions.”
Metroselskabet is responsible for the Danish capital’s metro network. It estimates that the number of passengers using the city’s metro network will double to 122 million by 2020. Copenhagen got its first metro line in 2002.
Copenhagen M3 Cityringen Metro Line
It has been an 8-year process to construct the M3 Cityringen metro line. In total, it features 17 new stations. It will connect Vesterbro, Frederiksberg, Nørrebro, Østerbro and Inner City.
Italian company Salini Impregilo won the contract to construct the new line. Cityringen, a circular line, consists of two parallel tunnels, each 15.5km in length. They run under the city’s historic ‘Bridge District’ as well as beneath Frederiksberg. Some of the stations are 30m below ground.
Salini Impregilo says one of the biggest challenges was building under foundations of historic importance.
“We are happy to have supported the Danish government in the development of a project that represents a model for the sustainable mobility in the world. Cityringen is a smart metro, whose construction was a unique challenge from an engineering perspective, which constantly put us to the test to overcome complexities related to the management of such a vast public work in a city like Copenhagen with its historic buildings to protect and the duty to reduce to a minimum the inconveniences caused to local residents during its construction.”
Each station has two elevators. The goal is to make the stations easier to use for passengers in wheelchairs or with strollers. Overall, access is important. With the opening of Cityringen 85 percent of Copenhagen residents will live within 600m of a metro or train station.
To bring the existing system in line with the new M3 Cityringen line and the Nordhavn Line (M4 – currently under construction), the entire system has been fitted with platform screen doors.
Hitachi Driverless Metro
The metro vehicles operating on the Cityringen line will be driverless and fully automatic. They will run 24/7, just like the metro vehicles on the existing lines. However, unlike the existing lines, Cityringen will feature CBTC. This enables smaller headways. At peak times the maximum frequency between trains can be 80–100 seconds. Consequently, the metro line can transport 72 million passengers a year.
Hitachi Rail STS won the contract to manufacture the rolling stock for the Cityringen line. In addition, it was awarded the contract to operate the M3 metro services with Metro Service as a subcontractor.
The metro vehicles will operate at a top speed of 90km/h and an average speed of 40km/h.
Each metro train will consist of three cars. It can seat 48 passengers and transport a further 232 standing passengers.
Copenhagen’s Future Metro Line: M4
The M4 metro line, which will connect Orientkaj to Ny Ellebjerg, is currently under construction. The first section between Orientkaj and Åbner will open in 2020. The second section between Åbner and Ny Ellebjerg will open in 2024. Once open, the Danish capital will have a total of 44 metro stations.
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