Inspite of being one of the smallest countries in Europe, Denmark had one of the most dens railway network in Europe.
The first railway in the kingdom og Denmark was the stretch between Copenhagen and Roskilde on the island of Zealand. It opened in 1847. The short stretch served more as a pleasure route rather than a commercial route.
Considering the importance and the impact of raiway network, nothing significant happened in the coming years. It would for exampel affect the pattern of the traditional commercial routes, or develop ny towns and industries in rural areas.
Gradually the farming communities in Jutland expressed their need for a direct route for exporting their agriculturel goods to the big merchant city of Hamburg in Germany. But in Copenhagen people were more interested in getting an east-west crossline. This was due to the prospect of increasing trade with England.
At last in 1860 a law to build the network was passed. It was a typical danish compromise - Plans were made to build railways all across the country. Thousands of workers under the leadership of an English engineer Sir Morton Peto carried out the construction work. In the year 1862-1863 the Århus-Randers and the Langå-Viborg stretches among others were completed. The exsisting network, or rather the remains of it today, has been the outcome of the new law.
Within 10 years efter passing the law, Danmark was covered by a network of main railwaylines. On the west coast of Jutland in order to ensure trade with England, a possibel sight for the building of a harbour was located. The place was called Esbjerg. Today it is a very important commercial and industrial city with lots of sealinks to England.
As Danmark consists of many big and smaller islands -the Jutland peninsula, the small island of Funen and the bigger island of Zealand, the shipping traffic has always played an important roll for the country. Thus in 1872 the first trainferry between Fredericia in Jutland and Strib on Funen started operating. In the beginning of the 80s the crossing Nyborg-Korsør joining Funen and Zealand followed. Thus the three danish main islands railway network connection was established.
In the period leding to 1920 a lot of local railways all over Danmark were established. Most of them were privat lines.
As in other countries, the railway network in Denmark was of great importance for agricultur, industry and the local communities.
The red-white-red colours on the locomotive chimnies was a trademark for the steam engines and the train ferries. (the same colours as in the danish flag). The colourful chimnies appeared for the first time in 1867 in Jutland and on Funen. Since then it has been a common sight all over the country. Even today many Danish ferries still have that red-white-red colour.
As mentioned before, the Danish railway network was quite widespread in the 20s. But at the same time more and more railways were put out of function! It was true both for the stateowned and the private ones. One of the most important causes was the motorisation of the society. The need for the privat railways was diminishing, and many railways needed to be modernised, which was an expensiv task. Therefore they were closed down! By the middel of the 70s the closing down reached its peak.
It was the time for optimism. People drove more in their privat cars. Everbody believed that cheap oil and petrol would last for ever. If the oilcrisis in 1973 had occured earlier, it could have resulted in the survival of more railways, not just in Denmark but in other countries also.
Eventually there will not be many trainferries left in Denmark. In 1935 the old lillebælts bridge between Fynen and Jutland was built and as a result the ferry crossing between Strib and Fredericia became superfluous. Since then many railway bridges were built all over the country. In 1997 it will be possibel to travel by train from Fynen to Zealand which will result in all main islands getting connected by railway bridges. Moreover the construction of the Øresund bridge between Denmark and Sweden will result in more ferry connections becoming superfluous. The railway crossing between the south of Denmark and northeren Germany is threatened too. Inspite of all this, The Danish State Railways is the company that controls the biggest navy of trainferries in the world.
In 1970 the Danish State Railways stopped the use of steam engines and diesel engines took over. The private railways were already operating on diesel only. Copenhagen was the only place in Denmark where railways were electrified.
In the 80s the electrification of the danish railways begen slowly. It started on Zealand, on Copenhagen-Helsingor stretch. It continued on Funen and over to Fredericia- an important junction in Jutland. Moreover electric masts are being installed between Fredericia and Padborg (the most important Danish borderstation connecting Germany). So at the moment in 1996 the Danish railway network posseses both electric and diesel locomotives. The plan is to electrify the main lines first. The State Railway has accquired a lot of ny material especially to promote the electrik trains in the 90s.
Today there are only 13 privat networks left in Denmark. Most of them are modernised and are getting new passenger trains in the coming years. They are not electrified as yet. The private lines mostly carry passenger traffic. Funen does not have private lines any more.
Through the years many different kinds of locomotives have been used in Denmark. The steam engines were classified by using a very easy system- a capital letter and a serial number. Among the most wellknown steam engines of a newer type is the class P passenger train, one of the most beautiful in Denmark, perhaps in Europe. It is from 1907 and it is said to be driving 130-140 km/hr. Unofficially, of course! It is displayed at the Railway Museum in Odense on Fynen, So is P 917 too. They are maintained and looked after in order to be used again. Another well known and the biggest passenger locomotive belongs to class E. It is originally a swedish class F locomotive. In 1937 the Danish State railways bought 11 locomotives from Sweden as a result of electrification of locomotives there. The locomotive was quite suitabel and successful. As a result a few more were built in Denmark during and efter the second world war. The class E locomotive survived longest. Its mainained and displayed just like E 991 at the Railway Museum. Naturally there have exsisted many different kinds of locomotives for goods trains. The most wellknown shunting engine from 1898 belonged to class F. It functioned very well and as a result it was in production up to 1949. There were minor changes in the design. This type of locomotives are used by the veteran railways because they are quite suitabel for the trains and it is still possibel to buy spare parts for them. There are 128 of them.
The privat owned steam engines are classified under the numerical system only as there are only few of them.
Today (1996) the Danish State Railways operate with elektric and diesel locomotives. One of the most famous diesel locomotives is the fine class MY from 1954. NOHAB of Sweden built the same type all up to 1960. Only a few, the latest models are preserved. The biggest diesel locomotiv is class MZ from 1967, also built by NOHAB. Nowadays it is used for goods transport. As mentioned earlier, the Danish State Railways is modernised, one of the new items is the IC3 passenger train, which is also exported to Israel and Sweden. Scandia in Randers, Jutland is the company that builds them. It is a joint Danish Swedish venture. Class MR trains are inspired by a german model and run on secondary lines. The standard Danish electric locomotive belongs to class EA.
The danish privat railways is getting modernised in the coming futur. They are introducing a mini version of IC3 train and tram like models from other countries.
The danish Railway Museum is locatede in Odense on Funen. It gives a deep insight in the history of the danish railways. Among other exibits are many steam engines and old railway coaches. Moreover there are current exibitions also. There is also a seperate display of train ferries. All the information and explanations are in Danish, English and German languages.
There exsist veteran railways at different places all over Denmark. In the summer season one kan get a ride on the trains driven by steam or diesel engines. It is warmly recommended to try them. There are 4 veteran railwaylines in Jutland, 1 on Funen and 4 on Zealand.