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Little Belt Bridge and the Lyntog

The first railway in the Kingdom of Denmark was Copenhagen-Roskilde, which opened in 1847. By 1865 the Danish railway network had been expanded with connections to all major cities between Copenhagen and Jutland. To travel from Copenhagen to Jutland was possible, but the connection had to cross both the Great Belt (Storebælt) and the Little Belt (Lillebælt) by ferry. Little Belt was particularly problematic, because due to capacity it was not possible to transfer passenger carriages across the Little Belt. Passengers had to board and disembark themselves - also on night trains between 2 and 4 in the morning. After WW I, traffic increased significantly with more capacity problems across the Little Belt. In 1927, Danish State Railways began building a 24-meter-high bridge with double railway tracks and a carriageway with pavement over Little Belt. The Bridge opened in 1935 and was regarded as a significant engineering effort. In connection with the opening, Danish State Railways introduced a special red express train, called Lyntog (direct translation "the Lightning Train"). The Lyntog was a diesel-powered three-car red motor train set built for the purpose and put into service between Copenhagen and Jutland, build by Frichs locomotive factory in Aarhus. The regular speed of the trains was 120 km/h. Four three-car sets were build. The Lyntog crossed the new Little Belt Bridge and was transported by ferry over Big Belt. The Lyntog could ride directly aboard the ferries and did not have to separate, as the trains were the same length as the ferries. In 1935, the Copenhagen-Aalborg journey time was reduced from 10 ½ to 6 ½ hours. The first generation Lyntog became the backbone of Danish long-distance traffic for the next more than 35 years.  Many years after 1935 the Lyntog were named after the geographical area they traveled to – all starting from Copenhagen.  Today, Lyntog are running once an hour between Copenhagen and major cities in Jutland.

December 9th 2024

 

 
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