Back in 1992 the Parliament of #Denmark passed the Ørestad Act, which was to develop the new modern urban city area of Ørestad in the municipality of #Copenhagen. This included constructing #rail transit, to link Ørestad and Copenhagen’s historic downtown, and rest of the city’s rail network. After considering the options a #metro system was chosen.
Two lines were constructed for Copenhagen’s new metro, lines M1 and M2. Both lines share the same section of track from Vanløse to Christianhavn then split up. Line M1 goes south to Vestamger, passing through Ørestad, while Line M2 goes southeast to Københavns Lufthavn (Copenhagen airport).
Phase 1 construction began in 1996, involving:
The creation a shared underground line section of track between Kongens - Christianhavn, Line M1 to Vestamger, involving both surface level and elevated guideways sections of track.
The M2 line to Lergravsparken, all fully underground.
This phase was completed in 2002, and with that the initial section of the Copenhagen was open.
Phase 2 between Kongens - Vanløse was approved in 1994, also beginning construction in 1996, involving:
A new tunnelled section underneath the historical downtown between Kongens - Fasanvej.
Converting a S-train tunnel between Fasanvej - Frederiksberg, and surface level section from the same line to Vanløse.
Phase 2 and line M1 were completed and opened in 2004.
Phase 3 began construction in 2001, which involved the expansion of M2 by mainly converting the of part an old line, also linking it to Lergravsparken - Københavns Lufthavn (airport). Phase 3 opened in 2007, completing line M2.
Michael Than had the opportunity to work as the lead designer for the Copenhagen Metro #project phases 1a+2. This 11 km, double-track project was Copenhagen's first metro line. During his time on the project, he was responsible for the preliminary design, detail design and construction of the Sonneville LVT slab track system. In addition to this, he also served as a technical advisor to site managers and lead surveyors, inspecting the completed work and reviewing survey work. His experience on this project has been invaluable, as it has allowed him to gain insight into how large-scale rail projects are constructed and managed. He has been able to apply the knowledge he gained on this project to future projects, and is now better equipped to take on similar challenges.
Since then, the metro has expanded to include the new M3 underground loop line and M4 line to Orientkaj. Today the total metro system has a length of 38.2 km, with 39 stations, with 107 million annual riders. There’s current ongoing construction and plans to expend the system further.
The Copenhagen Metro was the first user of the AnsaldoBreda driverless metro trains (now Hitachi Rail Italy Driverless Metro), with 750 V DC third rail. This allows the metro to have frequent and affordable 24/7 operations.
The Copenhagen Metro plays a vital role as a part of the city’s vast rail network.
Photo Credit: Tim Adams
