It has been 53 years since a tram last ran in Denmark’s capital Copenhagen, but now the time has finally come: the tramway is returning to Copenhagen in a modern form!
Today, 26 October 2025, the first section of the new Letbane – as it is called in the local language – started revenue service. It runs from Ishøj to Rødovre Nord and is part of a future 28 km long tangential line. And this is also one of the main objectives of the light rail project: instead of the “S-tog” – Copenhagen’s suburban railway – which has mainly been designed for transport from the suburbs to the city centre, the new Letbane enables cross-connections between suburbs – such as now from Ishøj to Rødovre – and relieves the radial line network.
The opening took place with music, culture and activities at several stations along the route. The first trains ran at around 11 a.m., and despite the bad weather, the rush was soon so great that it was almost impossible to run according to schedule. Nevertheless, it was a good start for the new mode of transport, which is expected to carry approximately 14 million passengers per year in the medium term.
The project
The overall Hovedstadens Letbane project is designed as a low-floor light rail line that will run along the outer ring Ring 3 (Ringvejen) from Ishøj in the south-west to Lundtofte in the north. In addition to its important function as a tangential cross-connection, the new line will also serve to open up the regions around Copenhagen, comprising a total of 11 municipalities plus the central region of Hovedstaden. The entire route to Lundtofte is scheduled to be operational in summer 2026. The railway runs on double tracks on its own track bed for practically the entire length, but with level crossings at roads along the route.
Currently, 12 stops are served, with Glostrup station, which connects to the S-tog, acting as a kind of turning point. In future, there will be 29 stations along the entire route. There will be connections to the S-tog at five locations, and the new tram will also cross the diesel-powered Nærumbanen suburban railway, but without offering a direct transfer option.
The new light rail service operates every 10 minutes on weekdays between Ishøj and Rødovre Nord. When the entire line opens in summer 2026, the line will run every 5 minutes on weekdays and Saturdays during the day and every 10 minutes in the evenings and on Sundays.
A full network map is availabl here: https://www.urbanrail.net/eu/dk/kobenhavn/kobenhavn.htm
Siemens Turn-Key
The new light rail system was developed under the leadership of Siemens Mobility as a turnkey project – Siemens is the consortium leader in a consortium with Aarsleff Rail. Siemens is responsible for overall project management and supplied, among other things, the vehicles, the power supply, the depot and workshop equipment, and the signalling technology. Siemens also acts as the system integrator.
Four-section Siemens Avenio low-floor multiple units in bi-directional design are in use. They are approximately 37 metres long, 2.65 metres wide and offer capacity for around 260 passengers (including 64 seats). They have six double doors on each side. The maximum speed is 70 km/h. Siemens delivered the vehicles over a period of two years starting in August 2023. Test runs have been underway for some time, and for several weeks now there has also been simulated real-life operation on the first section of the route, which should ensure smooth commissioning.
Photo gallery from the testing phase prior to the inauguration
The predecessor
After Aarhus (2017) and Odense (2022), the Hovedstadens Letbane in Copenhagen is the third modern light rail system in the country. As in these two other cities, there used to be trams here, but they were all decommissioned by 1972 and replaced by buses. After the closure, Copenhagen sold its then modern Düwag articulated trams to Alexandria in Egypt when most of them were less than 10 years old – some of them are still in service there today! A fully automated metro system went into operation in the Danish capital in 2002.
