Aarhus Letbane

Aarhus Letbane
Overview
StatusOperational. More lines under planning
OwnerAarhus Municipality (50 %)
Central Denmark Region (50 %) [1]
LocaleCentral Denmark Region
Stations51 [2]
WebsiteMidtrafik Letbane (operator)
Aarhus Letbane (construction project)
Service
TypeLight rail
Services2 operational, 4 planned
Operator(s)Midttrafik
History
Opened21 December 2017[3]
Technical
Line length110[4] km (68 mi)
Number of tracks2 (Aarhus H–Lystrup via Lisbjerg)
1 (otherwise)
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in) standard gauge
Electrification750 V DC OHLE
Operating speed100 km/h (62 mph)
Map

The Aarhus Letbane (Aarhus light rail) is a light rail system in the city of Aarhus, Denmark. It is operated by the company Midttrafik.[5] The first line opened in December 2017, but the system is under continuous development and expansion. Service on the intercity section Odder to Lisbjergskolen opened on August 25, 2018.[5] A third intercity line to Grenå opened on 30 April 2019. More lines are being planned.

On 8 May 2012, the Danish Parliament approved the construction of the first line; work to build Phase 1 commenced during September 2013.[6] It was originally planned to open in August 2016, but this was delayed, in part due to legislative issues in relation to railway safety.

Two types of rolling stock have been operated over the first line, conventional trams which are slower and restricted to only running along some parts of the route and hybrid tram-trains that can be operated on the conventional heavy rail network, the latter being used for the long-distance services.[6]

The Aarhus Letbane was the only operational light rail system in Denmark[3][7] until the Odense Letbane opened on 28 May 2022.[8][9] Denmark's third Light Rail project, the Greater Copenhagen Light Rail, is currently under construction.[10]

  1. ^ "Organisation".
  2. ^ "Letbanen binder Aarhusområdet sammen". Archived from the original on 24 December 2016.
  3. ^ a b "Aarhus Letbane åbner torsdag den 21. december".
  4. ^ "Om Letbanen". Aarhus Letbane (in Danish). Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  5. ^ a b "Letbanen". Midttraffik. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  6. ^ a b "Aarhus tram-train project gets the go-ahead". Railway Gazette International. 10 May 2012.
  7. ^ The Copenhagen Metro is categorised as Light Metro
  8. ^ "Efter 6 store nedture: Nu kan du endelig hoppe på Odense Letbane". DR (in Danish). 2022-05-28. Retrieved 2022-05-31.
  9. ^ 2022-05-31T08:21:00. "Celebrations as Odense tramway opens". Railway Gazette International. Retrieved 2022-05-31.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ "Følg byggeriet". Hovedstadens Letbane (in Danish). Retrieved 2022-05-31.