Development of various construction projects and an increasing number of inhabitants and working places in the city of Aarhus continuously increase the traffic to and from the city putting pressure on the existing transport infrastructure in the Aarhus area.
Based on a comparison of different transport modes like metro, tramways and buses, the Midttrafik , City Council in Aarhus, decided to establish a light rail in the Aarhus area. The project is important to the city, because it will help prevent future congestion problems and at the same time establish a public transport system that is viable from an environmental perspective. The light rail in Aarhus is the first project of its kind in Denmark.
Aarhus light rail includes a number of possible stages through Aarhus city centre and suburbs as well as stages linking several major East Jutland towns to Aarhus. The first stage of the light rail transit will include the two existing rail connections north and south of the city as well as an expansion including 12 kilometres of new LRT-track in and around Aarhus. The new tracks will connect a new urban development area to key locations in the center of Aarhus. The first light rail project in Denmark, Aarhus Letbane, has been under construction since 2013 and when completed, will introduce a tram-train system in Aarhus, the country’s second biggest city. Scheduled for completion in 2016, the first phase of the light rail project will involve approximately 110 km of light rail line serving 51 stops in the Aarhus area.
The Danish State and the Region are contributing to the project. A large majority of the Danish parliament, Folketinget, decided to earmark EUR 85 milion for the light rail transit project as part of its green transport package.
Stage 1 will use 32 existing stops and add 19 new stops along the route. The Aarhus station and park and ride facilities near major stops along the route will be refurbished. Length of the new light rail platforms will be approximately 140m. One of Midttrafik’s wishes is to keep the possibility of using the Grenaa railway line for freight goods, if necessary. The existing line therefore needs to be able to serve both light rail and freight traffic.
The light railway is a huge investment requiring a large number of passengers to replace private car use in an economically viable manner. The transition to more public transport is one of the preconditions for reaching the ambitious climate goals.
Also, rural areas are being transformed into new suburbs in the ambitious project in Lisbjerg, the first of several new urban areas around Aarhus. While suburbs in Denmark are usually dominated by single-family houses scattered over a large area, thus preventing efficient utilisation of intensive public transport, Lisbjerg will be a densely built-up urban area linked to Aarhus’s city centre via this light rail project, according to Aarhus City Hall.
Stadler and Aarhus Letbane presented, at InnoTrans 2016, the first completed light rail vehicle for the Danish city of Aarhus. Stadler was displaying the first of 14 Variobahn trams it is supplying to Aarhus. The contract with Aarhus Letbane also includes 12 Tango tram-trains and future maintenance for a period of six years. The first vehicle is now due to begin type and integration testing.
”Aarhus is developing Denmark’s first tramway system, introducing a modern tram and tram-train system as part of the solution to the challenges posed by rapid growth of the city-region of Eastern Jutland. The first line in Aarhus will open in 2017, same year Aarhus is Cultural Capital of Europe”, Claus Rehfeld, CEO of Aarhus Letbane said.
ELENA programme (European Local ENergy Assistance), run by the EIB and funded through the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 programme, supported the project with 75% financing. Thus, ELENA supported the studies to find the best energy efficiency solution for the power supply of the system, covering both urban and suburban environments, where the power supply systems are different. ELENA also supported the research of innovative technical solutions on how to transform a traditional local freight and passenger rail line into a light rail network with rail freight capability.
by Elena Ilie
Share on:
