Danish long-distance bus operators say passenger numbers surged during this summer’s rail disruption, with Kombardo Expressen reporting its best July ever and FlixBus recording a sharp rise in bookings.
DR reports that both operators saw markedly more passengers in the weeks when train traffic was hardest hit. Travelers have faced replacement buses and delayed departures across the network. Both companies run cross-country services, including routes between Copenhagen and Aarhus.
DSB’s own figures show that 61.5 percent of passengers on its long-distance and regional trains arrived on time in June 2026. Under DSB’s contract with the Danish state, at least 75 percent of passengers must arrive on time.
Jesper Maack, press and communications chief at Molslinjen, told DR that Kombardo Expressen has just completed the best July in its history. According to Maack, the operator carried 43 percent more passengers from January through July this year than in the same period last year.
FlixBus reports a similar pattern. Arijan Muratovic, press officer for FlixBus in the Nordic region, said the effect was clearest in week 29, when extensive track work was underway. Per Muratovic, bookings rose by more than 30 percent from one week to the next, which the company attributes mainly to DSB’s problems.
Passengers interviewed by DR said they chose buses to avoid uncertainty. Laura Gherlan, traveling from Odense to Copenhagen before a flight to Prague, said she did not trust the train and did not want to risk missing her flight. Maia Meier Brahe, traveling from Gammel Rye near Skanderborg to Copenhagen, said the problems at DSB made her unwilling to travel by train.
DSB acknowledges that the summer has been frustrating for passengers and that train travel dropped in some periods. Information chief Tony Bispekov noted that trains still carry 26 to 30 percent of traffic across the Storebælt link, against roughly 3 to 4 percent for buses. He said DSB is not worried that buses will take over, and pointed to the necessity of track maintenance by Banedanmark.
Banedanmark accepts part of the responsibility for the difficult summer. Traffic director Peter Svendsen apologized to passengers who had unusually poor experiences, including longer than planned journeys on replacement buses. He said conditions on the railway should be normal again once the major track work is completed as planned on August 16.
Why now
Official material places the disruption in a defined work window. DSB lists track renewal work in 2026 running from July 27 to August 16, and Banedanmark documents temporary capacity restrictions in the same period.
Ekstra Bladet adds that the track work on West Funen had progressed far enough for tracks to reopen, with Banedanmark still expecting completion by August 16.
