Region Sjælland is closing a shuttle bus service for doctors between Høje Taastrup and Nykøbing Sjælland after it ran for eight months without carrying a single passenger.
The bus started running on February 1, 2026, and was meant to bring general practitioners from the Copenhagen area to work in Odsherred. According to DR, it completed 164 journeys in each direction, 328 trips in total, with no doctors on board. The region is ending the route at the end of September.
DR reports that the service has cost Region Sjælland more than 1 million kroner so far. Sundhedsmonitor put the figure at 1,065,960 kroner after 324 empty trips.
Susanne Lundvald of the Social Democrats chairs the committee for local health services in Region Sjælland. She told DR she would have preferred an evaluation around the summer holidays, so public money could have been saved. She added that she could not fully explain why the evaluation came only now, pointing to work on GP coverage and the merger of two regions.
The route was set up after dialogue with the Organisation of General Practitioners in Denmark, PLO. Peter Wied, a GP in Nykøbing Falster and chair of PLO in Region Sjælland, said he had not been aware that the bus was running empty. He noted that a sign-up arrangement could have been introduced first.
New route to Kalundborg from October 1
The empty route is being replaced by a service between Copenhagen Central Station and Kalundborg, opening on October 1, 2026. Lundvald told DR that Kalundborg has the region’s largest shortage of GPs, with 12 positions missing. She said two regional clinics have opened in the town, and the bus arrangement can be offered to staff hired there.
Asked why doctors did not use the Nykøbing Sjælland bus, both Wied and Lundvald said it was difficult to answer. Wied said it takes time before doctors become aware of such schemes. Lundvald said she had not spoken with any of the doctors who live in Copenhagen and work in Odsherred.
Wied said the new route should target young doctors as early as possible. According to him, many young doctors want to work in outlying areas because the work is professionally demanding, while they prefer to keep living in larger cities.
In total, the region runs five bus services carrying doctors from the Copenhagen area to different parts of Region Sjælland. DR reports that, unlike the Nykøbing Sjælland bus, the other services carry between 6 and 25 passengers per trip.
DR states that it was not possible to obtain an interview with Trine Birk Andersen, chair of the regional council in Region Sjælland. The broadcaster also reports that Lars Gaardhøj, incoming council chair for Region Østdanmark, did not comment. Region Sjælland and Region Hovedstaden merge from the new year.
