A transport researcher warns that this summer’s wave of DSB cancellations, delays and rail-replacement buses could push passengers away from trains for good. DSB says its customers will come back once the track works are finished.
DR reported on August 7, 2026 that train passengers across Denmark have spent the summer waiting on platforms and riding rail-replacement buses. Laura Lindegaard Bang, who researches public transport at Aalborg University, told DR that trust in the railway is being affected quite negatively.
She described the summer as a critical window, because many people travel by train in the holidays without being daily commuters. According to DR, her main concern is not only the passengers who personally have a bad trip. Stories that the train cannot be relied on spread through the wider population.
DSB’s own reputation measure also points to difficulties. The company’s Trust & Like score stood at 55 out of 100 in the first quarter of 2026, a level DSB itself classifies as low, according to DR.
DSB attributes the summer’s problems mainly to extensive track works, scheduled for the period when they inconvenience the fewest customers. Information chief Tony Bispeskov told DR that experience shows passengers return once the work is done. Banedanmark traffic director Peter Svendsen said the upgrades are deliberately placed in holiday periods to affect as few travelers as possible.
The scale of the works
In a press release on July 6, 2026, Banedanmark said it was extra busy in the tracks over the school holidays. During week 29, DSB ran replacement buses all the way from Ringsted to Fredericia, using around 150 buses on different routes. Politiken reported on July 11, 2026 that the same phase also covered the Storebælt link and sections on West Funen.
Jyllands-Posten reported on July 20, 2026 that delayed works forced buses onto parts of Funen and Zealand. Services between Ringsted and Slagelse and between Odense and Fredericia were suspended. International trains from Copenhagen to Hamburg, Berlin and Prague were also affected.
Ekstra Bladet reported on August 2, 2026 that the long-running West Funen project had progressed far enough for tracks to reopen in early August. Banedanmark still expects to finish that work by August 16, 2026.
Long-planned maintenance
The disruptions were scheduled well in advance. A DSB fact sheet from February 18, 2026 listed reduced peak-hour services from June 27 to August 5, 2026. It also set out closures on parts of the Køge Bugt S-train line between July 4 and August 28, 2026. On its traffic information pages, DSB states that several stretches are affected by track renewals from April to August 2026.
