What you need to know about new public transport prices in Denmark
Fares on trains, buses, Metro and light rail in Denmark increased on Monday.
As of Monday January 15th, fares on public transport are adjusted across Denmark. In general, the savings made by using a Rejsekort compared to buying a normal single ticket are now reduced.
Average fares are increasing, but the exact differences depend on how far you are travelling, the mode of transport and location.
A broad effect of the changes is that paying for journeys with the Rejsekort remains cheaper than buying tickets individually but the overall price difference is now smaller.
The price of tickets is now 4.9 percent more on average, but this will vary. Some types of ticket are cheaper than they were before the changes.
Denmark’s transport operators are regulated by the Danish Civil Aviation and Railway Authority (Trafikstyrelsen), which has permitted prices to be increased by the aforementioned average of 4.9 percent.
How these changes are implanted varies regionally, because different companies run the public transport in different parts of the country.
The national rail operator DSB is also adopting price changes. In a January 15th statement, DSB said it was putting prices up on due to inflation and high fuel costs, while several local operators have previously admitted they are struggling to meet costs.
READ ALSO: Denmark’s DSB raises rail ticket prices by up to 10 percent
This means that almost everyone who uses public transport in Denmark will notice a change – probably an increase – to the fare they pay.
“Largely all passengers will be affected. There are small differences in relation to how the prices are increasing but generally, unfortunately nobody will avoid it,” the chairperson of central Jutland operator Midttrafik, Steen Vindum, told broadcaster DR. Vindum is also the head of the national collective organisation for public transport companies, Trafikselskaberne.
The exact changes to specific ticket types therefore vary between transport companies.
For example, the “Pendlerkort” or “Commuter Card” – a pass that gives unlimited bus, train and metro travel within specified zones for between one and two months – will see price rises of as much as 10 percent in some cases in the east of Denmark for cards covering less than 10 zones. This is likely to affect many Copenhagen commuters.
The card will also increase in price in western Denmark, but by an average of 2.4 percent. in areas covered by local operator Midttrafik, which includes Aarhus, the average increase is 2.9 percent.
To give a more specific comparison, a commuter card covering two zones now costs 40 kroner more with the DOT company on Zealand and 6 kroner more with Midttrafik in central Jutland (but 60 kroner more for certain types of card).
Zealand and nearby islands Lolland, Falster and Møn will also see fares up by an average of 4.9 percent on rail and bus services.
Rail tickets for journeys across the Great Belt Bridge will cost 3.2 percent more on average, and 2.6 percent more with the Pendlerkort, DSB earlier stated. The Orange ticket scheme, in which a limited number of low-price tickets are released for journeys across the country, will continue.
Rejsekort
Passengers who use a normal Rejsekort will see the cost of their journeys increase by an average of 8.6 percent, according to figures published in late 2022 by DOT, the company which operates public transport on Zealand, including Copenhagen, and Denmark’s eastern islands.
A three-zone journey will cost 9.3 percent more than previous prices, meaning the cost of such a journey has gone up from 21.50 kroner to 23.50 kroner.
Single tickets (the paper print-outs available at stations or digitally through apps) for journeys of two zones or more are now about 6 percent cheaper on average, however.
In practice, that means a paper single ticket costing, for example, 36 kroner last year (the previous cost of a three-zone single ticket) now costs cost 30 kroner.
Single tickets for longer journeys have also fallen in price. A 12-zone single ticket now costs 96 kroner, compared to 116 kroner previously.
In a November 2022 statement, DOT said it wants the Rejsekort to remain cheaper than buying tickets individually but wants to reduce the price difference overall.
“Just like everything else, the cost of delivering good public transport is also increasing steeply at the moment. This comes after several years where prices were kept constant, but it is now necessary to let them go up on average,” DOT head of the board Marlene Holmgaard Fris said in the statement.
It’s worth noting that this description of specific changes to Rejsejort prices only applies in the area covered by DOT, but that there will be comparable changes in other parts of Denmark too.
On its website, Midttrafik states that Rejsekort will now cost between 1.5 kroner and 2.5 kroner more per journey. The cost of single tickets does not change for Midttrafik services.
All the new Midttrafik prices can be found here. North Jutland’s NT sets out its prices here, and you can click here for more detail from Funen’s transport company Fynbus and here for South Jutland’s Sydtrafik.
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As of Monday January 15th, fares on public transport are adjusted across Denmark. In general, the savings made by using a Rejsekort compared to buying a normal single ticket are now reduced.
Average fares are increasing, but the exact differences depend on how far you are travelling, the mode of transport and location.
A broad effect of the changes is that paying for journeys with the Rejsekort remains cheaper than buying tickets individually but the overall price difference is now smaller.
The price of tickets is now 4.9 percent more on average, but this will vary. Some types of ticket are cheaper than they were before the changes.
Denmark’s transport operators are regulated by the Danish Civil Aviation and Railway Authority (Trafikstyrelsen), which has permitted prices to be increased by the aforementioned average of 4.9 percent.
How these changes are implanted varies regionally, because different companies run the public transport in different parts of the country.
The national rail operator DSB is also adopting price changes. In a January 15th statement, DSB said it was putting prices up on due to inflation and high fuel costs, while several local operators have previously admitted they are struggling to meet costs.
READ ALSO: Denmark’s DSB raises rail ticket prices by up to 10 percent
This means that almost everyone who uses public transport in Denmark will notice a change – probably an increase – to the fare they pay.
“Largely all passengers will be affected. There are small differences in relation to how the prices are increasing but generally, unfortunately nobody will avoid it,” the chairperson of central Jutland operator Midttrafik, Steen Vindum, told broadcaster DR. Vindum is also the head of the national collective organisation for public transport companies, Trafikselskaberne.
The exact changes to specific ticket types therefore vary between transport companies.
For example, the “Pendlerkort” or “Commuter Card” – a pass that gives unlimited bus, train and metro travel within specified zones for between one and two months – will see price rises of as much as 10 percent in some cases in the east of Denmark for cards covering less than 10 zones. This is likely to affect many Copenhagen commuters.
The card will also increase in price in western Denmark, but by an average of 2.4 percent. in areas covered by local operator Midttrafik, which includes Aarhus, the average increase is 2.9 percent.
To give a more specific comparison, a commuter card covering two zones now costs 40 kroner more with the DOT company on Zealand and 6 kroner more with Midttrafik in central Jutland (but 60 kroner more for certain types of card).
Zealand and nearby islands Lolland, Falster and Møn will also see fares up by an average of 4.9 percent on rail and bus services.
Rail tickets for journeys across the Great Belt Bridge will cost 3.2 percent more on average, and 2.6 percent more with the Pendlerkort, DSB earlier stated. The Orange ticket scheme, in which a limited number of low-price tickets are released for journeys across the country, will continue.
Rejsekort
Passengers who use a normal Rejsekort will see the cost of their journeys increase by an average of 8.6 percent, according to figures published in late 2022 by DOT, the company which operates public transport on Zealand, including Copenhagen, and Denmark’s eastern islands.
A three-zone journey will cost 9.3 percent more than previous prices, meaning the cost of such a journey has gone up from 21.50 kroner to 23.50 kroner.
Single tickets (the paper print-outs available at stations or digitally through apps) for journeys of two zones or more are now about 6 percent cheaper on average, however.
In practice, that means a paper single ticket costing, for example, 36 kroner last year (the previous cost of a three-zone single ticket) now costs cost 30 kroner.
Single tickets for longer journeys have also fallen in price. A 12-zone single ticket now costs 96 kroner, compared to 116 kroner previously.
In a November 2022 statement, DOT said it wants the Rejsekort to remain cheaper than buying tickets individually but wants to reduce the price difference overall.
“Just like everything else, the cost of delivering good public transport is also increasing steeply at the moment. This comes after several years where prices were kept constant, but it is now necessary to let them go up on average,” DOT head of the board Marlene Holmgaard Fris said in the statement.
It’s worth noting that this description of specific changes to Rejsejort prices only applies in the area covered by DOT, but that there will be comparable changes in other parts of Denmark too.
On its website, Midttrafik states that Rejsekort will now cost between 1.5 kroner and 2.5 kroner more per journey. The cost of single tickets does not change for Midttrafik services.
All the new Midttrafik prices can be found here. North Jutland’s NT sets out its prices here, and you can click here for more detail from Funen’s transport company Fynbus and here for South Jutland’s Sydtrafik.
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