TRAVEL LATEST: Denmark hit by record snowfall as Aarhus cancels rail and bus services
Heavy snow continues to impact travel across Denmark on Thursday. Here’s the latest on road delays and rail and ferry services.
With heavy snow in northern and eastern Jutland and northern Zealand, and rain everywhere else from Tuesday afternoon through to Thursday, the wet weather and accompanying winds are causing disruption to travel.
As of Thursday afternoon, second city Aarhus remains significantly affected by the snow, with city buses and the Light Rail (Letbane) network both out of action.
Rail
National rail operator DSB said that services between Aarhus, Aalborg and Aalborg Airport will begin operating again on Thursday afternoon after almost two days of cancellations.
Trains began departing again around noon on Thursday, depending on the route and direction of the service.
Regional trains between Odense and Fredericia are to resume from around 2pm. Replacement buses had earlier taken over on this section.
The Struer-Fredericia service was also set to begin moving again from around 2pm.
DSB notes that services between Aarhus and Fredericia may stop at additional local stations Brejning, Børkop, Hedensted and Viby J, to enable staff to travel to work.
Local services in Aarhus remain stricken by the snow, however. The Aarhus Light Rail (Letbane), will not reopen on Thursday and will remain partly closed all weekend, according to the Dansk Trafikinfo account on social media X. Operator Midtrafik is hoping to be able to reopen the L2 line of the rail between Aarhus Central Station and University Hospital on Friday, but L1 will be closed until Monday.
City buses in Aarhus also remain out of action on Thursday, with an update scheduled for 7am on Friday ahead of a possible resumption of services on Friday morning.
Local operator Arriva earlier cancelled the Aarhus-Langå-Struer; Aarhus-Herning-Struer; and Struer-Herning-Vejle routes, but these are also resuming from around noon onwards on Thursday according to Arriva's website.
In Copenhagen, the S-train is running normally despite the severe weather, DSB said. Services across Zealand earlier disrupted by the blizzards are now also returning to normal, but there may still be some extended journey times, particularly between Næstved, Køge, Copenhagen Central and Helsingør.
Roads
The Danish Roads Directorate (Vejdirektoratet) has urged drivers across the country to drive in accordance with the prevailing weather. Work to clear motorways and other roads in the East Jutland region, both of snow and vehicles involved in weather-related accidents, was ongoing overnight, after many motorists found themselves completely stranded by the blizzard.
As mentioned above, roads in central Aarhus remain affected on Thursday afternoon, with city buses not running until at least Friday morning.
East Jutland Police is still asking motorists to avoid all unnecessary journeys throughout the district. That advice will stay in place until at least 2pm today. Similar advice and timelines apply in Southeast Jutland Police municipalities Horsens, Skanderborg, Hedensted and Vejle.
"We are now advising against ALL road journeys in East Jutland. There are major challenges on the roads - including on the E45 [motorway], where many motorists have sat in queues for many hours. Several lorries are stuck on the motorway at Hadsten. So think twice - stay at home," East Jutland police said in an update on social media X early on Thursday.
The E45 motorway has now reopened on the northbound side near Aarhus and Hadsten, but traffic is moving slowly. The northbound E45 remains closed between Kolding and Skærup, according to an update at around 1:40pm Thursay.
North and West Jutland have meanwhile lifted advisories against non-essential driving in those areas.
In an update on its website, the North Jutland transport operator NT said that city buses in Aalborg, which were cancelled completely late on Wednesday, were now beginning to run again.
"Not all routes are running and some services are only running parts of the route", NT states.
"Major disruptions or cancelled journeys" are likely throughout NT's network in North Jutland, the operator also said.
READ ALSO: For how long will weather disrupt transport in Denmark?
Ferries
A number of ferry services have been suspended or disrupted, including the ferries from Aarhus to the island of Samsø. The Aarhus-Sælvig ferry is disrupted at the time of writing, while another route to the island, Aarhus-Hou, experienced cancellations on Wednesday. Passengers should check the latest status with their ferry operator (this applies for all ferry departures in Denmark currently).
International services between Hirtshals in North Jutland and Larvik and Kristiansand in Norway are all delayed on Thursday. Those services were suspended on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Several ferries to and from Baltic Sea island Bornholm have been cancelled on Thursday, including 6.30 and 10.30 departures from Rønne on Bornholm and at 8.30 and 12.30 from Ystad in Sweden. Ferries will however sail according to the original timetable hereafter, ferry operator Bornholmslinjen said.
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With heavy snow in northern and eastern Jutland and northern Zealand, and rain everywhere else from Tuesday afternoon through to Thursday, the wet weather and accompanying winds are causing disruption to travel.
As of Thursday afternoon, second city Aarhus remains significantly affected by the snow, with city buses and the Light Rail (Letbane) network both out of action.
Rail
National rail operator DSB said that services between Aarhus, Aalborg and Aalborg Airport will begin operating again on Thursday afternoon after almost two days of cancellations.
Trains began departing again around noon on Thursday, depending on the route and direction of the service.
Regional trains between Odense and Fredericia are to resume from around 2pm. Replacement buses had earlier taken over on this section.
The Struer-Fredericia service was also set to begin moving again from around 2pm.
DSB notes that services between Aarhus and Fredericia may stop at additional local stations Brejning, Børkop, Hedensted and Viby J, to enable staff to travel to work.
Local services in Aarhus remain stricken by the snow, however. The Aarhus Light Rail (Letbane), will not reopen on Thursday and will remain partly closed all weekend, according to the Dansk Trafikinfo account on social media X. Operator Midtrafik is hoping to be able to reopen the L2 line of the rail between Aarhus Central Station and University Hospital on Friday, but L1 will be closed until Monday.
City buses in Aarhus also remain out of action on Thursday, with an update scheduled for 7am on Friday ahead of a possible resumption of services on Friday morning.
Local operator Arriva earlier cancelled the Aarhus-Langå-Struer; Aarhus-Herning-Struer; and Struer-Herning-Vejle routes, but these are also resuming from around noon onwards on Thursday according to Arriva's website.
In Copenhagen, the S-train is running normally despite the severe weather, DSB said. Services across Zealand earlier disrupted by the blizzards are now also returning to normal, but there may still be some extended journey times, particularly between Næstved, Køge, Copenhagen Central and Helsingør.
Roads
The Danish Roads Directorate (Vejdirektoratet) has urged drivers across the country to drive in accordance with the prevailing weather. Work to clear motorways and other roads in the East Jutland region, both of snow and vehicles involved in weather-related accidents, was ongoing overnight, after many motorists found themselves completely stranded by the blizzard.
As mentioned above, roads in central Aarhus remain affected on Thursday afternoon, with city buses not running until at least Friday morning.
East Jutland Police is still asking motorists to avoid all unnecessary journeys throughout the district. That advice will stay in place until at least 2pm today. Similar advice and timelines apply in Southeast Jutland Police municipalities Horsens, Skanderborg, Hedensted and Vejle.
"We are now advising against ALL road journeys in East Jutland. There are major challenges on the roads - including on the E45 [motorway], where many motorists have sat in queues for many hours. Several lorries are stuck on the motorway at Hadsten. So think twice - stay at home," East Jutland police said in an update on social media X early on Thursday.
The E45 motorway has now reopened on the northbound side near Aarhus and Hadsten, but traffic is moving slowly. The northbound E45 remains closed between Kolding and Skærup, according to an update at around 1:40pm Thursay.
North and West Jutland have meanwhile lifted advisories against non-essential driving in those areas.
In an update on its website, the North Jutland transport operator NT said that city buses in Aalborg, which were cancelled completely late on Wednesday, were now beginning to run again.
"Not all routes are running and some services are only running parts of the route", NT states.
"Major disruptions or cancelled journeys" are likely throughout NT's network in North Jutland, the operator also said.
READ ALSO: For how long will weather disrupt transport in Denmark?
Ferries
A number of ferry services have been suspended or disrupted, including the ferries from Aarhus to the island of Samsø. The Aarhus-Sælvig ferry is disrupted at the time of writing, while another route to the island, Aarhus-Hou, experienced cancellations on Wednesday. Passengers should check the latest status with their ferry operator (this applies for all ferry departures in Denmark currently).
International services between Hirtshals in North Jutland and Larvik and Kristiansand in Norway are all delayed on Thursday. Those services were suspended on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Several ferries to and from Baltic Sea island Bornholm have been cancelled on Thursday, including 6.30 and 10.30 departures from Rønne on Bornholm and at 8.30 and 12.30 from Ystad in Sweden. Ferries will however sail according to the original timetable hereafter, ferry operator Bornholmslinjen said.
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