The M3 line shuts down for two weeks
Facts about
Metro buses and the journey plan
- Metroselskabet is deploying metro buses that will largely cover the M3 line. The buses will run frequently with departures approximately every 4 minutes during rush hour on the busiest and most central stretches.
- The Metroselskabet and the Metro operator will deploy extra staff to help passengers with information about the Metro buses. There will be stops at all M3 line stations except Nørrebro station, Skjolds Plads and Aksel Møllers Have. At Nørrebro, passengers will be directed to S-trains and Movia buses. At Skjolds Plads, passengers will be directed to Movia buses, and at Aksel Møllers Have, staff will be available to guide passengers from the metro station to the existing bus lines on Godthåbsvej and to the metro buses on Falkoner Allé.
- The metro bus stops and running times will be integrated into the journey planner before Christmas, allowing passengers to plan their journey well in advance of the M3 line closure. In the journey plan, passengers can find alternative travel options while the M3 line is closed.
- There will be a major information effort to inform passengers about the change. Passengers can check www.rejseplanen.dk for journey planning during the period.
M4
- The M4 metro line will run from the two new stations Orientkaj and Nordhavn via Østerport, Marmorkirken, Kongens Nytorv, Gammel Strand, Rådhuspladsen to Copenhagen Central Station.
- Until the opening of the Sydhavn branch line in 2024, the line will have a total of these 8 stations - after that, line M4 will be extended with five more stations on the branch line from M3 line to Sydhavn.
- The opening of the M4 means that the frequency of departures will double between Østerport and Copenhagen Central Station.
- During rush hour, there will be a departure on this line every one and a half minutes.
- The contracts to build the Nordhavn branch from the M3 line were signed in 2014, three years after the contracts were signed for the M3 line. As it was always known that the M4 would open after the M3, it was also clear that the test run on the M4 would affect operations on the M3.
- The M4 is expected to open in the spring. The expected opening date will be announced in early 2020.
The test run on the city's future M4 metro line, which will run from Orientkaj and Nordhavn to Copenhagen Central Station, is about to begin. In this connection, it is necessary to completely close the M3 line so that the test run on the M4 can begin safely.
Passengers have embraced the M3 line and approximately one million passengers use the M3 line every week. Unfortunately, there is bad news for all of them. At least for a two-week period from Sunday 12 January to Sunday 26 January 2020. Metroselskabet CEO Henrik Plougmann Olsen explains:
‘A lot of people have quickly embraced the M3 line and it has become part of many people's everyday lives. We are very happy about this, and I know that we will disappoint many people when we have to shut down the M3 line completely for two weeks in January to test the new metro line to Nordhavn M4,’ says Henrik Plougmann Olsen, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Metroselskabet.
The M3 and M4 metro lines will have a common control system with common trains and common tracks on the lines Østerport, Marmorkirken, Kongens Nytorv, Gammel Strand, Rådhuspladsen and Copenhagen Central Station. It is a difficult task to prepare for test runs on M4 at the same time as regular passenger operations on M3 Cityringen.
It is therefore necessary to shut down the line completely. The alternative to a two-week closure of the M3 would be a six-week closure every evening and night and several weekend closures. This would result in a high risk of daily delays - and at worst, closure - during the morning rush hour. Instead, the M3 line will be closed completely for two weeks and passengers will be offered metro buses to supplement the city's other bus network.
‘The final test phase is necessary before we can open the new metro line to Nordhavn, and this cannot be done without disrupting operations on the M3 line. There are no good solutions, but we have chosen the one that will cause the least inconvenience to passengers. The M3 line will close completely for two weeks and be replaced by metro buses that will run approximately every 4 minutes during rush hour on the most central and busy stretches. We have opted out of a solution where passengers would have to stand every morning for six weeks and be in doubt whether the Metro is running. Our passengers must be able to count on the Metro running stably when it is running,’ says Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Henrik Plougmann Olsen.
The start of the test run on the M4 and the closure of the M3 line will take place from Sunday 12 January to Sunday 26 January. Metroselskabet has always been aware that the test run on the M4 would disrupt operations on the M3. This is because the M4 shares its operating system, trains, stations and tracks with the M3.
The M3 opened on 29 September 2019 and the expected opening date for line M4 will be announced after the New Year. Construction started three years after the contracts for the M3 line were signed. In addition to adding two new metro stations to the city's metro map, the line will double the number of departures through the centre of Copenhagen - between Østerport and Copenhagen Central Station. This means that by spring, passengers can expect departures every 1.5 minutes on this stretch during rush hour.