Today we're going to be taking a look at Denmark's newest express train, the IC4.
We'll be travelling on this sleek modern unit in First Class (sort of), from Aarhus to Copenhagen,
through some great scenery!
But this train isn't as great as it might first seem, with too many technical and design
problems to count.
Join me for a trip on this troublesome train, as I show you why NOT to ride this Danish
disaster.
Hello and welcome back to another video.
Today I'm here in Aarhus in Denmark, and I'm going to be travelling on-board the Danish
Railways IC4 train, on-board the high-speed InterCityLyn+ service.
I'm booked into First Class, so it's going to be interesting to see if these trains are
really as bad as people say - let's go!
Today's journey starts at Aarhus Hovedbanegård, on the island of Jylland.
This station building first opened in 1929, to replace the 1884 design, which was too
small for the amount of passengers at the time.
To be honest, I'm surprised the station doesn't get more attention, as the design is smart
and, in my opinion, underrated.
You can find the usual staple food outlets you would come to expect in Danish stations,
such as 7-Eleven, and of course McDonald's.
All platforms are reached from the main bridge here, which is also really beautiful.
There are also a few more shops here, as well as the station's ticket office.
My train today is number InterCityLyn+ 50352, perhaps going for the record of the longest
train number.
We'll be departing at 15:55, so that gives me a bit of time to check out the DSB 1' lounge
here at Aarhus.
Whilst it's nothing too big, or even overly luxurious, it's a fancy place to relax while
you wait for your train, and a few light refreshments are on offer too, including a selection of
hot drinks.
I've got to admit though, the design of this lounge is actually very pleasant, perfect
for getting some work done, there's even a few small meeting rooms that you can reserve
in advance.
Anyway, as much as I'd love to sit here and watch my home country falling apart in comfort,
we've got a train to catch!
My train is formed of one of these IC4 diesel units.
As the name suggests, it's an InterCity train formed of four carriages.
Like most trains in Denmark, this service is operated by DSB, the nationalised passenger
train company here in Denmark.
These trains have been the cause for countless problems here on the Danish railway network,
so make sure you stick around until the end to find out the exciting proposed solution.
On the face of it, these trains don't look so bad.
They were even designed by Pininfarina, otherwise known for designing Ferrari cars.
Anyway, let's get on-board and find my First Class seat!
First Class is located at one end of the train, the front in today's case.
Strangely, it seems to be marked as Standard Class and with 2+2 seating, despite having
First Class markings on the outside.
This didn't seem quite right to me, so I decided to have a look around the rest of the train,
to see if there was a proper First Class area.
This part of the train claimed that First Class was in the section on the left here,
despite not having any First Class markings.
So let's get on, and see if this is where First Class is.
The screen says First Class this way, it's all looking good - but again, this seems a
lot like Standard Class.
Even these screens say Standard Class!
I'll try heading through here instead then.
The screen might say Standard Class, but the stickers on the walls suggest First Class.
In the end, I gave up, and just took Coach 63, Seat 216.
I think this MIGHT be First Class, but I'm not sure.
Today's route will see us travelling through various regions of Denmark.
Starting in Aarhus, we'll travel south and then east across to Odense, before going non-stop
to Copenhagen.
The trip is scheduled to take two hours and 41 minutes to cover 328 kilometres, or about
204 miles.
Our journey begins on-time at 15:55.
As we depart, be sure to look out for the Aarhus Letbane, a relatively new tram network
here in the city.
You can also see some rubber-nosed IC3 units, that believe it or not, the IC4 was actually
meant to completely replace.
The IC4 was originally planned to enter service in 2003, the first units finally started running
in 2007.
Now fifteen years on, the replacement clearly never happened.
Personally I love how these trains look on the inside.
It's a perfect touch of modern Scandinavian design.
But a few aspects of this train's interior are just some of the things that let it down
- so let's take a look!
Starting off of course with the ever-important seating.
Well, it's comfortable!
And doesn't it just look amazing in the dark design, which features the old Danish Railways
logo.
Up top, you can find a well padded head cushion.
It reminds me of Germany's ICE trains.
Between seats you can find an adjustable armrest, which is well padded too.
As for legroom, it's actually great, with plenty of room, despite the 2+2 seating layout.
There's even a footrest for added comfort.
Above this you can find the safety card (I'll be taking good care of that one, just in case),
and also DSB's travel magazine, which as you'd expect is in Danish.
These two items are located in a storage net on the seat in-front.
And here's a typically Scandinavian feature, the at-seat bins are replaced by a collection
of plastic bags.
By the way, I always thought of Denmark as an environmentally friendly country, so if
you know why they do this, then please let me know!
Recline is available, which is always good to have, but this is probably the worst recline
I've ever had on a train, it makes pretty much no difference at all.
Between each seat you can find a pair of European style power sockets - though watch out, some
larger plugs may not fit because of the recline lever.
All seats have seatback tables, but don't count on these being usable.
So other than a few minor problems, it does all seem okay.
But it gets a lot worse, and we'll get to that later, but for now let's turn our attention
to outside the train.
Jylland is Denmark's largest region, making up nearly three quarters of its land mass,
and is home to half of its population.
This is the beautiful Old Saviour's Church in the city of Vejle.
The city is Denmark's ninth largest, and has an industrial history, being home to one of
the world's largest chewing gum factories.
The city also features the Vejle Fjord Bridge, a motorway bridge dating back to 1980 to relieve
traffic through the city.
It's now Denmark's most heavily used motorway bridge.
You may have noticed all these metal poles along the railway line.
Well this is part of a long overdue electrification scheme of all main routes in Denmark, following
the failure of the diesel-based IC4 units.
In fact, at various points on today's journey, you can see many IC4 units abandoned in sidings.
These are no doubt being cannibalised for spare parts, in order to allow the remaining
fleet to continue operating.
We're now on the approach to an important railway junction here on the Danish network,
connecting Copenhagen with Aarhus, and also serving the line down to Flensburg in Germany.
The station here at Fredericia also sees a variety of local services, and acts as the
terminus for electric trains from the capital.
Fredericia is the final station in the region of Jylland, as we cross the 1930s bridge over
the Little Belt strait.
Finishing this crossing leaves us on the Island of Fyn, and in the town of Middelfart.
Back inside, it's time to look around the rest of the train, with my safety card in
hand of course.
This is, I think, Standard Class on the IC4.
As you can see, it's the exact same as First Class.
Moving into the rear carriage's vestibule, I tried to check out the toilets, but these
weren't working.
So I go back through 'maybe First Class', and then into 'possibly First Class', until
I reach some sort of catering area.
There were some bags on the catering trolleys here, but I never got one.
Please let me know in the comments if you know what these are for.
Next to this is the low-floor area, with storage for pushchairs, wheelchairs, and oversized
luggage, or folding seats.
It appears this area also once had a water dispenser, but with no cups provided, I didn't
bother.
On the other side of the doors, there's a wheelchair accessible toilet.
Finally, as we move into the front carriage, we can find a working regular toilet.
It might be working, though it's kind of hard to ignore this.
And I'm really not sure if this is meant to be unplugged.
Anyway, the soap and water were both working fine.
With paper towels being provided for drying your hands.
Oh and if you thought this was the only toilet in poor condition, the wheelchair accessible
toilet was somehow even worse.
The top-speed of these IC4 units is 200km/h (125mph), however in Denmark, the maximum
speed for railways is 180km/h (110mph), a speed at which we spend much of the journey
today.
This lasts until we approach Odense, and as the third largest city in Denmark, this is
our only intermediate calling point today.
That is, unless we break down of course!
Leaving behind this major interchange, it's also worth mentioning that the roundhouse
adjacent to the station now hosts the Danish Railway museum.
Sadly I didn't have time to check this out on my trip today, so let me know if it's worth
a visit in the comments!
We soon find ourselves over the Great Belt strait, located between the islands of Fyn
and Sjælland.
The English name for this island is Zealand, and to any kiwis watching, no, that's not
where New Zealand's name comes from.
Approximately halfway through the crossing, we leave the West Bridge, landing on the island
of Sprogø for a brief moment, before entering the East Tunnel.
The reason for this design is simple.
The West Bridge has very limited clearance, with just 18 metres available for passing
sea traffic.
The East Bridge is much higher, at 65 metres of clearance - but of course this means there
is a very steep slope.
With freight traffic being unable to handle this tough gradient, a tunnel for the railway
was the only option here.
Emerging from the tunnel, we pass our first major settlement, this being the amusingly
spelt Slagelse.
From here, the journey slows down a lot, as we approach the congested railway around the
Copenhagen area, as well as having to make our way through some engineering work.
This serves as a perfect opportunity to run through how much a journey like this costs.
For this trip, I was using an Interrail pass, so I just paid the small compulsory reservation
fee of 30 DKK.
Here in (maybe) First Class, you can expect to pay 629 DKK for a flexible ticket with
reservation, purchased on the day of travel.
Fairly expensive, but you can bring this down to about a third of the price by booking in
advance in the identical Standard Class.
Oh, and by the way, it's not impossible for the train to sell out, so if you REALLY want
to travel on this train, even against my recommendation, then make sure to book ahead.
As we pass through stations such as Køge Nord, we are now within Copenhagen's metropolitan
area.
Many of these stations are served by the Copenhagen S-tog service, a commuter railway operating
in the capital and its surrounding suburbs.
So time for my conclusion on the IC4 units, as well as what's planned for their future.
Overall, these trains are really not very good, with technical faults plaguing their
existence since day one.
Other than their terrible reliability and interior defects though, I found them to be
a very comfortable and pleasant way to cross the country.
It was also interesting to try something other than the usual IC3 and IR4 rubber-nosed units
for once.
As for the future?
Well, the remaining 77x IC4 units are to be banished to Romania from 2025, having been
purchased by an unknown buyer.
Their replacement takes the form of full electrification at last, and the purchase of 100x new electric
units from Alstom.
They certainly look smart, and I can't wait to come back to Denmark in 2025 to try them
out!
We arrive into Københavns Hovedbanegård, the main station of Copenhagen, with a delay
of about 12 minutes, due to engineering works and congestion.
Departing next to us is the strange looking Öresundståg, an international service between
Copenhagen and many regions of southern Sweden.
To continue the journey, across the Øresund strait and into Sweden, on this weird looking
train, then click this video on screen now.