Hareskovbanen

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Hareskovbanen is one of six radial S-Train lines in Copenhagen. It connects the city center to a number of northwestern suburbs and the cities of Værløse and Farum.

Contents

[edit] Stations

Name Services Opened S-trains Comments
København H H, H+, A+ November 30, 1911 May 15, 1934 Central station; also all other radials
Vesterport H, H+, A+ May 15, 1934 Also all other radials
Nørreport H, H+, A+ July 1, 1918 May 15, 1934 Also all other radials; transfer to metro
Østerport H, H+, A+ August 2, 1897 May 15, 1934 Also all other radials; named Østerbro until 1934
Nordhavn H, H+, A+ May 15, 1934 Also Hillerød and Klampenborg radials
Svanemøllen H, H+, A+ May 15, 1934 Also Hillerød and Klampenborg radials
Ryparken H, H+, A+ April 25, 1976 September 25, 1977 Transfer to ring line
Emdrup H, H+, A+ September 25, 1977
Dyssegård H, A+ May 22, 1932 September 25, 1977
Vangede H, H+, A+ April 19, 1906 September 25, 1977
Kildebakke H, A+ May 15, 1935 September 25, 1977
Buddinge H, H+, A+ April 19, 1906 September 25, 1977 Service A+ terminates; bus terminal; cross-link express buses 200S, 300S
Stengården H May 15, 1929 September 25, 1977
Bagsværd H, H+ April 19, 1906 September 25, 1977 Cross-link express bus 400S
Skovbrynet H October 1, 1930 September 25, 1977
Hareskov H April 19, 1906 September 25, 1977
Syvstjernen May 15, 1930 Closed in 1974
Værløse H, H+ April 19, 1906 September 25, 1977 Cross-link express bus 500S
Furesø May 22, 1932 Closed May 23, 1971
Farum H, H+ April 19, 1906 September 25, 1977 Bus terminal; cross-link express bus 500S

[edit] Service patterns

The basic service is the all-stops service H between København H and Farum. On weekdays until about 19.00 this is enhanced by service H+ which does not stop at some stations, and Monday to Friday service A+ additionally runs until Buddinge and stops at all stations.

Between 1979 and 1993 the line was served by service B.

[edit] History

The line was opened in 1906 as part of the private København-Slangerup Jernbane which went to Slangerup, about two thirds from Farum to Frederikssund. Its terminus in Copenhagen was København L, close to the current Nørrebro station on the S-train ring line. This was quite a bit from the city center, but the station was supposed to be temporary until the exact routing of the various new railways near Copenhagen that were in planning around the turn of the century had been finalized.

For the first many years, a large part of the traffic consisted of leisure trips by the large working population of Nørrebro to the Hareskoven forest.

Over the years, the economy of the private railway company declined, and in 1929 most of the private investors sold their shares to the munipalities along the line. After World War II the railway was so run down that the state railways DSB had to take it over in 1948. A few years later, in 1954, the outer end of the line between Farum and Slangerup was abandoned as unprofitable.

Plans to convert the line to S-trains had been discussed for decades, and in 1961 an act authorizing DSB to electrify the line. However, the act was not followed by sufficient allocations of public money, and it would take until 1977 until S-trains could begin running on the line.

Originally the plan was to extend the line as an underground line directly from København L to the center of the city, but over the course of the 1960's it became clear that the funding environment would not support metro construction in the foreseeable fututure. Therefore, in the eventual S-train conversion the innermost few kilometers in the line were abandoned and replaced by a large S-curve that connected it to the existing S-train trunk at Svanemøllen. A new overpass and interchange with the ring line was built at Ryparken. København L was abandoned and the terminus of the diesel trains moved to Svanemøllen in early 1976, and a year and a half later the conversion to S-trains were complete. This was the longest single addition to the S-train network so far.

This indirect approach means that the travel time between this radial and the city center is relatively high, which makes it less attractive relative to more direct buses. Several of the stations on the line are among the least patronized S-train stations.

[edit] Trivia

  • The few hundred meters of track between the platforms at Farum and the bridge across Fiskebæk valley is the only remaning piece of single-tracked railway on the S-train network.