the end of the line for now but from here does the metro go north or east?
/60 metres beyond the platform at Orientkaj - this is the end of the line for now
In March 2020, a new section of the metro in Copenhagen opened …. the north end of the new M4 line with new stations beyond Østerport at Nordhavn and Orientkaj.
From Østerport, trains for Orientkaj follow the existing M3 track - the metro inner ring north towards Trianglen - but 500 Metres from Østerport, below the north end of the lakes, they branch off onto the new line and follow a curve to the east.
The new Nordhavn metro station is just under 2 kilometres from Østerport, below ground on the east or sea side of the suburban railway line so it’s on the east side of the suburban train station at Nordhavn and actually on the east side of the main coast road.
Immediately after the metro station at Nordhavn, trains rise rapidly up a steep slope and up onto a section of elevated track immediately before the second new metro station at the inner end of the Orientkaj dock.
For now, just beyond the platforms of Orientkaj, the track ends abruptly waiting for the next phase of work.
Maps of the metro - even those from as recently as last Spring - show the next stage of the metro line running on to new stations at Levantkaj, Krydstogtkaj, Nordstrand and then, finally, to Fiskerikaj, at the end of the line … so four new stations that will not only serve new housing that will be constructed in the last phase of building for Nordhavn but would also take passengers out to the terminal for cruise ships at Oceankaj.
That new line, as proposed, would form a large curve - running first east out to the cruise ship terminals and then north and west in a large arc - so it has been nicknamed “Lille Spørdmålstegn” or the Little Question Mark.
But now there is a real and a very large question mark over this whole next stage for the metro because all decisions are on hold waiting to see if a recent proposal to construct a large new island for housing across the entrance to the harbour goes ahead.
Constructing that large artificial island would not be completed until 2070 but it is also entangled with a complicated series of planning decisions that have to be made in the next year:
A new tunnel is to be built north of Svanemølle power station for road access to Nordhavn from the north but this could be extended down the east side of Amager, in a tunnel, to the airport and the bridge to Sweden. It would not only be a major eastern bypass for the city but would also provide road access to the new island from the north and south.
If the island is constructed across the entrance to the harbour then it would also be part of new storm-surge protection to stop water from the Sound flooding into the inner harbour and flooding the inner city. That flood barrier has not been allocated a budget and, already, some have raised doubts about an island being the best form for storm protection.
A large and expensive and relatively new sewage and water treatment plant to the east of Refshaleøen would have to be relocated and again that is not in the budget.
Because the island would be built out in to the Sound and because a major road bypassing the city would link to the airport and the Øresundsbroen - the rail and road bridge between Copenhagen and Malmo - an eastern ring road should be seen as part of a wider regional transport policy - including a proposal to build a rail and road link at the north end of the Sound, between Helsingør and Helsinborg - so both regional planning and environmental concerns in Sweden have to be taken into account.
This is becoming one of the most complicated and, certainly, the most contentious infrastructure plan for the city.
new metro stations at Nordhavn and Orientkaj
Lynetteholm
the if, when, how much and why of the new island
Forundersøgelse Metrobetjening af Lynetteholm /
Metro Services for Lynnetholm Preliminary Study
If you want to follow and to understand the planning issues that are involved or if you are interested in the engineering problems that will have to be resolved then I would recommend a report from the metro company - Forundersøgelse Metrobetjening af Lynetteholm / Preliminary Investigation of Metro Service to Lynetteholm.
It can be downloaded from their web site and sets out in some detail and with good maps and illustrations, the options and possible routes for extending the metro line on from Ørientkaj.
This is far from a simple matter of drawing lines across a map.
Any new metro lines will have to link into the current service and this means also looking at an opportunity to extend the metro system into parts of the old city that are not served by the current metro lines.
In addition, the current line out to Ørientkaj runs in sections along existing lines and uses existing service facilities but there is now an opportunity to build new depots and to make sure that new services do not have an impact on the running of the existing lines.
Not only could a new service out to the new island form important new and fast links across the city but it will have to thread it’s way through and under or over existing infrastructure and any new interchanges will have to work in a rational way with what is happening in the streets and squares above.
For some new interchanges on the system - like at Islands Brygge - there are three or four options for the site of a new station above ground and several options for how connections and platforms will link below ground.
If the construction of Lynetteholm does get approval, the island will not be completed until 2070 so any new lines or new stations would either have to wait until then or new lines might be phased and built so that the line out to stations on the island would be simply the last stage that closed the loop.
Forundersøgelse Metrobetjening af Lynetteholm /
Metro Services for Lynnetholm Preliminary Study
If Lynetteholm is given a green light then the new island will influence any future extension of the metro
Before the construction of a new island was proposed, this was plan for the new M4 line of the metro system.
It shares a long section of track with the metro ring between the central station and Østerport. A short new section of track out to Ørientkaj has just opened and the long south section of the line that will provide a service out to the south harbour and on to the major railway interchange at Ny Ellebjerg is underconstruction but will not open until 2024.
The new stations will have distinct designs that reflect the character of the areas that they serve. The station at Havneholmen is on the south side of the shopping centre at Fisketorvet and work has started on an extensive restoration and upgrading of the centre. It is also close to the site for a new bus station for the city on Carsten Niebuhrs Gade on a site parallel to the railway and on the opposite side of the tracks to the station at Dybbølsbro.
M4 Blå linje
This option to extend the M4 line to the new island is possibly the most straightforward.
A line out the north coast of Nordhavn might or might not be constructed but the M4 line would be re aligned to go first to a new station at Baltkakaj and then on to the cruise ship terminal and then, when the island was constructed, trains would go in tunnels under the new and constricted entrance channel for the harbour to two new stations on Lyntteholm and then on to Refshaleøen and Klovermarken that are not served by the current metro but will have extensive new areas of development and housing over the next twenty years.
The line could be extended beyond Klovermarken to provide a fast service across the top of Amager and then back under the inner harbour to the central railway station to relieve pressure on the existing metro stations at Christianshavn and Islands Brygge where passenger numbers are close to capacity.
M5 Lilla linje
This option is more radical.
The metro line out to Nordhavn would be completed as planned but there would be a new and potentially faster service out to Lynetteholm directly from Østerport station with a new long tunnel under the inner harbour.
If Lynetteholm gets approval then the plan is for housing for 35,000 people and work for almost as many so passenger numbers would be large.
From Lynetteholm, the new line would also be extended down to Refshaleøen and on across Amager to the central railway station to form a sweeping curve that forms a large reverse C.
M5 Vest Orange linje
This option takes the curve of the new metro line the other way so in effect starts on Lynetteholm (or ends on Lynetteholm as the last stage of a phased construction ending in 2070).
It would serve the major regional hospital - the Rigshospitalet on the south side of Fælledparken - and part of the inner area of Nørrebro that are not served by the current metro lines and with a new interchange at Forum where the exhibition centre may be redeveloped and the line will then go on to the central railway station and again across the top of Amager but in this option it will end at Prags Boulevard where there is extensive new housing.
A new metro station at the central railway station may be constructed on the inner, city side of the railway tracks and would be under Bernstorfsgade …. under the very busy street and the bus station between the railway station and Tivoli.
Whichever option is chosen, it looks as if the citizens of Copenhagen can look forward to 40 years or more of engineering works, earth moving and high green hoardings.
