standard gauge
A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...
railway line
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road ...
in
Denmark
Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
which runs between
Aarhus
Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Ã…rhus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...
and
Grenaa
Grenaa (or Grenå) is a Danish town and seaport on the east coast of the Jutland peninsula. Tourism, education and commerce are important sectors in the economy of Grenaa. It is the only larger town on Djursland. Grenaa is the municipal seat, a ...
through the
peninsula
A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula.
Etymology
The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...
of
Djursland
Djursland () is a 1,417 km2 hilly lowland peninsula in Denmark at the entrance to the Baltic Sea, between Denmark and Sweden in Northern Europe. Djursland protrudes into the Kattegat sea, as part of the larger peninsula of Jutland, which its ...
. The railway opened in 1876–1877. It is owned and maintained by Rail Net Denmark and served with
passenger train
A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line, as opposed to a freight train that carries goods. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) push-pull train, ...
s by the
Danish State Railways
DSB, an abbreviation of ''Danske Statsbaner'' (, ''Danish State Railways''), is the largest Danish train operating company. It's also the largest train operating company in Scandinavia. While DSB is responsible for passenger train operation on ...
(DSB). It now functions as a
commuter rail
Commuter rail or suburban rail is a Passenger train, passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Central business district, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter town ...
service in the Aarhus area and carries 1 million passengers annually.
Grenaa
Grenaa (or Grenå) is a Danish town and seaport on the east coast of the Jutland peninsula. Tourism, education and commerce are important sectors in the economy of Grenaa. It is the only larger town on Djursland. Grenaa is the municipal seat, a ...
was opened in 1876 together with the Randers-Ryomgaard Line. The section from Aarhus to Ryomgaard was opened in 1877. The two railways were operated by the joint operating companyØstjyske Jernbane (ØJJ). Both lines were taken over by the Danish State Railways in 1885. Passenger traffic on the Randers-Ryomgaard Line ceased in 1971.
The Grenaa Line was around 2006 upgraded to support higher speeds. In 2012, eight new
Siemens Desiro
The Siemens Desiro (, , ) is a family of Diesel multiple unit, diesel or electric multiple unit passenger trains developed by Siemens Mobility, a division of the German Siemens, Siemens AG conglomerate. The main variants are the Desiro Classic, ...
Mørke station
Mørke is a town located in East Jutland, on the southwestern part of the Djursland peninsula, Denmark. It is a commuter town of the city of Aarhus, which lies approximately 26 kilometers to the southwest, and a railway town at Grenaabanen, ...
Hjortshøj station
Hjortshøj is a small railway town in Aarhus Municipality, Denmark. The town is located about 14 kilometres north of Aarhus, and has a population of 3,586 (1 January 2025).
Skolebakken railway halt
Skolebakken railway halt is a railway halt serving the central part of the city of Aarhus in Jutland, Denmark
Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the King ...
The line is currently being adapted for the Aarhus Light Rail (), an electric
tram-train
A tram-train or dual-system tram is a type of light rail vehicle that both meets the standards of a light rail system, and also national mainline standards. Tramcars are adapted to be capable of running on streets like an urban tramway but a ...
service scheduled for opening in 2017, but the Grenaa Line in 2018.