The Vestfyn Line is a planned

high-speed rail High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail transport network utilising trains that run significantly faster than those of traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated railway track, tracks. While there is ...

line on the Danish island of

Funen Funen (, ), is the third-largest List of islands of Denmark, island of Denmark, after Zealand and North Jutlandic Island, Vendsyssel-Thy, with an area of . It is the List of islands by area, 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in th ...

, to be built between

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (after Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2025, the city proper had a population of 185,480 while Odense Municipality had a population of 210, ...

and

Middelfart Middelfart is a town in central Denmark, with a population of 16,749 . The town is the municipal seat of Middelfart Municipality on the island of Funen (). Etymology The name Middelfart, first recorded as "Mæthælfar" in Valdemar's Census Book ...

Background

The

Copenhagen–Ringsted Line The Copenhagen–Ringsted line is a high-speed railway on Zealand, Denmark, connecting Copenhagen via Køge with Ringsted. The line was inaugurated on 31 May 2019, and started operating on 1 June as the first high-speed railway in Denmark. It ...

, Denmark's first high-speed rail line, opened in 2019. As part of plans for

high-speed rail in Denmark The first high-speed railway in Denmark was the Copenhagen–Ringsted Line, completed in late 2018 and opened in 2019. Further high-speed lines are currently under planning. Since HSR in Denmark reaches no more than 200 km/h, it can also be des ...

under the Hour Model, speed increases and sections of new line have been planned between the cities of

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus 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 ...

Esbjerg Esbjerg (, ) is a seaport city and seat of Esbjerg Municipality on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark. By road, it is west of Kolding and southwest of Aarhus. With an urban area, urban population of 71,554 (1 January ...

and

Aalborg Aalborg or Ålborg ( , , ) is Denmark's List of cities and towns in Denmark, fourth largest urban settlement (behind Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) with a population of 119,862 (1 July 2022) in the town proper and an Urban area, urban populati ...

. In 2013, this was outlined further in the Togfond plan, which estimated the cost of a new Odense to Middelfart/

Fredericia Fredericia () is a town located in Fredericia Municipality in the southeastern part of the Jutland peninsula in Denmark. The city is part of the Triangle Region Denmark, Triangle Region, which includes the neighbouring cities of Kolding and Vej ...

railway at DKK4.5 billion in 2017. Approval for the construction of the line was given in November 2019, with construction to begin in 2023. The Vestfyn Line is proposed to shorten the route between Odense and Middelfart by 4 km and reduce journey times by 5 minutes.

Route

The new high-speed is planned to roughly follow the boundary of the E20 Fynske Motorvej road. The line will free up capacity on the existing line; a commuter rail service on this line is planned similar to the

S-train The S-Bahn ( , ), , is a hybrid urban rail, urban–suburban rail system serving a metropolitan region predominantly in German language, German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit syst ...

in Copenhagen. In 2022,

NIRAS ONDRAF/NIRAS (, , ) is the Belgian National Agency for Radioactive Waste and enriched Fissile Material. It is established by Belgian law since 1980. Belgoprocess Belgoprocess is the industrial subsidiary. It manages and executes the industrial ...

estimated that the construction would be completed by 2028.

References

High-speed railway lines in Denmark Proposed railway lines in Denmark {{Denmark-transport-stub

Background

Route

See also

References