Controversy surrounds the feasibility of using billions to expand the subway network, despite its utilization rate of 40% being lower than expected.
235,000 subway passengers was the number projected by Metroselskabet when they asked the Ministry of Transport and the municipalities of Copenhagen and Frederiksberg in 2010 for budget approval to establish and build the City Ring, the ring that connects parts of the metropolitan area via subway.
But four years after the metro line opened, it is clear that it was just wishful thinking, as the DR website notes.
According to the source, there were an average of 135,000 passengers on a weekday last year. This figure represents approximately 40% less than expected. So far this year, the average is 150,000 passengers on a weekday. According to the source, who spoke to several researchers in the sector, the Cityringen metro line was not a boon to society when politicians decided to spend 25 billion Danish kroner on its construction.
According to experts, the decrease in the number of passengers means that fewer Copenhagen residents benefit from the time saved in their daily lives, and therefore the benefit to society is generally less. According to expert Izmir Molalek, quoting the source, many of those who live near metro stations travel by bicycle or on foot to reach their workplaces, he says that they do not use them for transportation.
Niels Melchior, a traffic researcher at Aalborg University, has a different opinion. He believes that even if the Cityring metro does not make daily life easier for many Copenhagen residents as expected, it can still have a positive impact on the city: “It can have a positive impact on urban development, because it connects several areas together even if there are fewer than expected people actually using it.”.
Explanation of the founding company
Metroselskabet, the company that founded the Copenhagen Metro, attributes the low number of users to the coronavirus lockdowns. Cityringen opened in the fall of 2019, and six months later, the coronavirus lockdowns began: “We know from past experience that when a new line is opened, it usually takes five years before Copenhagen residents get used to it. There is no doubt that we were affected for several years by the coronavirus,” according to Carsten Rees, CEO of Metroselskabet.
Expert disagrees with company's justification
But one expert, Otto Anker Nielsen, does not believe in this explanation. In his view, Corona is only a very small part of the explanation, because traffic has almost returned to normal, so it cannot explain such a large difference at all, he says.
But according to Metroselskabet, it's too early to judge Cityringen: the line has been operational for four years, and was largely unused for two of them due to the pandemic, so in 2023 it's impossible to say that the metro's social benefits are worse than anticipated. When we build a metro, we build for 100 years. It's a long-term investment that also benefits future generations.
Construction of new metro lines and stations is underway
A new metro line is planned to connect Refshaleøen and the future Lynetteholm with the rest of the city in 2035, and in addition, a majority in the Copenhagen City Council decided just this week to extend the existing metro line with two new stations in Ydre Nordhavn.
