Öresundståg: Connecting two different worlds

Oresund bridge was build in the year 2000 and connects sweden with its neighbour Denmark.  oresundståg , the railway system that connects sweden and denmark runs between  Helsingor in Denmark to Helsingborg  and beyond in Sweden through oresund bridge.

When the idea of Öresundståg was conceived, the officials were faced with several challenges. The most important were the electrical system and signalling system. Sweden and denmark have different electrical system for railway line. Sweden uses 15Kilo Volt 16 2/3 Hz line while denmark uses Kilo Volt  50 Hz line. Unlike Norway, which has the same ATC(Automatic traffic Control) mechanism as in Sweden, denmark uses a different system making it all the more  difficult  to establish common ground.

Inspite of all these challenges, oresundståg was made a reality  making it one of Europe's  most complex railway connection. Over the oresund, the trains change to Swedish signalling system in the danish artificial island of pepperholm  and to the swedish power system in Lernacken on the Swedish side before entering Malmo.

This year  Oresund bridge and öresundståg completed 10 years of service. Many events were held as part of the celebration, the most notable being broloppet , a marathon over the oresund bridge in which  30000 people participated.