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Christmas gift for commuters: Denmark to Sweden ID checks to get easier

The Local Denmark
The Local Denmark - [email protected]
Christmas gift for commuters: Denmark to Sweden ID checks to get easier
ID checks at Copenhagen Airport's train station. Photo: Emil Langvad/TT

Danish rail operator DSB has announced that travelling by train between Denmark and Sweden will become easier in the new year.

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DSB, like its Swedish counterpart Skånetrafiken, has seen its numbers drop significantly since Sweden’s implementation of ID checks for all rail passengers at the outset of the year. 
 
Many commuters have complained of long delays and some have even had to quit their jobs as a result. 
 
But DSB promised that the ID checks at the Kastrup train station at Copenhagen Airport would soon be a much smoother process. Beginning on January 30th, train passengers will no longer have to go through the time-consuming process of switching to a different platform to have their identification verified and then crossing back over to continue their journey. 
 
Passengers will instead have their IDs checked on the same platform from which their trains arrive and depart. 
 
DSB’s change in procedures comes after 12 months of declining passenger numbers. 
 
“We’ve lost around 12 percent of our passengers since the ID controls were implemented,” DSB spokesman Tony Bispeskov told Denmark’s TV2. 
 
Southern Swedish public transport operator Skånetrafiken said it has sold 17 percent fewer travel cards for commuting between the two countries compared to last year.
 
“It has caused inconvenience for our customers, fewer trains and longer travel times. We really want to do something about that so that it becomes more attractive for our customers, including making it so they no longer have to switch platforms out at Kastrup,” Bispeskov added. 
 
Additionally, DSB said that passengers who are travelling by train from Helsingør to Sweden will no longer be forced to switch to the Metro at Copenhagen’s Nørreport Station to reach the airport and will instead be able to stay on the same train all the way. 
 
A spokesman for a Danish rail commuter’s association called the moves “a step in the right direction”. 
 
“Travellers will be very happy with this solution,” Michael Randrup told TV2.
 
While train traffic is down between Denmark and Sweden, the number of people making the journey by car is up by 4.9 percent over last year and 2016 is likely to set a record for car crossings over the bridge

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