Parsons Meets Commissioning Milestone on First EDL F-bane Project in Denmark

On Sunday, October 21, Banedanmark opened and commissioned the first of its f-bane rail lines—Lindholm to Frederikshavn—to passengers. Denmark is the first European country to attempt a complete conversion of a national network to the European Train Control System Level 2 using the latest European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) baseline. The Danish network operates 2,700 trains per day, with 40,000 daily departures servicing more than 190 million passengers.

Parsons, as part of a joint venture, is working for Banedanmark – the national Danish Infrastructure Manager, responsible for maintenance and traffic control on the Danish rail network – on a 12-year multidisciplinary consultancy contract to upgrade and modernize the Danish railway network by replacing all signaling equipment, from basic train detection and point machines to the overall traffic management systems and onboard systems. The project involves 3,200 kilometers of track and 560 train sets and locomotives from four major operators.

“We’re proud to be part of this important program,” said Mike Johnson, Parsons Group President. “The implementation of these sophisticated signaling systems set a new standard for safety and efficiency while modernizing the railway network.”

Parsons’ scope of work includes tender preparation, contract negotiation, supplier oversight, implementation of an early deployment scheme, rollout of the S-Bane Copenhagen urban network—which has the most modern type of communications-based train control (CBTC) ready for unattended train operation, as well as ERTMS Level 2 implementation on the entire Danish mainline rail network.