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More people commuting between Copenhagen and Helsingør

Lucie Rychla
January 3rd, 2017


This article is more than 7 years old.

Every DSB train now equipped with a defibrillator

The number of passengers travelling by train between Copenhagen and Helsingør has increased by 4 percent since 2014. Some 9 million journeys a year are made along the Kystbanen coastal line north of the capital.

“Even with the expansion of the Helsingør motorway to six lanes, the [local] transport needs are still very high and we run a train on Kystbanen every 10 minutes,” Tony Bispeskov, the spokesperson for DSB, told takeoff.dk.

“More and more customers are using the ‘rejsekort’ because they have learned they can save 20 percent on the fare when they travel outside rush hour.”

Last year, the Danish train operator (DSB) had to adjust its schedules on Kystbanen due to the Swedish border controls, which were causing delays – especially at Copenhagen Airport.

However, from January 30, the situation should improve as the company has announced plans to implement changes that will allow for more frequent train connections, thus lowering the risk of delays.

READ MORE: Danish transport companies to get compensated for Swedish border control

New defibrillators in every train
DSB has meanwhile installed automated external defibrillators (AEDs) on all of its 500 trains to increase passenger safety in case of cardiac arrest incidents.

“There is now a defibrillator within easy reach [on each train], which provides extra security for the estimated 550,000 passengers who take the train every day,” Carsten Dam Sønderbo-Jacobsen, the head of security at DSB, told takeoff.dk.

At the beginning of 2016, the train operator installed defibrillators on all S-trains, and in September one of them was used to help a passenger who had a cardiac arrest at Dybbølsbro Station.

Setting up defibrillators on trains is part of DSB’s five year co-operation with Tryg Foundation, during which 750 DSB’s employees will be trained in first aid and the use of the AEDs.

Every year about 3,500 people have a cardiac arrest in Denmark, of which only about 12 percent survive.

The chance of survival rises by up to 64 percent if the patient receives immediate first aid.


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A survey carried out by Megafon for TV2 has found that 71 percent of parents have handed over children to daycare in spite of them being sick.

Moreover, 21 percent of those surveyed admitted to medicating their kids with paracetamol, such as Panodil, before sending them to school.

The FOLA parents’ organisation is shocked by the findings.

“I think it is absolutely crazy. It simply cannot be that a child goes to school sick and plays with lots of other children. Then we are faced with the fact that they will infect the whole institution,” said FOLA chair Signe Nielsen.

Pill pushers
At the Børnehuset daycare institution in Silkeborg a meeting was called where parents were implored not to bring their sick children to school.

At Børnehuset there are fears that parents prefer to pack their kids off with a pill without informing teachers.

“We occasionally have children who that they have had a pill for breakfast,” said headteacher Susanne Bødker. “You might think that it is a Panodil more than a vitamin pill, if it is a child who has just been sick, for example.”

Parents sick and tired
Parents, when confronted, often cite pressure at work as a reason for not being able to stay at home with their children.

Many declare that they simply cannot take another day off, as they are afraid of being fired.

Allan Randrup Thomsen, a professor of virology at KU, has heavily criticised the parents’ actions, describing the current situation as a “vicious circle”.

“It promotes the spread of viruses, and it adds momentum to a cycle where parents are pressured by high levels of sick-leave. If they then choose to send the children to daycare while they are still recovering, they keep the epidemic going in daycares, and this in turn puts a greater burden on the parents.”