Avoid this FAILED High-Speed Train in Denmark! – DSB IC4 Review

Building trains is a complex process, and it doesn't always go to plan. Today I'm riding on Denmark's IC4 units, a diesel high-speed train intended to operate most long-distance services across the country, which has gone very wrong.

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Journey Details:
Origin: Aarhus H (Aarhus main station)
Destination: København H (Copenhagen main station)
Company: Danske Statsbaner (DSB)
Train: DSB MG 'IC4' DMU
Accommodation: Unknown Seat (?)
Distance: 328 kilometres / 204 miles
Price: 629 kr. (£72.90 / €84.50 / $84.00)
Time: 2h41m + 12 late

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Find me elsewhere:

[triplogbook]

Dont worry Denmark, your railways are still much better than the ramshackle railways we have over here in Norway

[PopFizzelz]

Dane here! First off huge thanks for this look at our IC4 (or class MG units which is their technical classification), as someone who sadly hasn't yet had a chance to try them out, i personally really appreciate this video! Now on to some points:

The whole IC4 debacle has been a huge scandal here, one that while not quite discussed as often anymore, is certainly still felt in the continued running of the IC3 and IR4 units (Not that i'm complaining 😉). As an aside, one of the main technical issues has been the brakes wearing down prematurely and initially having very poor performance, but it's certainly not been the only one..

The plastic bags in lieu of more traditional bins is in fact a choice made with the environment, as well as efficiency in mind. The bags are made from 100% recycled plastic, and you were gonna have some sort of bag in the bin anyway. Having small carrying bags like this also speeds up cleaning the train, as they just remove the outer most one instead of having to change the bag in each bin.

Lastly the railway museum, absolutely worth a visit if you have the time in Odense! Aside from their fairly impressive collection of vintage and not so vintage rolling stock, they also have many smaller exhibits to gawk at, such as scale models of the Storebælt and Øresund Fixed Link rail tunnels!

Again, thanks for the great vid! Hope to see more like it from you in the future!

EDIT: Misremembered a fact about the trash bags, they're in fact not bio-degradable, just made from recycled plastic.

[MikCph]

DSB is the national railway in Denmark, not the nationalised. It has never been private. It has during the years taken over som smaller local private companies, but the main route you travel has always been serviced by DSB.

[NerdX]

As someone who travelled a lot by train in the 80's, there is nothing that will ever come close to beating DSB's IC5 and Silver Arrow units. Yes, they were much slower, but the comfort onboard was just amazing. Both of these trains had conference rooms for business travellers, as well as an actual onboard bistro. I especially loved the conference area on the Silver Arrow units, because it had that 60's gentlemen's club vibe with wooden panels, brown leather chairs, oversized ash trays for cigars etc. They tried this concept on the IC3 in the early 90's, but it was sadly dropped rather quickly.

[biopower]

6:55 on the bag it says “The plastic bag is made of 100% reused plastic” But Its typically made this ways so if a person gets sick under the ride they don’t have to use a bin!

[Joff]

I really prefer the IC3 over the IC4, the IC3's do have a proper 1st Class in a 2-1 configuration. The seats are not very different from standard class. I think that is something Danish or so. In 2018 i spent 4 hours and 45 minutes on a IC3-train from Copenhagen to Hamburg (via the ferry you mentioned) and that was really amazing :D

[kukulelee]

I am watching videos about trains on a sunday at 11am and I am somehow enjoying it. Nice videos bro!

[Aidankiwi]

@0.50 Normally you are quite accurate in your narrative content, but I have to advise you Aarhus may be located in the part of Denmark known as Jylland (Jutland) as you state, but Jylland is not an island - it is a peninsula.

[conormcshane]

I travelled on one of those trains on that route 4 years ago and there were no problems.

In fact, at the time I thought it looked luxurious. Then again, it would do compared to the Irish Enterprise that runs between Belfast and Dublin and which I sometimes use - and find fairly cramped in standard class.

[MineJulRBX]

As a Dane this is sad to know we have such a disaster.
You can call it Tramline instead of Letbane for the English viewers lol, the automatic voice says it all the time for each station. I am very depended on this since I live at the very end of the line.
The plastic trashbags are 100% recycled material, they generally take up much less space, and it says right on the bag that they would like you to take it with you and throw it out somewhere else if used. Idk what other solution you had in mind, the trash is gonna be dropped in a plastic bag regardless.

[Dream.of.Endless]

9 years ago, while i was living in Denmark, they were still debating the issue of IC trains and how long it was taking from AnsaldoBreda to fulfill the delivery. Not to mention the myriad of problems they were facing. One famously stopped in the middle of Storebæltsbroen (The Great Belt Bridge), can't remember if it was in the tunnel, the bridge itself or the island, but thing is, it broke down, during the summer I think, with overflown toilets and hours before they were able to move them. Oh, and a journalist from one of the leading news in Denmark happened to travel on the same train, and imagine the story fresh from the source itself.

And to top it off, Berlusconi gifted to Gaddafi (yes, that Berlusconi of Italy and Gaddafi o Libya), one of the IC4 train sets that were destined for DSB, further adding to the delays. Go figure it.

[GarryJones]

I worked for SJ Städ (SJ Cleaning) when I first moved to Sweden in 1988. The replacement of the had shell plastic bins for plastic bags took place during my tenure there.

In those days SJ had total control of everything with no outsourcing. To empty the train's 300 bins the cleaners had to bend down to pick it up, then empty it and then bend down again to place it back in the holder. That's 600 bending downs to the train floor for each clean. With the bags you half that and quite often the passengers take the bin bag with them. Another problem with the plastic bins was we had to remove them and scrape out the chewing gum once a month on second class and once a day on first class carriages.

Although some countries have bins in the train foyers passengers tend to throw trash on the floor by their seat or wedge it in the pocket in front of them if no personal bins are provided.

Therefore the idea of the plastic bag is a good one. If you understood Danish you would know the lettering on the bag tells you it is bio-degradable and environmental friendly. And much more so than the washing up fluid we use to use to clean out the plastic bins in our cleaning hut.

[Naturalhighz]

we call this one the 4 seasons because every cart has a different temperature. you basically just grab the one with the right temperature for you. they also kinda jump when you start from a standstill. when they work they are great to drive(as a train driver) but they rarely do.

[BRfan]

I have never seen a train in denmark in such poor maintenance state! So far, I have only used the IC3 (DSB MF) the few times I have been to Denmark or I have used them on my way through Schleswig-Holstein (heading south towards Hamburg). I always say, the IC3 is the best an most comfortable diesel powered train I have encountered so far! It is a joy to ride.
Sadly, I also have heard about all the trouble the DSB had with the IC4...
But things are about to change as the electrification is finally on its way. New Vectron locomotives were bought and I have heard, DSB is about to use german IC-cars pulled by Vectrons from next year on on some routes. This will be interesting! :)

So, thank you for this entertaining video!

[Jonas-sgsu]

Before watching it, I just wanna put in my own experience with it, riding it a few times shortly after it actually came in service. The very first ride I sat by the entrance, close to the toilets. Shortly after a lady had gone into the toilet and sat down, the door decided to open on its own. Rather unfortunate. By the time I had to leave, I got water on my head, probably from a leaking condense tube or something.

I haven't ridden in them in essentially forever, but judging by the title just your intro, it seems not a lot has changed.

A quick edit as I went along. Never trust the digital screens. The DSB 1 marking on the wall was correct. Bit of a shame though, since the price difference between standard and DSB 1 is ridiculous.

[RobbertsTravelGuides]

DSB MG ( IC4 ) are made by Ansaldo Breda ( now Hitachi Rail Italy )
Ansaldo Breda is also known for the V250 ^Fyra^ from the NS & NMBS wich was ment for NS HiSpeed line. but the trains ended up breaking appart really quickly, maintenance was impossible and trains where lituarly falling appart. and Eschede 2.0 was just waiting around the corner.

These trains are now in Service as ETR 700 trainsets. basically untouched only optically changed and further developed

[constantinadm]

The Railway Museum in Odense is one of my favourite museums in Denmark, definitely recommend it. As for the diesel ICE4 was the most uncomfortable train I ever took. The jitters from the gearbox and engine vibrations made me wished I got off after 15min.

[plunder]

I haven't travelled in Denmark for some years now, it was nice to see how it looks. Parts of my extended family still live there.

[ateltoni]

12:42 this line is also, where one of the last ICE TDs were still in passenger service.

[mataeri]

for the plastic bags, an integrated rubishbin would still have a plastic bag inside you would just see less of it. The ones hanging free there are inscribed with "The bag here is made of 100% recycled plastic" and with you either taking it with you to dumb into a bin yourself or letting it hang, it's more accesible for staff to throw away, and this way it also does not take away from your sitting space. I know on german regional and local trains the integrated bin takes away a good amount of leg-space and is most of the time, quite dirty