Portal:Trains/Selected article/Week 1, 2010

Copenhagen Metro (Københavns metro) is a rapid transit system serving Copenhagen, Frederiksberg and Tårnby in Denmark. The 20.5 km system opened between 2002 and 2007, and has two lines, M1 and M2. The driverless light metro supplements the larger S-train rapid transit system, and is integrated with DSB local trains and Movia buses. Through the city center and west to Frederiksberg, both M1 and M2 share a common line. To the south-east the system serves Amager, with the 13.7 km M1 running the new neighborhood of Ørestad, and the 14.2 km M2 serves the eastern neighborhoods and Copenhagen Airport. The metro has 22 stations, of which 9 are underground. In 2008, the metro carried 47 million passengers. Planning of the metro started in 1992 with the development plans for Ørestad. A tramway and light rail were considered, but discarded in the process. Construction started in 1996, and stage 1, from Nørreport to Vestamager and Lergravsparken, opened in 2002. Stage 2, from Nørreport to Vanløse, opened in 2003, followed by stage 3, from Lergravsparken to Lufthavnen, in 2007. Construction of the City Circle Line is underway, and is planned to open in 2018. It will form a circle around the city center, be entirely underground and not share any track with M1 and M2. A further expansion towards Brønshøj is being considered.