Odense Letbane is a planned tram system in Odense, Denmark. The first phase is scheduled to open in 2021. The tramway will start in Tarup in the north-western part of Odense, travel via the central train station, University of Southern Denmark, and the new hospital reaching its final destination in Hjallese in the southernmost part of town. The first line will consist of of tracks and will have 26 stations. Expected number of passengers is 34,000 daily. The total budget is 3.3 billion Danish krone. The tramway is financed by the Odense Municipality, the Danish State, and the Region of Southern Denmark. The planned second line consists of of tracks with a budget of 1.9 billion Danish krone. The City Council has decided to work towards establishing a second line. However, there is no construction regulation or co-financing from the Danish state at the moment.
The tramway in Odense was suggested for the first time in 2008 by the former and late mayor Jan Boye. Since then Odense Municipality and the Region of Southern Denmark have been working on the project, which was unanimously backed up by the city council. A formal agreement between the State, the Region of Southern Denmark and Odense Municipality dated 23 June 2014, constituted the official declaration of financial support to the tramway project by the State and the Region. On 5 February 2015, the construction regulation "Law on Odense Letbane" was approved by the Danish parliament, Folketinget, after which it was possible to form a construction company Odense Letbane P/S to implement the project.
Planning
In August 2012, the competition for the design and visualization consultancy for the Odense Tramway was won by a teamconsisting ofNiras, PLH Architects, Atelier Villes & Paysages and MBD Design. The team will create a design coherence of the tramway line's first stage of and be responsible for its integration of the light rail in the existing urban environment. In March 2015, Parsons Brinckerhoff won the contract for project management, and strategic and economic advice. COWI was selected as technical advisor.
Construction
All utilities were moved before the actual construction work commenced. These works lasted from April 2015 until December 2017. To make space for the tramway, it is necessary to relocate the roads, bike lanes, and pavements. The tramway needs eight meters width for the tramway tracks. The work commenced in August 2017 and construction of new roads, bike lanes, and pavements continues until spring 2019. This work is carried out by the three Danish contractors Arkil, M.J. Eriksson, and Barslund. The next phase is the track work where the contractors establish the tracks with foundations, drainage, and cables. The Spanish company COMSA is the contractor for this part of the project, collaborating with their sub-contractors Munck, EFACEC and IDOM. Last part of the project is the test and trial run of the tramway. This will be carried out during 2019 and 2020 by the assigned operator which is also in charge of maintenance. The contract for operation and maintenance is expected to be closed by the end of 2018. The Swiss-German tram company Stadler Pankow delivers 16 trams of the model Variobahn for the Odense Tramway project.
Operation
According to the current schedule, the tram will run daily from 05:00 until 24:00 on weekdays and until 01:00 during weekends. During working hours, the tram will run every 7.5 minutes and during evening it will run every 15 minutes. Runtime from the two terminals will be 42 minutes. The first tram was delivered in February 2020 and the line is due to open in Autumn 2021.
Criticism
There has been some criticism about the project, due to high costs. This has also caused some criticism of the name "Odense Letbane" as the line will be a tram, not a light rail system.
