Öresund Bridge train overcrowding after Tuborg night in Copenhagen, Digi Mart USA News (Copenhagen, Denmark): Train passengers describe chaos on their way home from Copenhagen after the Tuborg night, as the first Friday in November marked the release of Tuborg’s Christmas beer and large celebrations at bars across the Danish capital.
Many people crossed the Öresund strait to take part in the celebrations, known as “J-dagen.” But the journey home turned into chaos for train passengers, according to the publisher’s reporting.
Jenny Dunmar, 23, who lives in Åkarp, said the platform at Nørreport station was already full when the train arrived and people began pushing to board. She needed to use the toilet, and when she finished, it was no longer possible to get out.
Together with two other people, she spent the entire journey on the floor of the train toilet.
Over the train’s loudspeakers, staff urged passengers to get off because the train was overloaded. Dunmar said several passengers panicked and pulled the emergency brake when they could not get out.
“We heard them screaming outside. People had been drinking and got quite angry.
It was hot, cramped, and everyone wanted to go home,” she said. She criticized the fact that no one checked how many people boarded, saying there were no guards.
Dan Engman, 63, was due to take the 1:56 a.m. train home from Kastrup.
The trip normally takes about 20 minutes, but during the night toward Saturday it took three hours before he got home. He said people stood tightly packed at the train doors and that several passengers fainted.
“You would think Skånetrafiken should know that many people want to travel these evenings. And they run one train an hour.”
Skånetrafiken described the situation as an “extremely strained situation.” Sandra Patraska, operations manager at Skånetrafiken, said unusually many passengers were on the platforms at the same time while several trains were canceled during the night. The operator also tried to add extra trains without success.
Patraska said it was also difficult to get all passengers to follow staff instructions. “Unfortunately they have not listened, perhaps because some had been a bit tipsy,” she said.
