SPEED V. ACCESSIBILITY

In the modern world, everyone wants to be able to go everywhere. And they also want to be able to get there quickly. If you run a railway network, those two aims can clash.

Denmark has 284 railway stations. Some of these don't have very many passengers, and 19 have extremely few and should be closed, in the view of the Ministry of Transport. That way other passengers can get more quickly to their destination, since the trains wouldn't have to stop as often.

The problem is that these 19 stations are all in rural areas, where they are the main or only form of public transport. Closing them would undoubtedly make the network more efficient; but it would also accelerate the decline of rural life, which is a major problem here.

This is a difficult issue to get right at the best of times. Since times are not that, I suspect that the issue will be kicked into the long grass, and nothing will happen.

Walter Blotscher