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over by the TEN-pool in 1971, but since 1997 the German The introduction of sleeping cars on international railways (DB) were in charge, until the last night train services gave extra strength to the wish to have sleeping heading south left Copenhagen on the 2nd November cars running on domestic Danish routes as well, and in 2014. 1904 DSB introduced its own sleeping cars, type AS (ref. The book is divided into four major parts: 1) The inter- p. 30 & 200). They ran between Copenhagen and Aal- national history of the CIWL, their logo and its use (p. 4- borg and from Esbjerg to Copenhagen only. In the opposite 24), 2) the history of the dining car and the sleeping car direction they operated during the daytime and the berths services in and to/from Denmark (p. 25-135), 3) staff were in daytime position. The reason was that the Es- matters (p. 136-144) and 4) the rolling stock used by CIWL bjerg routes main purpose was to connect with the sailings and DSB (p. 145-217). In the following, parts two and four to Harwich (England). The ships had a late afternoon are summarized. departure and an early evening arrival. The sleeping cars brought about a greatly improved standard of comfort, CIWL comes to Denmark (p. 25-) and until 1932 they were the only passenger carrying stock which was transferred across the Belts in revenue ser- At the turn of the century travel by railway between the vice. eastern and western parts of the country was characterized Negotiations held between DSB and CIWL in 1907, by the Belt crossings. Ferry Services operated across both led to the company taking over the domestic Danish the Great Belt and the Little Belt (between Zealand and sleeping car services and at the same time beginning two, The blue trains Funen and between Funen and Jutland respectively); but new services to Germany: Frederikshavn-Hamburg, The blue trains the ferries only carried goods wagons. Passengers were Copenhagen-Hamburg via the Baltic crossing. The obliged to transfer from train to ferry and vice versa and introduction of the latter service had been made possible, - The International Sleeping car Company with regard to the train journey itself it did not treat the because the older paddle-driven ferries on the route had in Denmark - and the DSBs night trains traveler to great comfort. On the part of the railway sy- been lengthened and equipped with two tracks instead stem west of the Great Belt a limited number of night of a single on the deck. Published by bane bøger, ISBN 978-87-91434-41-9 trains did run, and they included a few coaches with 1st The take-over made the company introduce on the one and 2nd class fitted out with rather primitive bunks hand quite new sleeping cars of type R (ref. p. 168) and without bedding (ref. ill. p. 25). on the other hand it took over two sleeping cars from A summary Apart from a short-lived sleeping car turn Hamburg Mecklenburg State Railways and two quite similar cars, (Altona)-Randers in 1886-1887 using Prussian stock (ref. which had been ordered by the DSB before it had been Introduction ill. p. 27) sleeping cars did not appear in Denmark until decided how the services across the Baltic were to be 1898, in the form of cars belonging to the Swedish State arranged (ref. p. 166). Denmark had night trains with sleeping cars to and from Railways (SJ) on the Göteborg-Copenhagen service. As a condition for agreeing to the new arrangement southern Europe through 110 years - albeit interrupted Immediately following the opening of the ferry service DSB had demanded, that CIWL introduced a luxury ser- during the two world. Heyday in terms of comfort were across the Baltic from Gedser to Warnemünde in 1903 a vice on the Copenhagen-Berlin route. This train was called the 1930s, although the number of passengers increased sleeping car service Berlin-Copenhagen was inaugurated “Denmark-Express”. It was 1st class only and was inaugu- significantly after World War II and peaked for sleeping At the same time a similar service was begun between rated in 1907 as well (ref. ill. p. 34). Patronage was car journeys around 1960. The Compagnie Internationale Copenhagen and Hamburg, but this was routed via the extremely low, despite the frequency of only two des Wagon-Lits et des Grands Express Europeens (CIWL) Belt crossings and through Schleswig. This detour was departures a week there was on average only 3-4 ran the sleeping car services 1903-1914 and 1946-1971 adopted partly because the Baltic route, which involved passengers, and the train was withdrawn in 1909, when as well as dining car or buffet car services 1924-1973. another crossing (Masnedsund: between Zealand and Fal- CIWL’s obligation to run it expired. The company’s wish In Danish domestic traffic sleeping cars were ster) in addition to the main one, did not have the capacity to begin dining car services also was not granted by the introduced by Danish State Railways (DSB) in 1904, but for another sleeping car. The Berlin service was worked DSB, who felt that the ferries and the rather lengthy stops operated by the CIWL from 1907 until 1971. The subject by the CIWL and when the company took it over com- at changing points gave sufficient opportunities for eating. of this present study is therefore to a large extent the his- pletely in 1904, it bought three sleeping cars from the The developments in 1907 made CIWL open a travel tory of CIWL operations in Denmark. Mecklenburg State Railways at the same time (ref. p. 29 agency in Copenhagen that year (ref. ill. p. 37). Sleeping cars in domestic service were reintroduced & 166). On the other hand the service through Jutland to During the years 1907-1914 there took place a gradual by the DSB 1981-1997. The sleeping car services between Hamburg was operated by the Prussian State Railways development of the domestic Danish sleeping car services, Denmark and foreign destinations to the south were taken (KPEV) right up to 1914 using quite similar cars. resulting in the following pattern at the end of the period: 1 Copenhagen-Aalborg, Copenhagen-Esbjerg (since 1910 competitor “Mitropa” in 1922 had taken over the services to reserve seats in it for journeys inside the country on sleeping car in both directions), Copenhagen-Randers by agreement with the DSB and from this date sleeping 1st or 2nd class (ref. p. 54). (introduced 1908). On the services to foreign destinations cars belonging to Mitropa ran the services Copenhagen- In 1937, as the next and larger bridge was opened to the south CIWL sleeping cars continued to run on the Berlin and Copenhagen-Hamburg via the Baltic crossing (across Storstrømmen, the channel between Zealand and Frederikshavn-Hamburg service and on the services to (ref. ill. p. 218). On the Mitropa routes the previously used Falster), a CIWL dining car was introduced in the day- Hamburg and Berlin via the Baltic crossing, while the steel clad cars were superseded from 1925 onwards by express train to Germany between Copenhagen and Ged- Copenhagen-Hamburg service via the Belt crossings all steel cars of the so-called „Schwedenwagen“-type ser (ref. ill. p. 60). continued to be operated by the KPEV. At the outbreak of (Swedish Car) (ref. ill. p. 219). Only on the short-lived At the outbreak of the Second World War all services the First World War the services to Germany had to be Hamburg-Frederikshavn route 1930-1933, older cars were to foreign destinations were withdrawn immediately, and suspended and from 1916 the shortage of coal and the used being steel-clad 12-wheeled cars (ref. ill. p. 218). from January 1940 also all the domestic dining car and danger of mines caused widespread reductions to the In 1934 a quite important change happened, as DSB sleeping car services were disrupted. The rolling stock domestic Danish services. reduced the number of classes on its trains. Henceforth which worked these domestic services stayed in Denmark there was only 1st class (pricewise at the level of interna- thanks to a series of complicated arrangements between tional 2nd class) and „Fællesklasse“ (common class or DSB and CIWL, although they could not escape being used First World War and what followed (p. 42) standard class), which was equal to 3rd class, but gradually as accommodation coaches by the German occupation improved in comfort. At the same time the conditions for forces. Three type Y coaches, which were stranded since In 1920 the Northern part of Schleswig (Sønderjylland) sleeping car travel was brought into line, this meant that the curtailment of the Paris service in September 1939 at came back to Denmark and from 1921 this part of the on domestic Danish services a standard class ticket hol- first were untouched by the Germans. In 1941 they were country too got a sleeping car service to the capital. The der could buy a berth in a three-berth compartment as marked as DSB coaches (ref. ill. p. 67) and used in a service to Randers was not reestablished until 1924, but well as a two-berth. diplomatic mission, where the staff from the Russian em- on the other hand it now offered sleeping accommodation bassy in Copenhagen were transported to the neutral Tur- for 3rd class passengers too. For a time here had been Large bridges and famous trains (p. 52) key and the staff from the Danish embassy in Moscow demands that Denmark should follow the lead of its to returned bye the special train.

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