travel news review


24 May '99
Looking for a public phone in Denmark? Chances of finding one will become even harder following Tele Danmark's decision to remove more than 1,800 public phones from service. According to Tele Danmark, more than 60% of Danes now own a mobile phone and most public phones, especially those in small towns and rural areas, don't make any profit because no-one uses them. Of the remaining 2,700 public phones left, Tele Danmark plans to convert most to card only, so at least when you do find one, chances are it won't have been vandalised for a few krone.

3 May '99
Scandinavian Airlines(SAS) and Denmark's state railway, DSB, plan to extend their integrated train/plane service. Currently, passengers on SAS can check-in for international flights at 17 train stations in Denmark and then travel to Copenhagen's Kastrup Airport to catch their plane. When the bridge and tunnel link between Copenhagen and Malmo in Sweden is completed, Scandinavian Airlines hope to offer a similar service to passengers with the Swedish railway, SJ, whereby SAS international passengers in Malmo would travel by train to Kastrup Airport to catch their flight.

29 March '99
The City of Copenhagen has more than 2500 free cycles for visitors and Copenhageners to use this summer. The bikes are parked at 125 bike racks around the city centre. You will need to deposit a DKK 20 coin before you can ride off into the sunset, Copenhagen style. When the bike is returned to any rack you get your DKK 20 back. The free bike scheme operates only during the summer and autumn months, commencing on 14 April and ending on 1 November.

9 March '99
While duty free shopping is officially scheduled to end in the member countries of the European Union (EU) on 1 July, 1999, many countries are hopeful duty-free shopping can be extended for another couple of years. Of the 15 member countries in the EU, Germany, France and Britain are the main campaigners for an extension for duty-free shopping. It is estimated that if duty-free shopping goes, more than 140,000 jobs would also go. When the end of duty-free sales in EU countries eventually does come into place, travellers to Europe will still be able to obtain duty free items, as the new restrictions will only apply to intra-EU travel. As an example, if you travel between Switzerland, which is not a member of the EU, and France, duty-free purchases will still be possible. Current member countries of the EU are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

16 November '98
Travellers on Copenhagen city buses will no longer be able to purchase travel cards on boarding buses. The decision to stop ticket sales comes after the third attack on a bus driver in the past couple of weeks. Three-zone and two-zone tickets for use on buses can be purchased at railway stations.

12 October '98
A new city train service between Copenhagen's international airport and the city centre has been opened. The 18km (11mi) journey between Kastrup and the city takes about 12 minutes. The line will also serve residents living on the airport side of the city. This new train line is part of a major expansion of Denmark's transport services, both the regional services in Denmark and Scandinavian train services travelling into mainland Europe via Denmark.

22 July '98
Copenhagen's free bike scheme may be extended to other parts of Denmark. Currently there is a trial of the scheme on the island of Oro in North Zealand. If the free bikes are a success on the island, the Tourist Information Office plans to make the bikes available on other Danish islands. The free bike scheme in Copenhagen commenced in 1995, as part of a plan to control traffic in the heart of the city and to deter bike thefts.

8 July '98
Denmark's Storebaelt Bridge, which connects mainland Denmark to the country's largest island, Sjaelland, may be the largest suspension bridge in Europe, but it also causing one of the country's largest traffic jams. The bridge replaced the hour long ferry service but motorists are spending this long in traffic jams while they attempt to travel on the bridge between the island and the mainland. The operators of the bridge, and collectors of all toll money, have said delays on the bridge are expected for most of the summer.