Light rail at Lystrup opening day (2019)

Terminus: Lystrup.
YouTube name: SimonTog.
Date: April 30, 2019.
City: Aarhus (Denmark).

Light rail at Lystrup opening day (2019) — The video shows
Aarhus Letbane
Operational

Aarhus light rail line L1: Grenaa - Central Station
Operational

Add a comment

Location on a map

Photos of Aarhus light rail line L1: Grenaa - Central Station

21:47

I Rode EVERY Light Rail System in Denmark! (2024)...at least until Copenhagen opens its light rail system in 2025. In just 24 hours, I'll ride the entire light rail system in Denmark, covering both of them. We've arrived in Odense, Denmark's third-largest city. We're on the 8:13 train to Svendborg. Oh my gosh, it's a tiny train, and this is so exciting—lots of like, oh my gosh, nice big tray table with a coffee thingy. We're only on this for a couple of stops; we're basically using it to get to the end of the light rail here. Well, thanks for the trip, you little weirdo. I love how tiny this platform is—it's so cute. Over here is the end of the light rail, which I actually can't ride until 8:30. I did this weird thing where you can pre-book a ticket via the app, but you have to schedule it, so it's not available until 8:30, so I'm stuck in this weird little area until then. Look how little space it takes to fit all these bikes—that’s think how much more space it would take to fill with cars if you’d use the same number. This line runs every 7.5 minutes throughout the day, which is very convenient. And something cool is they have separate countdown clocks for each platform, so there's only one train here now, but we know it's leaving in 6 minutes. The next train on this platform isn't leaving for 13 minutes. Slightly concerning, but it appears I need to be online for the ticket to be processed. That is a bit of a concern, given there's no Wi-Fi here. Here's a fun fact: besides the card, which is mainly for residents in Denmark, there's no way to get a physical single ticket. I guess if they yell at me, I'll say there was nothing else I could do. Here’s the route we're taking. We’re going to make our way through the university slowly, then up into town, looping around the city center, and ending at what I believe is a shopping mall. It’s actually quite a long trip, about 40 minutes. This is nice; it's very open. Looks like a couple of stops at the university are temporarily closed or something—first of all, the grassy tracks. Second, I assume this is slated for redevelopment because there's nothing here currently. Light rail station, accessible car dealership—that’s really the middle of nowhere. There are just some random office parks here and there, along with Park and Ride facilities. Wow, these bike racks are so cute. This is a park-and-ride facility with an indoor waiting room. Oh my God, there's a lot of construction going on here now, so in a few years, this will be a much bigger deal than it is now, and the tram will be more useful. Here are the closed areas—there will be a new hospital built on this site. Again, a lot of development around this line. It’s impressive how the tram here has its own right-of-way, with no roads crossing it. On both sides, there’s just construction. That outbound tram is very busy—I think the peak direction now is probably toward the university, not into the city. Perhaps it's the fog, but this large park appears quite ominous. I didn’t know Carl’s Jr. was exported here. There’s a whole stop just for IKEA—that's awesome. I think that's the building the station serves. It’s annoying how there's parking right between us, and you can't tell from this angle that this apartment complex also has parking out front. I wonder if some of these complexes were built before the light rail came in because the newer ones seem to be designed around the line, whereas these older ones were probably here first. The train I’m on is standing room only. I was going to complain about how twisty this line is, but clearly it doesn't matter—tons of people are using it now. We’re entering more old-school dense residential neighborhoods, and I think because of that, we're just seeing more tram passengers commuting into the city. This is a great use of street space, featuring tram tracks, one lane for cars, a protected bike lane, and a sidewalk. Now it's fully pedestrianized, which is even better. Here’s the Central Station, which apparently has this huge building attached. Oh, a light rail-accessible stadium right here. Now we’re at Tarup Center, which is pretty desolate, and the mall doesn't open until 10, so I think we'll take the tram back into the city center. Here’s the mall—you definitely can't say it's not transit-accessible. And given that the mall isn't open, this stop seems very popular—there are already several people here. I got off in the pedestrianized city center, which I’d call an old town, but it's actually quite modern. Overall, this is a perfect tram line—it covers a large part of the city. The university generates a lot of ridership. It runs straight through the city center on its own dedicated track, which is really cool.By Miles in Transit - May 29, 2024.

2:22

A light rail train arrives in Grenå (2022)The ferry port terminus was rejected. Just like in other places in the country, changing from train to ferry shouldn't be easy. The only bright spot is Hundested!By jvltog - June 15, 2022.

7:51

Tripreport: Letbanen line L1 Grenaa to Aarhus centralstation (2023)Today we are taking the letbanen from Grenaa to Aarhus centralstation in Denmark.By Liams Universe - July 18, 2023.

37:01

Trams in Aarhus, Denmark: Aarhus Light Rail (2022)Aarhus in Denmark is home to the country's first 21st-century light rail system, known as the Aarhus Letbane. In the first edition of the Trams in Europe series, we focus on Aarhus, Denmark's second-largest city, where this documentary-style video explores the history, lines, fleet, and future of the Aarhus Letbane tram system. No commentary footage of the line itself follows this segment. Timestamps: 00:00 Commentary overview of the Aarhus Letbane 16:18 No commentary footage of the Aarhus Letbane 16:19 Line L1 (Stadler Tango Tram-Trains) 21:13 L1 exterior 21:42 Line L2 (Stadler Variobahn) 34:39 L2 exterior This series explores trams in Europe, examining various tram and light rail systems across the continent. That's how I plan to structure it, although that may change. The first part of the video will feature commentary providing an in-depth overview of the history of the current fleets and general context for the city's transit network. Additionally, there are plans for the tram network, if any. To start the series, we're in our house in Denmark, so let's begin with a brief geography lesson and some background on Aarhus. Aarhus is the second-largest city in Denmark, situated in Scandinavia, a region in Northern Europe. It has a population of around 350,000, but it is part of the larger capital region, which has a much bigger population. This will be relevant later when discussing the Aarhus Light Rail or the Odderbanen. The plan is first to provide a brief history of the system, including a fun fact—though I wouldn't necessarily call it fun, just an interesting observation—and then discuss the lines, trams, and offer some additional context, concluding with plans. Afterward, I'll turn off the mic. While this is being edited, a timestamp will be added, allowing you to enjoy the footage without commentary and appreciate the system's charm. So, let me know what you think of this series. If you like the format, we appreciate your feedback. Basically, the R, whose leg band is lightweight, refers to the light rail system in Aarhus. I believe that band is similar to a light rail tram, as it is also referred to as such in other cities. Aarhus Light Rail was the first tram to operate in Denmark since 1971. Like many other cities in Northern and Western Europe, Denmark previously had a tram system. However, in 1971, which was quite late compared to most European cities, many other Western European cities had already abandoned their trams much earlier. It's somewhat strange that they stopped trams in 1971, but Copenhagen stands out as a global leader in this area. After 1971, Denmark lost some of its charm in this regard. The Aarhus light rail essentially marked the start of discussions about building a light rail system in Denmark, which began in the early 2000s. As you are aware, such projects often require a substantial amount of time. There is a legislative process, and construction began around 2012. The line was opened in three stages, with the initial section being completed. The first stage was initially scheduled to launch in 2016. However, as we all know, these transfer projects were delayed and didn't open until 2017. 2017 was a significant year for Aarhus because it was named European Capital of Culture. If they were going to visit our area, you'd see them along the paths unless they had moved them earlier. However, in 2022, they're still present on the paths. The European Capital of Culture designation in 2017 helped promote Aarhus as a cultural hub, although things may not have gone entirely as planned. The opening was actually scheduled for December 21, 2017, which is about as late as you can get before Christmas. And yes, realistically, you wouldn't see everything open until much later in the year. Another interesting fact is that the trams reportedly traveled 100,000 kilometers, effectively running as ghost vehicles without passengers during their testing phase. There was a safety concern, so the trams only ran 110 kilometers during testing. I'm not sure if that's entirely accurate, but that's the sense from the article—trams running 100,000 kilometers as ghost vehicles because the testing occurred before they started regular service. The first section opened, but the process was somewhat uneven, as there was a lot to cover. This is part of the Oracle Light Rail system, which is unique and different from most tram or light rail systems. Essentially, the first part that opened was between two areas, which I’ll show you now. Sorry, I mean the initial segment was part of the L2 line, running from Rødhusring, which translates to 'Archery Central Station' in Danish, all the way up to the University Hospital, which is essentially our university hospital.By TransportEnthusiast - August 17, 2022.

3:06

Aarhus light rail, Skødstrup (2021)By Mikkel Mathias.
July 2, 2021.

See all about Aarhus light rail line L1: Grenaa - Central Station.

Photos from Aarhus Letbane

3:33

Aarhus Light Rail - The inner section (2018)A visit to Aarhus Light Rail, recorded on 07-12-2018 at various places along the inner section.By Simon Andersen - July 12, 2018.

18:33

From Banegården to Skejby: On a trip with the Light Rail (2017)We have been allowed to mount a camera on one of the light rail trains, so now you can join the entire first stage of the light rail ride. 18 minutes of pure train zen. By stiftendk - December 8, 2017.

47:24

Aarhus H to Odder with the light rail (2020)Join us on a slightly different train journey with Letbanen, see some places from a different angle, a little landscape and the fox cubs that live at KM 15.1. By Icebraker78 - May 16, 2020.

1:10

The Light Rail of Aarhus (2021)Transportation via Aarhus Light Rail, Denmark.By Jana Mahmoud - February 3, 2021.

6:20

Light rail tour with Aarhus light rail (2018)I took a trip on the light rail from Odder to Lisbjerg School, where I filmed almost the entire journey. During the trip, I decided that everything I recorded should be shared here on my YouTube channel. So, I divided a lot of footage into parts. The first four parts were combined into one and then split into four segments, which is why there are only four. The first four are unedited, and number 5 includes all four parts combined into one but split up to keep it from being too long. Also, I want to mention that I try very hard to be a bit like Rasmus Brohave, so I also promote him.By Mikkel Mathias - September 29, 2018.

See all photos from Aarhus Letbane.

Last updated: November 30, 2025.