IC4

The train is powered by four low-emission diesel engines with a common rail direct-injection system, giving a total power output of {{convert|2240|kW|bhp|0|abbr=on|lk=on}} (or 3045 metric hp). The engines are {{convert|20|L|cuin|adj=on|abbr=off}} V8s from Iveco. The maximum allowed speed of the train is {{convert|200|km/h|mph|abbr=on}}. Each train set consists of four articulated cars with a total length of {{convert|86|m|ftin|abbr=on}}, and is capable of seating 204 people. Built of light aluminium alloys, each trainset weighs {{convert|140|-|160|t|1}}, and a fully operational (including diesel, water, etc.) weight of {{convert|170|t|1}}.

Up to four trainsets can be coupled together into a single train. However, there are problems associated with this configuration, so in the first instance it was decided to have the IC4 approved using one trainset only, with approval for multi-unit configurations to be sought later. Since a single trainset is too short for efficient long-distance operations, the first trains were used mainly for regional services. In December 2016, DSB gave up the efforts to connect four trainsets.{{cite news |last1=Bredsdorff |first1=Magnus |title=DSB lader pendlerne bumle otte år mere i ukomfortable IC4-tog |url=https://ing.dk/artikel/dsb-lader-pendlerne-bumle-otte-aar-mere-ukomfortable-ic4-tog-190286 |work=Ingeniøren |publisher=Teknologiens Mediehus |date=15 December 2016 |language=Danish}}

The design of the train is the outcome of cooperation between DSB's own designers, with an emphasis on Nordic minimalist design, and the Italian design company Pininfarina (famous for designing Ferrari cars) emphasizing Italian chic and curved lines. Externally, the bullet-shaped extremities at each end of the trainset—which are familiar from high-speed trains throughout Europe—represent a break with the design of the IC3 train, whose passengers are able to cross over between trainsets. The train interior features natural materials consistent with Scandinavia's design tradition, an audio/video information system with seat reservation displays, and a lounge area.

The IC4 train has become a contentious issue in Danish politics, mainly because of the long delays in AnsaldoBreda’s delivery of the trains. The Danish Minister of Traffic and Energy is routinely required to submit progress updates to parliament, and DSB's choice of a heavily customised train is often criticised as being the major reason for the delays. The expense involved in lengthening the platforms of several stations along the IC4 routes is the source of much additional criticism. In November 2006, it was revealed that the trains appeared to be working properly, but that the formal documentation requirements of the safety authorities were preventing the train from entering service fully.{{cite news |title=Formaliteter bremser de nye IC4-tog |url=https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/formaliteter-bremser-de-nye-ic4-tog |work=DR Nyheder |date=23 November 2006 |language=Danish}} By the end of October 2007, four IC4 units had entered regional service in Jutland. However, service was suspended at the end of February 2008 because of problems with exhaust fumes.{{cite news |last1=Høberg |first1=Jesper |title=IC4-tog står bomstille |url=http://epn.dk/handel_service/transport_logistik/article1283057.ece |url-status=dead |access-date=14 March 2008 |work=Erhverv på Nettet |publisher=JP/Politikens Hus |date=29 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080305164932/http://epn.dk/handel_service/transport_logistik/article1283057.ece |archive-date=5 March 2008 |language=Danish}} There have been many faults that did not really prevent the train from being used, but were still unacceptable, such as spurious warnings and various other computer-related problems.

In June 2008, DSB gave AnsaldoBreda an ultimatum whereby at least 14 trains had to be approved and ready for regular service before May 2009; otherwise, the contract would be cancelled and DSB would demand its money back and return its trains to the factory.{{cite magazine |title=DSB issues IC4 ultimatum |magazine=Railway Gazette International |date=3 July 2008 |url=https://www.railwaygazette.com/news/dsb-issues-ic4-ultimatum/33089.article |publisher=DVV Media International Ltd}} DSB had ordered a total of 83 IC4 trainsets in 2000, with delivery originally scheduled for 2003.

On 7 August 2008, train no. 13 completed a return trip from Aarhus H. to Copenhagen H. with passengers aboard. On 21 May 2009, it became clear that the ultimatum had been met, with 15 trains having been delivered, although a subclause condition stating that at least one trainset should have been tested and approved for coupling to other units had not yet been met.{{cite magazine |title=DSB reaches IC4 settlement with AnsaldoBreda |magazine=Railway Gazette International |date=21 May 2009 |url=https://www.railwaygazette.com/news/dsb-reaches-ic4-settlement-with-ansaldobreda/34044.article |publisher=DVV Media International Ltd}}

Along with the (partial) fulfilment of the ultimatum, DSB also announced it had reached an agreement with AnsaldoBreda concerning delivery of the remaining trainsets. The final delivery date would be extended to 2012. AnsaldoBreda would drop all further development, and all subsequent trainsets would be identical to the current test train. All final updates would be performed by DSB. AnsaldoBreda was to pay DSB compensation of DKK 2 billion, which, together with the previously paid compensation fees, will ultimately entail refunding half the original value of the contract. DSB reserved the right to cancel the contract if more than seven trains were delivered over six months late.{{cite book |title=Extract from the report to the Public Accounts Committee on DSB’s procurement and completion of IC4 and IC2 trains |date=28 June 2012 |publisher=Rigsrevisionen |location=København |url=https://uk.rigsrevisionen.dk/media/1884940/14-2011.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927063233/https://uk.rigsrevisionen.dk/media/1884940/14-2011.pdf |archive-date=27 September 2013 |format=PDF}}

DSB is suffering from a shortage of trainsets and reliability problems with the current trainsets, since the existing IC3s are old and require replacement. Ordering new IC3s would be 'expensive and technically challenging', according to DSB. DSB, in cooperation with Deutsche Bahn, has started using German tilting ICE-TD diesel trains to and from Germany.

{{cite letter |first = Lars |last = Barfoed |recipient = Folketingets Trafikudvalg |subject = Status for IC4 |language = Danish |date = 21 October 2008 |url = http://ft.dk/samling/20081/almdel/TRU/bilag/26/600876.pdf |format = PDF |location = København |publisher = Transportministeriet}} This has relieved the situation somewhat, despite the high cost of these trains and the expense of adapting them for Danish traffic. In October 2008, DSB also ordered 45 new double-decker coaches from Bombardier,{{cite press release| url=http://bombardier.com/en/transportation/media-centre/press-releases/details?docID=0901260d80055a4a| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081119155233/http://www.bombardier.com/en/transportation/media-centre/press-releases/details?docID=0901260d80055a4a| url-status=dead| archive-date=19 November 2008| publisher=Bombardier Transportation| title=Bombardier Transportation Wins an Order from Railpool for Delivery of 45 Double-deck Coaches to DSB in Denmark| date=14 October 2008}} to be delivered from the end of 2009 onwards.

From August 2009, DSB was running 17 scheduled trains daily using the IC4. However, DSB was using only single IC4 sets, not multiple connected sets, limiting their utility.{{cite news |last1=Larsen |first1=Martin Sun |title=Nu 17 afgange med IC4-tog |url=https://www.dsb.dk/Om-DSB/Presse/Nyheder/Nu-17-afgange-med-IC4-tog/ |publisher=DSB |date=31 August 2009 |location=Høje Taastrup |language=Danish}} Therefore they could not be used during rush hours, as longer trains are needed at those times. On 9 November 2010, after a seven-year delay, DSB finally completed the certification process for multiple connected IC4 trainsets. These were scheduled to enter service in January 2011. At the end April 2011, DSB's director, Frank Olesen, stated that further economic sanctions against AnsaldoBreda were likely to be imposed as a result of continuing problems with the quality of the trains delivered. These problems had caused the trains to have to be upgraded to Danish standards at DSB's own expense at its facility in Randers. Eighteen IC4 trains had been approved for operation, nine of them then being in daily service.{{cite news |last1=Olesen |first1=Jesper |title=DSB har flere IC4-trængsler |url=https://finans.dk/artikel/ECE4522561/DSB-har-flere-IC4-tr%C3%A6ngsler/?ctxref=ext |work=Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten |publisher=JP/Politikens Hus |date=30 April 2011 |language=Danish}}

In November 2011, two IC4 trains failed to stop at stop signals. This caused Trafikstyrelsen (the Transportation Authority) to prohibit the IC4 from running until the problems had been fully investigated.{{cite news |last1=Vestergaard |first1=Nikoline |title=DSB stopper al kørsel med IC4 |url=https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/dsb-stopper-al-koersel-med-ic4 |work=DR Nyheder |date=14 November 2011}}

On 2 July 2012, the DSB announced that the Transportation Authority had approved Denmark's railway operator to put back into operation the fleet of 37 IC4s which had been withdrawn from service in November 2011.{{cite news |title=DSB: IC4 in servizio |url=https://www.duegieditrice.it/2012/07/dsb-ic4-in-servizio/ |work=Duegi Editrice |date=2 July 2012 |language=Italian}}

On 18 December 2012 an agreement was reached between AnsaldoBreda and Danish railways to solve the problems.{{cite magazine |last1=Barrrow |first1=Keith |title=DSB and AnsaldoBreda reach agreement on IC4 delivery - update |magazine=International Railway Journal |date=19 December 2012 |url=https://www.railjournal.com/regions/europe/dsb-and-ansaldobreda-reach-agreement-on-ic4-delivery/ |access-date=7 June 2013 |publisher=Simmons-Boardman Publishing}}

The 82nd and final unit (MG 5683) was delivered to DSB in September 2013.

As of 2014, IC4 trains are in regular operation between Aarhus and Copenhagen, Aarhus-Aalborg, Aarhus-Esbjerg and Copenhagen-Kalundborg. The two-car IC2 version is also in service on some regional services in Jutland, e.g., Kolding-Vejle. Concerns about reliability remain, however, especially after the failure of an IC4 trainset in the Great Belt tunnel on 24 February 2014 and the consequent evacuation of 191 passengers to another trainset.

In September 2014 an investigation by the Danish Department of Transport was launched to find whether it was more economical to have the delivered trains scrapped or have them rebuilt for slower regional traffic. Scrapping the trains could lead to DSB filing for bankruptcy.{{cite news |last1=Anjou |first1=Mikael |title=Hopplöst tåg hot mot hela DSB |url=http://www.sydsvenskan.se/danmark/hopplost-tag-driver-dsb-mot-konkurs/ |work=Sydsvenskan |publisher=Sydsvenska Dagbladets AB |date=26 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140930064152/http://www.sydsvenskan.se/danmark/hopplost-tag-driver-dsb-mot-konkurs/ |archive-date=30 September 2014 |language=Swedish}}

It was announced on 15 December 2016 that the troubled fleet would be retained, but subject to a number of reliability improvements and with a view to withdrawal once a replacement fleet became available from 2024 onwards.{{cite magazine |title=DSB sets IC4 withdrawal date to close an ‘unhappy chapter’ |magazine=Railway Gazette International |date=16 December 2016 |url=https://www.railwaygazette.com/traction-and-rolling-stock/dsb-sets-ic4-withdrawal-date-to-close-an-unhappy-chapter/43684.article |publisher=DVV Media International Ltd}}{{cite journal |last1=Barrrow |first1=Keith |title=DSB to withdraw troubled IC4 fleet |journal=International Railway Journal |date=16 December 2016 |url=https://www.railjournal.com/rolling-stock/dsb-to-withdraw-troubled-ic4-fleet/ |publisher=Simmons-Boardman Publishing}} In 2017, the Romanian rolling stock manufacturer Astra Vagoane Călători purchased 15 IC2 units from DSB, to use them for its own transport division, Astra Trans Carpatic.{{cite journal |title=Astra Trans Carpatic expands its rolling stock fleet with 15 multiple-units |journal=RailwayPro |date=31 October 2017 |url=https://www.railwaypro.com/wp/astra-trans-carpatic-expands-rolling-stock-fleet-15-multiple-units/ |access-date=11 February 2022}}

On 2 January 2019 two units were damaged, at least one of them beyond repair, in the Great Belt Bridge rail accident.

By mid-2019 DSB's quarterly reports showed that the IC4 units had become significantly more reliable, achieving a mean distance between failures (MDBF) of {{convert|7643|km|mi}} (with a failure being defined as one causing a delay of more than three minutes). This significantly exceeded the {{convert|3000|km|mi|adj=on}} target set in the December 2016 reliability recommendation, but nevertheless compared poorly to the {{convert|28900|km|mi|adj=on}} MDBF achieved by the older IC3 fleet at the same time. DSB's Operations Director Per Schrøder attributed the increase to a number of improvements and upgrades, including new train management system software, and to DSB's engineers having increased their level of familiarity with the fleet.{{cite news |last1=Grunert Rantorp |first1=Christian |title=DSB’s skandaletog er blevet mere pålidelige: »Vi har sagt farvel til hangardronningerne« |url=https://ing.dk/artikel/dsbs-skandaletog-blevet-mere-paalidelige-vi-har-sagt-farvel-hangardronningerne-228383 |work=Ingeniøren |publisher=Teknologiens Mediehus |date=29 August 2019 |language=Danish |access-date=2 June 2022}} Schrøder also stated that the overall reliability of the fleet had been improved by the withdrawing of a number of particularly problematic units, which he referred to as "Monday models" and "hangar queens". DSB's operations plan at the time called for 42 of the remaining units to be available for service at any given time, from which a maximum of 37 would be routinely allocated for use.

In July 2020 DSB offered 11 of the withdrawn "hangar queen" units for sale through a broker in England, describing them as being "in very good working order". DSB's Director of Strategy and Rolling Stock, Jürgen Müller, later clarified that the wording had been prepared by the broker, rather than by DSB. However, he also noted that all 11 units had been continuously maintained since being withdrawn, and that they were being sold because the increasing reliability of the main IC4 fleet had made them redundant.{{cite news |last1=Lindqvist |first1=Andreas |title=DSB sætter hangardronninger til salg: 11 ‘meget velfungerende’ IC4-tog søger ny ejer |url=https://ing.dk/artikel/dsb-saetter-hangardronninger-salg-11-meget-velfungerende-ic4-tog-soeger-ny-ejer-237771 |work=Ingeniøren |publisher=Teknologiens Mediehus |date=20 August 2020 |language=Danish |access-date=2 June 2022}} Indeed, reliability figures released in August 2020 indicated that the IC4 fleet had achieved its best-ever MDBF of approximately {{convert|12000|km|mi}}{{snd}}sufficient for the National Audit Office ({{lang|da|Rigsrevisionen}}) to declare that it was satisfied that DSB had completed commissioning the fleet.

On 2 June 2022, Danish news magazine {{lang|da|Ingeniøren}} published an article claiming that DSB has agreed to sell the entire fleet of 74 IC4 units{{snd}}not just the 11 previously offered for sale{{snd}}to an undisclosed foreign buyer. The sale is believed to involve an initial delivery of 14 units, with the remainder of the fleet to follow as it is phased out of operation with DSB.{{cite news |last1=Grunert Rantorp |first1=Christian |title=DSB har solgt samtlige IC4-tog - også de mest upålidelige |url=https://ing.dk/artikel/dsb-har-solgt-samtlige-ic4-tog-ogsaa-de-mest-upaalidelige-257771 |work=Ingeniøren |publisher=Teknologiens Mediehus |date=2 June 2022 |language=Danish |access-date=2 June 2022}} The exact timing will depend on the progress of DSB's order for the Alstom Coradia Stream electric multiple-unit trains that will replace the IC4 fleet; as of May 2022 the first of the new units is expected to enter service in mid-2025.{{cite news |title=Ændring i tidsplanen for Coradia Stream el-togsæt |url=https://www.dsb.dk/om-dsb/presse/pressemeddelelser/andring-i-tidsplanen-for-coradia-stream-el-togsat/ |access-date=2 June 2022 |work=DSB Pressemeddelelser |date=25 May 2022 |language=Danish}}

In March 2013, as well as in earlier media reports, it was reported that one of the missing IC4 trainsets planned for delivery in Denmark had been found in Libya. Reportedly, AnsaldoBreda and the then Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi gave Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi the trainset as a present in 2009 on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of Gaddafi's accession to power.{{cite news |author1=DV |title=IC4 train a gift from Berlusconi to Gadaffi |url=https://cphpost.dk/news/ic4-train-a-gift-from-berlusconi-to-gadaffi.1808.html |work=The Copenhagen Post |date=21 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140101080504/https://cphpost.dk/news/ic4-train-a-gift-from-berlusconi-to-gadaffi.1808.html |archive-date=1 January 2014}}{{cite news |last1=Vraa |first1=Nikolaj |title=DSB: Vi aner intet om Gadaffi-tog |url=https://ekstrabladet.dk/underholdning/filmogtv/tv/article4737291.ece |access-date=21 March 2013 |work=Ekstra Bladet |publisher=JP/Politikens Hus |date=21 March 2013 |language=Danish}} It is visible on Google Maps satellite (at {{coord|32.828791|13.111563}}) and geotagged photos.{{cite web |author1=salem.yousef |title=Photo of القطار الدي لم يشتغل |url=https://www.panoramio.com/photo/44127207 |website=Panoramio |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140514030549/https://www.panoramio.com/photo/44127207 |archive-date=14 May 2014 |date=23 November 2010}} A DR film crew visited the site of the train in question in March 2013.{{cite news |last1=Østergaard |first1=Nicolai |title=Anders Lund Madsens udsendte opsporer Gadaffis slidte IC4 i ørkenen |url=https://ing.dk/artikel/anders-lund-madsens-udsendte-opsporer-gadaffis-slidte-ic4-i-oerkenen-157347 |work=Ingeniøren |publisher=Teknologiens Mediehus |date=21 March 2013 |language=Danish}}

File:IC4 cap view.JPG|Cab view (unit 5632)

File:IC4 exterior green.JPG| DSB logo in dark blue and entry doors partially in green (unit 5639)

File:IC4 exterior red.JPG|DSB logo and entry doors partially in red (unit 5653)

File:IC4 bogie.JPG|ID from the vehicle register and part of a Jacobs bogie

File:IC4 HVAC.JPG|HVAC seen from above

File:IC4 interior 2.JPG|32-seat compartment

File:IC4 interior 3.JPG|Bistro

File:IC4 interior 4.JPG|Low-floor coach – Toilet compartment

File:IC4 interior 6.JPG|Low-floor coach - Space for a wheelchair

File:IC4 interior 5.JPG|Luggage area at each end of the MG units

File:09.09.21 Constanța FP6718+MP5718 (51489543067).jpg|ASTRA Trans Carpatic IC2

• List of high-speed trains

{{commons category}}

• [http://www.dsb.dk/om-dsb/presse/pressebilleder/ Pictures of the train on the DSB website (in Danish)]

{{Rolling stock of Denmark}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ic4}}

Category:DSB multiple units

Category:Multiple units of Denmark

Category:AnsaldoBreda multiple units

Category:Articulated passenger trains