A symbolic start was made ton 6 September 2012 on building a new rail line in Denmark capable of taking trains up to 155 mph.

Minister of Transport Henrik Dam Kristensen made the first cut with a golden spade for a new mainly two-track line from Copenhagen to Ringsted.

It will be the country's first high speed line but is primarily designed to take pressure off the existing overcrowded Copenhagen-Roskilde-Ringsted line which is used by local, regional and inter-city trains as well as freight trains, including heavy freights in transit between Sweden and Germany via the Sound Link.

The 40-mile new line will also provide a high speed route to the Femarn Link and allow 110 mph inter-city trains to avoid the old line, where they are often held up by dense traffic.

It will also allow local services on the existing line to be increased.

The new £1.1 billion line will open in 2018 and will be electrified at 25kV50Hz, in common with all other main lines in Denmark.

The line, which was approved by the Danish Parliament in 2009, will follow the route of the E20 motorway.

Information from Erland Egefors