Kraks Vejviser 1938 Handelsregister

276 Other Communications.

The first r a ilw a y in Denmark was opened in 1847 and ran from Copenhagen to Roskilde. In the year 1862 the total length of railway lines in this country was 109 km., in 1900 it was 2914 km. and at the beginning of 1936 it had risen to 5200 km. About one half of the railways are State Railways and the latter also maintain steam ferry connections with Sweden between Copenhagen—Malmo and Elsinore—Helsingborg, and with Germany between Gedser—Warnemiinde. Connections between the various parts of the country and between Copenhagen and abroad have lately been greatly improved by the building of two long bridges, the Little Belt Bridge between Jutland and Funen, which was opened in 1935, and the Storstrøm Bridge (3,2 km.) between Zealand and Falster, which was opened in 1937. 55 million railway journeys of an average length of 30 km. are made annually in Denmark. The goods traffic carried amounts to about 7 miil. tons per annum. The gross receipts trom the transportation of goods and passengers amount in all to 133 mili. Kroner. The Danish a ir lin es are operated by Det Danske Luftfartselskab A/S. This Company was established in 1918 and is thus the oldest air transport company in Europe. Since 1925 the Company has been subsidized by the Government and by the City of Copenhagen. The Copenhagen Airport, accommodating both land planes and hydroplanes, is situa- ted close to the city at Kastrup. It was built by the State and was opened for traffic in 1925 and is considered one of the best in existence. In recent years the traffic to and from Kastrup Airport has increased enormously. In 1929 the aggregate weight of payloads carried by arriving and departing planes totaled 800.147 kilos, whereas the corresponding figure for the year 1936 was 2.620.060 kilos. In 1937, Det Danske Luftfartselskab operated the following lines: Copenhagen—Malmo and vice versa (9 lines): (Malmo) — Copenhagen—Hamburg & v. v.; Copenhagen—Ber­ lin & v. v.; Malmo—Copenhagen—Berlin & v. v.; (Malmo) — Copenhagen—Hamburg—Am­ sterdam & v. v.; Malmo—Copenhagen—Amsterdam & v. v.; Stockholm—Malmo—Copenha­ gen—Hamburg—Amsterdam—Hamburg—Copenhagen— Stockholm; and the night mail ser­ vice Malmo—Copenhagen—Hanover & v. v. The big fast 3-engined liners of the Company fleet, 1 Junkers Ju 52 and 2 Fokker F.XII craft with a cruising speed of 250 and 225 kilo­ meters per hour, respectively, make the scheduled flights Copenhagen—Berlin in 1 hr. 50 mins., Copenhagen-Hamburg in 1 hr. 20 mins., Copenhagen-Amsterdam in 3 hrs. 30 mins., and Copenhagen—Malmo—Stockholm in 2 hrs. 45 mins. During 2 months in the Summer a trial line Copenhagen—Esbjerg was operated in connection with the boats to and from England. The line was operated partly with Fokker F. XII and F. VII a planes and partly with a De Havilland Rapide aircraft chartered from England. An affiliated company, Provins Luftfartselskabet A/S, established Sept. 4th, 1936, ope­ rated 2 lines Copenhagen—Aalborg & v. v. during the Summer-season from 4. 4.—3.10.1937. Besides the airlines enumerated there are several foreign lines touching at Kastrup, daily connection being maintained between Copenhagen and practically all the more impor- tant cities of Europe. Thanks chiefly to Denmark’s excellent high-roads which have been rendered more firm by special paving and surface treatment (Macadamization) the m o to r t r a f f i c in recent years has acquired very considerable importance both for passenger and goods traffic. On the 30th of September 1936 there were in Denmark about 163.000 licensed motor vehicles (including 1500 motor busses and 27.000 motor cycles). In the year 1936 there was one automobile for every 27 of the population, whereas abroad the figures for the same year were as follows: Sweden one for every 37 of the population, in Norway one for every 41, in Belgium one for every 42 and in Germany one for every 53 of the population.