Hooray! The M3 line has connected the city for 5 years
Every day, around 150,000 passengers travel with the M3 line, and in 2023 customer satisfaction with the journey was as high as 98%.
‘Today, the Metro is such an integral part of the city that no one can imagine the city without it... And today we can open 17 new stations that weave the city together even better.’
With these words, Her Majesty Queen Margrethe declared the M3 line open on 29 September 2019, when she took the first ride on the Metro to Rådhuspladsen.
Since then, the metro line has made it faster and easier to travel between the city centre, Østerbro, Nørrebro, Vesterbro and Frederiksberg. For example, you can get from Copenhagen Central Station to Frederiksberg in just 5 minutes - or from Nørrebro to Trianglen in 7 minutes.
The Metro in colour
If you've travelled on the M3 line, you may have noticed how the colours of the stations change along the way - and there's a good reason for that. Each station reflects the cityscape above ground, so it's easy to keep track of where you are on your journey.
For example, Copenhagen Central Station, Østerport and Nørrebro are decorated in warm shades of red, signalling that here you can change to the S-train, while the green tiles at Frederiksberg Allé are inspired by the avenue's many lime trees, and the black look at Rådhuspladsen refers to the vibrant nightlife.
The M3 line has made us wiser about history. Before the machines hit the ground, archaeologists were able to make surprising discoveries that show that Copenhagen is about 300 years older than previously thought.
Mød Nora, Minerva, Eva og Tria
Inden boremaskinerne gik i gang med at grave den 15,5 kilometer lange underjordiske tunnel til Cityringen, skulle de have et navn. I hele verden døber man boremaskiner forud for deres første tur for at bringe lykke til på projektet.
Metroselskabet udskrev derfor en konkurrence og fik over 1000 forslag. Valget faldt dog på Nora, Minerva, Eva og Tria, der også var navnene på de gamle telefoncentraler i København i 1930'erne.
Dengang var det telefonen, der forbandt Københavns brokvarterer med Frederiksberg og Indre by. I dag er det Cityringen.
Meet Nora, Minerva, Eva and Tria
Before the drills started digging the 15.5 kilometre long underground tunnel for the M3 line, they needed a name. All over the world, drills are given names before their first trip to bring good luck on the project.
The Metroselskabet therefore organised a competition and received over 1000 suggestions. The choice fell on Nora, Minerva, Eva and Tria, which were also the names of the old telephone exchanges in Copenhagen in the 1930s.
Back then, it was the telephone that connected Copenhagen's bridge neighbourhoods with Frederiksberg and the city centre. Today, it's the M3 line.
The M3 line has made the city greener. A total of 773 new trees have been planted in the station squares.
Better urban spaces
In addition to bringing the M3 line underground, it has also helped to create new cosy urban spaces above ground.
Enghave Plads, for example, has been given new life with specially designed red benches totalling 120 metres, lots of green trees and a beautiful fountain that turns the station square into a cosy meeting point with a life of its own.
The same goes for the square in front of the Marmorkirken church in the historic Frederiksstaden neighbourhood, where the M3 line has contributed with a new recreational urban space that makes you want to sit down and take a break in the historic surroundings.
Smart shifts
The M3 line stretches like a large ring across Copenhagen, where you can change at five stations - either between metro lines, to S-trains or to regional trains.
At Frederiksberg and Kongens Nytorv you can easily change from the M3 line (M3) and M4 to the M1 and M2 metro lines. Many people take advantage of this opportunity: Kongens Nytorv is currently one of Denmark's busiest stations with approximately 30,000 passengers on M1/M2 and 25,000 passengers on M3/M4.
Have you travelled with the M3 line? If not, it runs approximately every 2 minutes, so there's plenty of opportunity to hop on board and move on quickly.
Experiences with the Metro
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