A green transportation policy combined with years of underinvestment is spurring a boom in Denmark's railroad infrastructure. Among projects steaming ahead is a $3-billion installation of new signaling technology across the Scandinavian nation's 2,300-kilometer network.
Denmark early last year launched its so-called Green Transportation Policy through 2020. With the government shifting investments from roads to rail, "2009 was a historic year for us," says Palle Beck Thomsen, managing director for Atkins Danmark A/S, the country's largest railroad design firm. Intensifying emphasis on rail is doubling the sector's consultancy business to around $60 million a year, he adds.