I plan to take a train, from Copenhagen Central to Stockholm Central, on April 13 and have checked both SJ train and Snälltåget. Right now, I see VERY few trains (two!) - leaving Copenhagen - at either 6 am (!!) or 4 pm. Are these really the only trains available or will others be added in the months ahead?
Thank you so much!!
All SJ Trains start from Malmo, and it is too early for them to be booked. But if you look at SJ for Malmo to Stockholm you will see the full service. You take a frequent local commuter train from Copenhagen to Malmo, then change.
You can’t see all the options yet, as tickets have not been released yet. SJ release their tickets in batches, and currently they are released until 12 April 2026. Tomorrow (10 December 2025) they will release the next batch of tickets for journeys until 14 June 2026.
As mentioned above, SJ does not run trains to Copenhagen, which has been the case for a few years now. That is due to a lack of rolling stock. They will restart service to Copenhagen at some point, but there is no indication it will happen any time soon. However, they do have a lot of trains from Malmö to Stockholm. SJ can sell you a combined ticket for the Øresund train to Malmö/Lund and then the SJ train to Stockholm. It is an easy transfer.
Snälltåget is a small company. They will make any more departures than the two you see on their website already. The 06:03 train is a night train coming from Germany, and it stops at Copenhagen South, not Copenhagen Central Station. The 16:08 train is a day train from Copenhagen Central to Stockholm Central.
No, there won't be any more direct trains in April. The 6 AM is coming from Germany which adds risk of delays and sometimes it won't go all the way to Stockholm. The 4 PM is cancelled around once a week between Copenhagen and Malmö, you can book it if the time suits you, but moving your departure just to get a direct train might get you disappointed. Note that the SJ tickets were released today.
Thank you so much for your responses - I had thought that a train would be easy (and scenic) but this seems more fraught than expected. Do I understand that I could purchase a ticked from Copenhagen to Malmo on one line and (hopefully) connect with another from Malmo to Stockholm? Would this really be best? From your comments, it seems that the train service isn't as dependable as I had thought (which surprises me a lot!) - should I think of flying???? Yikes!!
It's not at all fraught. The Copenhagen to Malmo train runs every 15 minutes. It's just a commuter train, use any service. Typically you get just under 30 minutes on a through ticket to change at Malmo, then an hourly train to Stockholm.
But if you want to extend that changeover time then simply take an earlier train. No questions asked.
In some ways this is like (what you can't do in the US) booking from say a Long Island Railroad station, connecting to Washington DC on Amtrak in New York. It's not an exact simile but it'll do.
On the LIRR or any other American commuter line you can use any train, no pre booking, no assigned seats. Turn up and go. That's what the Oresund train is like.
In this European case (same across Europe) if there is a big problem on the Oresund line then SJ will get you on the next train. Unlike on Amtrak, where if you missed your hypothetical connection at New York you have a real problem.
Thank you - you are all so helpful! Based on the frequency of trains, do I need to book ahead or can I purchase the tickets at the train station or would you recommend that I purchase them in advance ?
Book the entire journey (Copenhagen-Malmö-Stockholm) in one go. That way, the transfer is protected by the railways. And do book ahead, as Swedish long distance trains use dynamic pricing, so booking last minute can be really expensive.
For whatever reason tickets including the Øresund train haven't been released, so the entire journey isn't bookable yet. That is not reason for concern, as in train ticket terms you are very early. You can try to look again in the coming weeks.
I cannot thank you enough!!!
Adding my thanks as I'll be taking this same journey in May.
Hmmm. I took a train (SJ) directly from Copenhagen to Stockholm a few years ago but it was in August. I guess there were some better options then. We left at 12:21 and arrived at 17:37. Very pleasant direct train.
Malmö has 26 train services departing for the capital on a Wednesday/weekday. On Saturday/weekend 15 departures are listed. I never bothered to look it up before as Malmö is our prominent third city and there will always be a plethora of services year round.
Copenhagen - Malmö has been named "the most frequent international rail service on the planet". This refers to the regional international commuter trains.
Just wanted too check in again to request clarification -
The Oresund trains are now available on-line but the times are not great and they require 1-2 transfers.
In checking the 'commuter' trains between (1) Copenhagen H and Malmo and then (2) Malmo to Stockholm H, there seem to be a lot of trains on both routes.
Would it be best to simply use the two 'commuter' trains? And, should they be booked in advance once or could I simply travel when it is convenient on my day of departure, purchasing the tickets from the kiosks/train stations?
Thank you!!
I’m not quite sure what you are seeing. What website are you using?
When I look, tickets for the Øresund trains are not online for 13 April yet. There are also not any commuter trains running all the way from Malmö to Stockholm, that would require more transfers. The direct trains between Malmö and Stockholm are long distance services operated by SJ and Snälltåget.
Øresund trains run between Copenhagen and Malmö every 15 minutes during daytime (unless there are big track works planned that I am not aware of yet), so getting a good transfer should not be a problem at all. Would recommend taking an earlier train, just to be sure you won’t miss the connection in Malmö.
Tickets for commuter trains can be purchased at the stations on the travel day, but as mentioned above I would strongly recommend booking the entire journey on the same ticket through SJ’s website, as your transfers then are protected in case of missed connections due to unforeseen disruptions.
I looked at https://boka.oresundstag.se/travel-wizard/search-tickets?departureTime=2026-04-13T00:00:00&arrivalCountryCode=74&arrivalLocationId=1&arrivalLocationName=Stockholm%20Central&departureCountryCode=86&departureLocationId=626&departureLocationName=Köbenhavn%20H&passenger=VU&returnTime=2026-01-14T12:06:42&returnTripType=&withReturn=false&interrailSplash=false&lang=en-SE&controlled=true for trains from Copenhagen to Stockholm and see only four departures, Am I doing something wrong?? So sorry!!
No need to be sorry.
You’re not doing anything wrong, but I’d use SJ’s website.
However the problem now is still the same as it was a month ago: Tickets for the Øresund trains are not up for booking yet.
On that specific day, I can see on SJ’s website that there are 17 direct trains from Malmö to Stockholm. So you should equally see 17 options for Copenhagen to Stockholm via Malmö. I’m confident you will see that, once bookings open. We just don’t know when that is going to be. You can try reach out to "Øresundståg" and ask them. Currently Øresund trains have opened for bookings until 29 March 2026, as far I can see.
Thank you again. I’ll try to be more patient and check in a month or so.
Hmmm. I took a train (SJ) directly from Copenhagen to Stockholm a few
years ago but it was in August.
I have taken the direct train as well.
The issue is that SJ has been renovating its X2000 train sets. As part of the renovation most of the traction equipment has been replaced. That means that technically it is a new train, and needs to be re certified to be permitted to run all the way to Copenhagen.
It currently looks like SJ isn't even pursuing certification for Denmark anymore for those trains, and has ordered new train for the route, that should start showing up this or next year.
This makes sense now, thank you!@. Looks like I will be booking back to back commuter trains and all will go smoothly. I just have to. be patient.,
Just book commuter + x2000 on sj, with a change in Malmo. Just wait a few weeks till Oresundstag opens its bookings.
I think there is still a chance for X2000 Stockholm-Copenhagen during June, but if that plan fails SJ has said it will happen after the summer.
Copenhagen - Malmö has been named "the most frequent international
rail service on the planet".
It is a good train services (and shows what the channel tunnel could have become it the Brits were less paranoid).
It is however not the most frequent international rail services. That honour probably goes to Geneve - Annemasse.
Finally Öresundståg released tickets for a few weeks, including April 13.
You are amazing and I can't thank you enough but, after trying and trying, SJ will not let me buy a ticket! I am on their website but it will not accept my mobile phone number - for the US, I have tried 01, 1 , no int number and no mobile at all - but the site keeps telling me that I should ' Check that the mobile number is correct and doesn’t contain any letters", The number is correct and there are no letters - and I'm stumped. Any ideas?
Thank you!!!!
Every now and then technical issues like this are resolved by using the website rather than the app (or vice versa) or switching devices--smartphone/tablet/PC.
Very strange. I am on my computer using the SJ website but it still doesn't work. Maybe later..
Thank you !
+1 before ten digits gives me a green checkmark.
I've read that texts from SJ sometimes are blocked so it's a good idea to check for traffic info yourself. https://www.sj.se/en/traffic-information (I prefer the train tab and search for train number and date search). Even if you aren't an SJ member I think you can add the ticket to the SJ app which makes it easier. The app also gives you the track number, it might not work in Denmark but it should work for the change in Malmö.
Success!! I was able to buy the ticket - it was a the plus sign that did it!
Many, many thanks to everyone - it takes a village -- or the RS forum!!
Alright!!! With all the great info. here, I'm hoping it will be a breeze when I go to purchase my train tickets for May.
I have confidence - it will be a breeze and you will have a wonderful trip!!@
Success!! I was able to buy the ticket - it was a the plus sign that
did it!
Just for the future: The standard way for writing down phone numbers starts with a plus, and then the country code. Many countries do not have area codes anymore, and for example here in Switzerland a lot of businesses now publish their phone nr. as +41 12 1234567
US numbers would then be +1 123 1234567
It is a good idea to store them all like that in your phone, because your phone will then automatically do the right thing, regardless of where in the world you are.
Brilliant suggestion! Just did it!!
