LB (car ferries)

LB (car ferries) was between 1954 and 1981 the car and lorry ferry part of AB Linjebuss (Line buses Ltd). Formal shipping line label Linjebuss International, a rather strange combination of Swedish and English, by the way. However from 1955 LB (as the shipping line locally was referred to), challanged the unformal monopoly of the Danish and the Swedish national railways' ferry route of trains, cars, lorries and passenger, at the HH Ferry route between Helsingør (in British English often Elsinore), Zealand, Denmark and Helsingborg, Scania, Sweden. Although the official monopoly on the route was abolished by law in 1882 , had no challanger on this very short international route dared to defy Danish nationally owned operators DSB. The route is only 2.5 nm or 4 km long. DSB had taken over from DFDS in 1888, and had from 1892 a solid income in its train ferries. Also the fact that their Swedish counterpart SJ since 1931 shared all expences and profits equaly might have been one reason to why competing at the route took so long.

Eventually DSB were to be challanged though. And the privately owned Swedish company AB Linjebuss found in the mid 1950's out that the time was right. The shipping line (always locally known as LB simply) was founded in 1954 as a fully owned affiliate to Stockholms Red AB Svea. And in the following year they began to operate , fist ferry was an old steamer, chartered under the name S/S Betula. It was build already in 1929 . Also a pure passenger boat, M/S Pendula was to be used for a shorter while.First with M/S Primula in 1960 did the real compete begin. This ferry took 55 cars and had (unlike DSB's ferries M/F Helsingør and M/F Hälsingborg, sisterships whose cafeterias were located below train & car deck and which lacked windows, and which by time locally became known as "the U-boats") cafeteria above car deck, with a usually pleasant view. Four years later came M/S Carola, but from the late 1960's LB could provide very good comfort. The three sisterships M/S Betula (II), M/S Regula and M/S Ursula was build and taken into use in 1968, 1971 and 1973 which all took 75 cars, had both cafeterias aswell as bars and restaurants together with the slightly smaller and restaurant-lacking M/S Carola could LB now departure every 20th minute and had a crossing time of 25 minutes. Also DSB build new and more comfortable ferries, but atleas the three sisterships Betula(II), Regula and Ursula had a certain touch of more luxury. Especially compared to DSB's "U-boats". During the night time was pedestrian passengers unable to go aboard the only ship that sailed between 1:30 and 5:30 am. And the number of cars, lorries and bicykles (!) were very limited if a lorry (or more) carried dangerous goods.

Not long after LB's breach of DSB's de facto monopoly, also LB's got challanged themselves. Atleast when it came to pedestrian passengers, as Sundbusserne opened a line of smaller passenger boats. Sundbusserne means "The Sound Buses" (Øresund is locally often shortened down to "Sundet", in Swedish aswell as in Danish). Sundbusserne began to operate in 1958, and were owned by Norwegian Ragnar Moltzau and sailed until 2007 under Norwegian flag.

Almost simultaniously as LB started at the HH route, a sister route across the central part of Øresund was initiated and become known as SL Ferries, a ferry line between Landskrona and Copenhagen, Tuborg Port. This route was longer, 70 minutes, but used (by time) larger ferries M/S Svea Scarlett (1971) for 92 cars and M/S Stella Scarlett (1974) for 145 cars, and which with its 115 meters still is the longest car ferry that ever has been used on Øresund crossing routes. On Stockholm headquater's request, in 1980 the SL Ferries Swedish home port was moved from Landskrona to Malmö. This was expected to gain both cars, lorries and passenges . However this prolonged the route to around 90 minutes (due to the flat island Saltholm and the very shallow waters in southern Øresund in general). And for cars, the route between Limhamn and Dragør remained as the better choice. The move was so catastrophic that just eight months after the move, SL ferries needed to be closed down.

Between 1966 and 1976 did LB under the name Trave Line or TL sailed first between Helsinborg and Copenhagen, Tuborg Port, and from there to Travemünde, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany (The Western, part, as of the time). Cars and lorries could only travel to or from Germany, Trave Line was never intended as a transport between Helsingborg and Copenhagen. At the time 1966-1976 the label LB/SL/TL was oftenly used as a single unit. Overall owner of the LB/SL/TL shipping lines was Stockholms Red AB Svea.

LB survived, but merged in 1981 with Öresundsbolaget and formed Scandinavian Ferry Lines. By 1991 this in turn merged with DSB and German interests into Scandlines which as of january 2015 is the only shipping line that freight cars and lorries across the Øresund.