Danish minister of transport Mr Magnus Heunicke says the agreement will secure DSB's capacity requirements without having to rely on the IC4 sets, while the government has also set aside DKr 420m ($US 77.8m) to purchase electric locomotives to haul the coaches as more lines are electrified. The vehicles were due to be returned to Ascendos in 2016 and 2017.

The locomotive-hauled trains are used for regional commuter services to and from Copenhagen. IC4s are predominately operated on Aarhus - Fredericia - Esbjerg inter-regional services, with only a few venturing to Copenhagen. The sets' reliability problems have reportedly made operators nervous about their use on the country's primary railway artery.

The 67 coaches can accommodate 7200 passengers, which corresponds to 35 IC4 sets.