AKIPRESS.COM - Sweden has introduced identity checks for travellers from Denmark in an attempt to reduce the number of migrants arriving in the country.

All travellers wanting to cross the Oresund bridge by train or bus, or use ferry services, will be refused entry without the necessary documents, reports BBC.

Rail commuters heading to Sweden will now have to change trains at Copenhagen Airport and go through ID checkpoints.

Sweden received more than 150,000 asylum applications in 2015.

An estimated 20,000 commuters daily cross the Oresund bridge, which connects the Swedish cities of Malmo and Lund with the Danish capital, Copenhagen.

Direct journeys from Copenhagen's main railway station to Sweden will no longer be available and the changes are expected to add around 30 minutes to the current 40-minute commute.

In response, Denmark has stepped up border controls with Germany, its southern neighbour.

Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen said the new Swedish measures could cause serious disruption to traffic flows from Denmark.