• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

Search results

  1. jamesontheroad

    Recommendations for an Eastern European country to visit for rail travel

    One of my most interesting multi-day journeys was from Sweden to Athens, via Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria. Agree re: night trains: the Budapest-Brasov Corona is cheap, comfortable and perfectly time for dinner in the restaurant car and a good long sleep...
  2. jamesontheroad

    Loco haulage in Sweden (and some other questions)

    Welcome to Sweden! It's been my home since 2019. I think that between myself, @JonasB and at least a few others on here, we can answer any questions about the country. Hope you have a great trip. My top tips: don't bother with cash. Make sure you have a good debit or credit card that doesn't...
  3. jamesontheroad

    Loco haulage in Sweden (and some other questions)

    The southbound SJ night trains from Umeå and Duved meet in Sundsvall, where each is split and reformed into portions for Gothenburg and Stockholm. Same on the northbound journey. Therefore a delay from one portion will affect the others. However, as @JonasB points out, the southbound SJ train...
  4. jamesontheroad

    Oslo - Trondheim Line Flood Damage

    Bane Nor announces that the railway re-opens for freight traffic on 20 May and passenger traffic on 21 May. Press release (with photos of the repairs ongoing) in Norwegian: https://www.banenor.no/nyheter-og-aktuelt/nyheter/2024/narmer-seg-gjenapning-av-randklev-bru/ My translation:
  5. jamesontheroad

    Loco haulage in Sweden (and some other questions)

    There are no planned works scheduled right now. Of the two direct trains from Oslo S to Stockholm C that day, train 644 (dep. 14.36 arr. 20.22) is a locomotive hauled train. The other is a X55 multiple unit. Flixtrain from Stockholm to Gothenburg could be on your list, but they suspended...
  6. jamesontheroad

    A very silly mistake - going to Cork by accident...

    Fantastic. It’s too long since I got on a train to the wrong place and made a day of it. Safe travels.
  7. jamesontheroad

    A very silly mistake - going to Cork by accident...

    Stay on the train. Cobh is lovely and it still counts as the Atlantic. Plus the south coast of Ireland has a far more amenable climate than the west coast. Enjoy the day out. Be sure to have a pint of Beamish, rather than Guinness, which is the stout brewed in Cork.
  8. jamesontheroad

    [SE/FI] Helsinki - Haparanda trains expected to start December 2024

    Here's an update today from Väylävirasto, the Finnish Railways Agency: https://vayla.fi/-/suomen-ja-ruotsin-rajan-ylittavaa-tornionjoen-ratasiltaa-parannetaan-kevaasta-syksyyn My translation of the key bits... Similar work has been done elsewhere in Finland in recent years. If you follow the...
  9. jamesontheroad

    Countries where rail traffic drives on a different side to road traffic

    As others have noted, Sweden switched sides for road traffic on "Dagen H", 3 September 1967. Strangely, pedestrian and bicycle traffic on shared footpaths did not. in the local newspapers where I live, it's often a point of complaint on the letters page that incomers to Sweden are not being...
  10. jamesontheroad

    [SE] Trafikverket has issued a tender for new night trains (update)

    Mods, this could be considered a continuation of this closed thread (albeit one where I used the wrong country prefix, S instead of SE :E) https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/s-trafikverket-has-issued-a-tender-for-new-night-trains.241842/ The traffic committee in the Swedish Riksdag has...
  11. jamesontheroad

    Norway train travel advice needed!

    Irrespective of whether the train is running through or not, consider an overnight stop at Abisko, where there is a really good STF hostel. It's an amazing place to take a break almost any time of year. You'll meet lots of people starting or finishing the 450km Kungsleden (King's Trail) through...
  12. jamesontheroad

    Norway train travel advice needed!

    Passenger trains to/from Narvik are still terminating short, currently at Abisko Turiststation I believe. Freight trains are operating through to Narvik but I believe the massive backlog of iron ore that built up after the two derailments is causing freight to prioritised. In Norway, the bridge...
  13. jamesontheroad

    SJ Stockholm sleeper - booking?

    If you load the English language version of SJ and search for a journey that's not available, there are a couple of different possibilities for why it's unavailable. The message (in English) varies. Sold out - the train is running but there are no available seats/berths. Not available /...
  14. jamesontheroad

    Collision of cargo ship with, and collapse of, Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore (26/03)

    Awful to watch, and for it to happen at night will only hinder the rescue. This is going to have huge consequences for Interstate traffic along the eastern seaboard for months, if not years to come. It's also going to cause a major headache for the Port of Baltimore.
  15. jamesontheroad

    Interrail first class on Swedish VY Norrtag sleepers

    This winter, there was a lengthy period when (because of the derailments) the Stockholm-Narvik night train ran (instead) to Luleå, and passengers for stations north of Boden had to disembark and change to a connecting train with only seated carriages. This happened very early in the morning...
  16. jamesontheroad

    Interrail first class on Swedish VY Norrtag sleepers

    Vy have chooses not to offer 1st class Interrail pass reservations for 1st class sleeper compartments (ie 2-bed with en-suite showers). It’s a business decision, not a flaw in the booking system. If you want to take the night train to northern Sweden, you can either use your pass to book a 2nd...
  17. jamesontheroad

    [SE] Vy (NSB) abandons night trains in Sweden from Dec-24

    Vy Tåg AB in Sweden had to get a bailout from the parent company in Norway when things started to go south with the Swedish night train contract, so yes that was a Norwegian state-owned company subsidising a Swedish one. Now Trafikverket (the Swedish Transport Agency) will have to pay a premium...
  18. jamesontheroad

    [SE] Vy (NSB) abandons night trains in Sweden from Dec-24

    Vy Tåg (approximately pronounced Vee torg if you are an English-speaker), the Swedish subsidiary of the state-owned Norwegian VY Group has announced they will not seek an extension of the 4-year procurement of the Stockholm-Narvik and Stockholm-Luleå night trains when it runs out in December...
  19. jamesontheroad

    Freiburg v Cambridge

    I'd wager a tenner on it being that very video that prompted an MP, intern or civil servant to come up with this idea.
  20. jamesontheroad

    Freiburg v Cambridge

    I visited Freiburg im Breisgau in 2007, when I was an Erasmus exchange student in nearby Strasbourg. There were two particularly interesting urban areas that had been redeveloped. Vauban was a military base from the 1930s-1990s, and after reunification was returned to the city. The existing...

Top