[NO/SE] More trains Oslo - Gothenburg from December 2023

[jamesontheroad]

Vy Tog (formerly NSB) has announced that from the start of the winter timetable on 10 December 2023 there will be more trains on the international route from Oslo in Norway to Gothenburg in Sweden.

From Vy (with my translation + a bit of Google Translate):

Service pattern from 10 December
OSLO - GOTHENBURG: Vy increases the number of departures from 4 to 7 on weekdays. Trains depart from Oslo Sentral at 0611, 0814, 1014, 1214, 1414, 1547, and 1810.

On Saturdays and Sundays, there are 6 departures at 0814, 1014, 1214, 1414, 1616 and 1810. The journey takes approx. 3 hours and 30 minutes.

GOTHENBURG - OSLO: Vy increases the number of departures from 4 to 8 on weekdays. These depart from Gothenburg Central Station at 0608, 0810,1015, 1215, 1415, 1608, 1808 and 2010

On Saturdays, there are 7 departures 0810, 1015, 1215, 1415, 1608, 1808 and 2010 and on Sundays 6 departures 1015, 1215, 1415, 1608, 1808, and 2010. The train takes approx. 3 hours and 30 minutes.

Tickets go on sale 90 days before the departure date.

Vy announce the new schedule here (in Norwegian): https://www.vy.no/vygruppen/presse-og-nyheter/pressemeldinger/2023/oslogoteborg

Järnvägar report on it here (in Swedish): https://jarnvagar.nu/dubbelt-upp-goteborg-oslo/

 

[JonasB]

That is a great improvement! Unfortunately it seems like the 73s will not return.

 

[dutchflyer]

My impression-doing this line halfway on an INterrail (kind of spareday/afternoon whilst staying in Göteborg): train about dead-empty, much more frequent BUSes G-O, and as I searched these turned out to be even faster too. So perhaps VY/SJ now forces these clients into these new trains?

 

[JonasB]

The buses used to be a tad faster, but since the Follo lined opened, the train is now a tad faster.

 

[jamesontheroad]

The bus is competitive, and it’s operated by a subsidiary of Vy, which means you will often get offered the bus when looking for train tickets.

Although timetables haven’t been loaded yet, if the journey time is still 3.5hrs then departures from Oslo S at around xx.14 are still going to miss the hourly Öresundståg from Gothenburg to Copenhagen (which depart around xx.40) by just a few minutes. While Gothenburg is a nice place to change trains and get some food (there are only vending machines on the train) it would be great to shave that down to 20 or 30 minutes.

SJ remains actively interested in offering a direct Oslo - Gothenburg - Malmö - Copenhagen train at some point in the future.

 

[rvdborgt]

The buses used to be a tad faster, but since the Follo lined opened, the train is now a tad faster.

Some buses are still a few minutes faster, others aren't. IIRC the line is still being improved on the Swedish side, so in future trains will become faster.

 

[JonasB]

SJ remains actively interested in offering a direct Oslo - Gothenburg - Malmö - Copenhagen train at some point in the future.

Once their new high speed trains arrive, they will offer direct trains Oslo-Copenhagen.

IIRC the line is still being improved on the Swedish side, so in future trains will become faster.

No further improvements planned on the Swedish side, but some improvements are planned on the Norwegian side.

 

[TravellingPhil]

This is all positive news. Particularly when the The Fehmarnbelt Tunnel opens. It's going to make it so much easier to get to the capital cities of Scandanavia without flying from our part of Europe.

 

[jamesontheroad]

This is all positive news. Particularly when the The Fehmarnbelt Tunnel opens. It's going to make it so much easier to get to the capital cities of Scandanavia without flying from our part of Europe.

Absolutely. A huge bottleneck will be opened, and with faster line speeds we're going to see a wealth of improvements on the entire Oslo - Gothenburg / Stockholm - Malmö - Copenhagen - Hamburg corridor. Keeping my fingers crossed (or, "holding my thumbs" in Swedish) for on-time opening of the tunnel in 2029.