Dear Siim,
I hope you liked my last e-postcard from Hendaye.
Today I am writing to you from Göteborg, Sweden. I’m only writing this from the comfort of the train south of Sweden’s second city because I’m lucky – my train from Oslo arrived 2 minutes early, at 1038. Meaning I could catch the 1040 train to København. But that was just luck. Normally I would have been hanging around in Göteborg for a full hour. Who sets these timetables, Siim? Because they sure are not done with international passengers in mind.
There are coaches that run direct every day between the capitals of Denmark and Norway – do you wonder why trains cannot do the same? I do.
If my Oslo – Göteborg train had been very delayed, and I had missed the 1140 train to København, no-one would really know what my rights would be. Because no-one can book a through ticket between Oslo and Berlin (my final destination) any more, at least not online. So for Oslo – Göteborg I have a NSB ticket, and for Göteborg – Berlin a separate DB ticket. If the NSB train had broken down, and I ended up getting stuck, who pays? Or who has the responsibility to give me a hotel?
It’s even more laughable in the other direction, Siim. You cannot even buy tickets for the Göteborg – Oslo service at the station in Göteborg, and there is no NSB ticket machine there either. You need either to have a mobile ticket or have the ticket posted to you. Not ideal for passengers that want to turn up and ride, is it?
Plus if you looked at the Swedish rail timetable on their mobile app you would not even find an Oslo train, or indeed a København train for that matter, as all services show just the Swedish part of the journey. That’s not very handy to foster EU-wide rail travel is it now Siim? And isn’t that your job?
Until next time,
Jon
P.S. I was even subjected to a customs control of questionable legality at Oslo S this morning. But that’s an issue for your colleague Cecilia.