Oslo-Stockholm Fast Trains Return To Service

After disruption caused by cross-border travel restrictions and years of work on the tracks, fast trains will soon return to regular service between Oslo and Stockholm. Those looking for a greener way to travel between the capitals of Norway and Sweden will once again be able to use up to three express trains per day.

From 11 December, there will be five daily SJ trains in each direction between Oslo and Stockholm on weekdays. Three of these will be express services. On weekends, there will be 3-4 departures in each direction.

The express services will offer a downtown to downtown connection of just over five hours.

Hoping to attract business travelers

SJ Norge CEO Rikke Lind hopes that Norwegian businesses will use this opportunity to take proper action against climate change.

While a flight between the two cities takes just one hour, the train does become more competitive when you consider time spent waiting at airports and on ground transportation.

“You save around 100 kilos of CO₂ per person by choosing the train over the plane for a round trip. There are significant emissions if you think about the many flights that go between Oslo and Stockholm,” said Lind to e24.

Climate-friendly travel

Lind believes Norwegian businesses should look to Sweden for inspiration on how to be more climate-friendly. She said there is a “completely different culture” for traveling by train in Sweden.

In 2019, the word flygskam took Sweden then the world by storm. Translating as “flying shame” or “plane shame”, the term was used to describe the increasing trend in Sweden of the shame felt by frequent flyers.

Passenger numbers at Sweden’s ten busiest airports were down by more than 5% in the summer of 2019 compared with the previous year. That drop in demand came before the disruption caused by global travel restrictions in 2020.

Hopes for higher speed links in the future

SJ hopes for a high-speed rail connection that could reduce travel time between Oslo and Stockholm to as little as four hours. Earlier this year, a study suggested that such a high-speed connection could could lead to around half a million air passenger journeys being replaced by trains.

SJ also wants to introduce direct trains between Stockholm and Trondheim once work to electrify the railway in central Norway is completed in 2024. According to SJ, there could be up to three daily departures on the route.

Earlier this year, several local governments in Sweden formed a consortium seeking to raise funds to transform plans for a high-speed rail line between Gothenburg and Oslo into a reality.

Other investments in the Swedish railway network include a new electric-powered overnight train between Stockholm and Hamburg in Germany. The new service means passengers can travel all the way from London to Stockholm by train in just 24 hours.