Debate, Train prices | Why is it so expensive to take the train?
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A train trip from Larvik to Oslo can quickly cost half the electricity bill. Why is the train really so expensive?
We are asked to think about the climate and one of the initiatives is to assess our travel habits. If we have the opportunity to go together, and not by car or fly, we should do so to save the environment from emissions. Trains are environmentally friendly, comfortable, or as Vy himself puts it: «It should be easy to travel green.» It is possible, it is simple, but it is not cheap.
In the last week, I have created a small fictitious family for adults and for children aged eight and ten. We want to go on a trip to Oslo and experience as much as possible in one day. It is not a long journey from Larvik to Oslo, so perhaps we can leave early on Saturday morning and come back in the evening of the same day. It saves us expenses for the hotel. A quick search on the websites of the train company meant that I found two perfect departures. From Larvik at 07.32, return from Oslo at 20.49. The first time I applied, I was sure I had done something wrong. The price for the small family was DKK 2,800 round trip Oslo from Larvik station. I applied again later in the day, then it had become cheaper. There were some tickets at a better price and the train journey fell to the tidy sum of DKK 2,048. I have changed train departures from Oslo to other times, but have not once come under 2000 kroner for a return ticket for the little fantasy family.
This had to be checked. A quick phone call to VY’s customer service confirmed that all tickets cost over DKK 2,000 this Saturday, but if I don’t travel so spontaneously and plan the trip for another Saturday, the whole family could travel for DKK 1,600 return. Planning was key as increased the chance of finding tickets at other prices. There are therefore cheaper tickets in the market, but only if you are out in good time. (It is also part of the story that this Saturday I have to use the bus for trains on parts of the route.)
Here in Larvik, we talk a lot about railways, about where a new station should be located and how important it is to have double tracks on the entire Vestfold railway. We talk about the environment and trains as a good alternative and all these things are of course extremely important. The question is whether it helps with good infrastructure when ticket prices are at the level they are today. Let’s make a small comparison with the car, where NAF has its own journey planner, which you can calculate from the costs for using a car on the same route. After entering the correct numbers, I can see that fuel and tolls cost me around DKK 500 round trip. It costs a little to park in Oslo, but it will still be cheaper than taking the family on a train trip.
Prices for public transport rose more than general price growth from 2010 to 2020, figures from Statistics Norway and this applies to all types of public transport. The prices for passenger transport by boat have increased by around 50 percent since 2010. This is well above the general price increase, measured by the consumer price index (CPI), which was just under 22 percent, writes the magazine Engine who mentioned the figures. For the bus and taxi industry, the price increase was around 42 per cent, while journeys by rail, tram and subway/city rail had an increase of around 28 per cent.
– The train is the safest and most environmentally friendly way to travel. Then we must ensure that it is also the cheapest, said Storting representative Lars Haltbrekken (SV) some time ago in an interview with VG. He believes we should look to Sweden, where the state-owned SJ, for example, offers children’s tickets to five kroner on the regional trains. In other countries, train tickets cost hardly anything, for example check different ways to get from Kastrup airport to Copenhagen city center compared to the air train from Gardermoen to Oslo. In Denmark, the train costs DKK 90 for an adult, the subway on the same route is DKK 70. The train in Norway costs NOK 210 for an adult.
These are all reasons to justify that it is not particularly a sin for me, who is well established with a stable income. It is also possible that we have to expect to pay a little extra to travel green. However, I believe that the time has come to look at the price of using the train. Yes, you can always find times when it is cheaper to travel if you plan well, but overall train travel is too expensive. It helps little to have a double track with many departures if the only people who can afford to use the offer are people who travel for work or those with a good income. It amazes me that there is so little political focus on this and so much talk about double tracks and new stations. Isn’t it the price that basically makes us park the car in order to use more environmentally friendly transport? Why do we need to use the train to Gardermoen when we go on holiday, when it is cheaper to use our own car which is parked in long-term parking a short distance from the airport while we are away?
How much a train journey costs is largely a political question. Huge amounts of money are spent on transport, but there is little debate about the ticket price. It will be great if the train can whiz between Larvik and Porsgrunn on double track at high speed, but it would be a shame if the offer is not for everyone. Or for “ordinary people”, which has become a term in this country.
In a time of galloping expenses and strengthening our focus on the environment, it is surprising that there is not a more heated discussion about train prices.