photo: RAILTARGET/TRAVELOGUE: A Tale of Two Cities, One Train, and a Bus Ride to Remember
RAILTARGET presents the fifth volume of the Nordic railway travelogue. This time, we start in the city of Bergen, which is a port and, at the same time, the second-largest city in Norway. It is quite surprising how small the station is given the city's size. From there, we continued on the afternoon of Wednesday, July 12, to the more southerly Stavanger, for which we had to use a bus. The journey back to Oslo from Stavanger, however, wasn't without its complications this time either.
As Bergen welcomed us with rainy weather, we couldn't do much other than take our belongings to the hotel and explore the local train station. Despite Bergen's population being over 270,000 people, this central station only has four tracks. This deficiency can be attributed to the fact that only the line to Oslo operates from here. We also found a café, food options, luggage lockers, and restrooms at the station. Worth noting is the covered overpass connecting the train station to the bus station, a welcome feature considering the weather. After this adventure, we had nothing to do but dash through the rainy city center to our hotel room.
The next day was dedicated to exploring Bergen. There's also a rail cable car as part of the local public transport. Time in Bergen passed swiftly once again, and we set off towards Stavanger. With no railways connecting these two port cities, we had to take a double-decker bus of the NOR-WAY company. Thanks to the two ferries used by the bus along the route, we were treated to truly breathtaking views. Shortly after nine o'clock in the evening, we disembarked at the bus station in Stavanger, which is only a short distance from the train station. Similar to its counterpart in Bergen, Stavanger station boasts four tracks and is also a mainline station. Overall, these two stations are quite similar.
On Thursday, we journeyed back to Oslo on the mandatory passenger train. Before that, we visited the fjord. However, the experience was dampened by the weather as rain poured down throughout the day. Instead of the promised breathtaking views, we were met with an endless white sheet. Despite the weather, it was an undoubtedly interesting experience.
The train to Oslo, operated by Go-Ahead Nordic, a company owned by the British Go-Ahead, which also operates London buses, was scheduled to depart from Stavanger at 16:47. Fortunately, this delay was quickly resolved, so we set off about 35 minutes later. Our electric unit with a top speed of 210 km/h was manufactured by ADtranz. It featured a classic spacious 2+2 seating arrangement in both first and second class. As you might have guessed, Norwegian companies have a penchant for uniquely naming their first-class compartments. In our train, it was referred to as Ekstra for a change, and, under normal circumstances, it offered passengers a free coffee machine. Unfortunately, the coffee machine in our compartment wasn't functional, so we were left with coffee and tea from thermoses, which were regularly refilled by the bistro car attendant. Additionally, we had access to light snacks and water. The first-class seats felt slightly more spacious than those in second-class, but aside from that, we didn't notice any major differences between them.
As mentioned earlier, the train had a bistro, so we were allowed to bring beer to our seats. We could view the bistro's offerings using a QR code. If you're interested, we recommend using the company's website. Although the place seemed smaller than in previous instances, the quality of the meals was still high. The pizza and meatballs we tried were certainly satisfying choices.
The journey passed relatively quickly, and the views from the train were once again incredibly beautiful. At a steady pace, we headed to Kongsberg station, where the final leg of our journey awaited us – a transfer to double-decker buses. We arrived in Kongsberg just before midnight, even though the scheduled arrival was for 11:15 p.m. The transfer was relatively straightforward. We switched to the bus and disembarked in Oslo at 1:36 a.m. We then proceeded directly to the hotel and went to bed.
Travel tip: The front seats on the second floor of the bus provide the best view. If they're available, don't hesitate to take them.