The battle for who will drive trains around the capital for the next ten years is intensifying.
The battle is between Vy and Flytoget.
On Monday Vy came up with their offer, here they promise far more departures and more trains around Oslo.
In the offer, Flytoget has been crossed off the map. Flytoget believes the offer will cause them to be shut down. The company has said so Aftenposten.
But whether the offer to Vy can be carried out is uncertain, Bane Nor informs TV 2.
– Train routes further into the future, such as Vy’s proposal, we have not planned in detail. It is therefore too early to say whether we will be able to fulfill all the train companies’ wishes, says Kristina Bolstad Picard, communications manager for operations and technology at Bane Nor.
Prior to the offer, Vy did not consult or involve Bane Nor. TV 2 is informed by both Bane Nor and Vy.
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Fight for the place
Large parts of the rail network are already congested because there are too many trains on the tracks.
In January, Bane Nor told TV 2 that they are at a point where they have to discuss whether there are too many trains on the railways in Norway.
Horrible start for trains in 2023
– When there are many trains, it also tends to go beyond the punctuality of the trains, so it is a dilemma we are in, said Sverre Kjenne, director of operations and technology at Bane Nor to TV 2.
A month after the statements, Vy therefore delivers another offer with more trains and more departures.
Densely
– There are some sections in Norway where it is simply full, and there is no room for more trains, says Kristina Bolstad Picard, communications manager for operations and technology at Bane Nor.
These lines are congested in Norway. Vy has planned several departures on the same routes.
- Lillestrøm – Kløfta.
- Oslo S – Lysaker.
- Oslo S.
- Lillestrøm-Kongsvinger.
Ensure implementation
Vy defends the offer by saying that now the current routes of Flytoget and Vy together offer good and new opportunities if there is joint operation. In addition, there are several upgrades to the infrastructure that make this possible.
– How likely is this offer?
– Vy is confident that the plan can be carried out, and will of course enter into a dialogue with Bane NOR if Vy’s proposal is chosen in this process, says Åge-Christoffer Lundeby, press manager at Vy to TV 2.
– Have you taken into account the capacity problems Bane Nor explains?
– We have extensive experience and a strong professional environment within route planning, and believe that the plan is realistic with the improvements planned on the infrastructure side until 2026/2027,
CHIEF Press manager in Vy, Åge-Christoffer Lundeby tells TV 2 that it is not normal to involve Bane Nor when they work with secret offers. Photo: Tom Rune Orset / TV 2
Responding
In Vy’s plans, routes are planned on lines that are now leased by Flytoget. On the routes, Vy has included its own regional express trains in its plans. This despite the fact that Flytoget has a contract on the lines until 2028.
– It is exceedingly arrogant of Vy to simply shut down Flytoget, take over our routes and even take the initiative to remove one of the biggest successes on Norwegian railways, writes Flytoget’s communications manager Ida Fottland in an email to Aftenposten.
It is the Directorate of Railways that ultimately decides how train traffic will be phased out over the next ten years.
Untidy
Venstre believes that the process linked to the allocation of train traffic in Eastern Norway appears very disorderly.
– We cannot have it so that two suppliers are first asked to make an offer for each section, where they have been selected as the preferred contracting party, after which one supplier is suddenly asked to come up with an offer for the entire train traffic in Eastern Norway, says transport policy spokesperson André N. Skjelstad in the Left.
