No technical obstacles for night train traffic through Oslo-Gothenburg-Hamburg
In a couple of years, you might be able hop on a train in Gothenburg late in the evening and wake up in Hamburg the next morning. Sound exciting? The Västra Götaland region has asked Trivector to investigate the technical, legal, and capacity conditions for operating night train traffic between Oslo and Hamburg via Gothenburg. The study shows that it is completely possible, as long as the commercial conditions exist.
There are no technical obstacles to offering night train traffic Oslo-Hamburg, with boarding and disembarking at reasonable times in Oslo, Gothenburg, Hamburg and possibly even Varberg. In all of these cities there are suitable stations with sufficiently long platforms and with good connecting traffic. According to the proposal, the night train will pass Skåne and Denmark in the middle of the night. Along the studied route, there are locations where train traffic could build up at certain times of the day, but the night train would go past these narrow passages at times when there is capacity available.
Passes through four countries
The four countries that the night train would pass through have different electrical voltages, different standard vehicles dimensions and different train control systems. However, this is not a problem as there are already locomotives and wagons on the market that work in all four countries.
The operator wishing to start international rail traffic in Europe can use a common application procedure, developed with the aim of promoting international rail traffic. This entails that there should also be no major legal and capacity barriers to starting night train traffic between Oslo and Hamburg.
The Västra Götaland region now hopes that an actor will take an interest in the idea and investigate the market conditions.
More information
Read the full report (in swedish) or contact P-G Andersson, 010-456 56 04, who was involved in writing the report.
Read more about attractive collective transport.