Norway's Vy warns of significant rail disruption in eastern Norway
Train company Vy has warned network rail operator Bane Nor of potential issues for travellers, public broadcaster NRK reported.
The reason is that the Sundland workshop in Drammen will be closed from April until August, meaning that more single set trains will be in use during rush hour – reducing capacity.
The workshop is used to maintain around half of the trains that operate in the general Oslo area, and there could be up to 15 missing trains.
The missing trains could lead to reduced timetables and more frequent cancellations.
'It [the work] is being done in a way that unfortunately has very big consequences for our customers, in that we do not get enough trains into traffic,' Vy's director of marketing and communications, Marius Holm, told public broadcaster NRK.
The lines that could be affected by reduced capacity are the RE11, the R12, the R13, the R14 and the R21.
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Holm said that Vy would've preferred if the work for the workshop had been carried out in a different way.
The closure of the workshop will eventually see it rebuilt by 2027, which Vy said could affect train traffic well beyond the April to August window first projected.
The rail tracks around eastern Norway are already among the most congested in the country, and issues with train travel in the region have contributed to national punctuality targets being missed several times in the past few years.
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