By not waiting for us for 10 minutes, they made everyone on the train wait in the middle of nowhere for 100 minutes. Now none of us on the train, not even the passengers who started in Gällivare, will make our connections.

I've been told that there's been a railway chaos in the entire Sweden the whole summer, not just in the North. So many interrailers who could theoretically return for free (a few eur for seat reservations) are flying back from the Arctic. By not making trains reliable they are forcing people to fly! We are paying more to ride trains, both in money and in time, we have to have 30 different travel apps, have to buy reservations from different services, have to deal with replacement buses, cancellations, too few trains that get fully booked quickly, missing connections (or paid accommodations).

So many places are not doable without a car! Esrange Space Center can't be visited without a car. Andøya Space Center is theoretically possible by bus, but I couldn't find a way to do it in a reasonable time frame.

If private companies can't make their trains run (at all, or on time) they should be nationalised. If private companies decide to only run the profitable routes, they should be nationalised! Hey, it worked once!

#travel #Arctic #Sweden #railway

Curiosity needs friction. Learning needs surprise. Wisdom needs mistakes. Models don’t offer that. They offer something faster, smoother, and emptier.

13/16