Norwegian railway infrastructure manager Bane Nor has canceled more than 32,000 trains this year due to planned maintenance work. These cancellations do not appear in official punctuality and regularity statistics.
Official figures show 23,775 passenger trains were completely canceled and 8,712 partially canceled because of planned work. Anne Kirkhusmo, press officer for Bane Nor, explained the reasoning. "Trains that are completely or partially canceled due to planned work on the railway are not included in the punctuality and regularity statistics," she said. "They are not part of the planned timetable offering on the railway."
These planned cancellations come in addition to unplanned service disruptions that occur unexpectedly.
The regularity target for Norwegian trains stands at 97 percent. Current performance for the year reaches only 93.9 percent. October's regularity dropped to 85.5 percent.
Rush hour services in Oslo show even poorer performance. Only 63.4 percent of trains ran on schedule during peak periods this October. The target for rush hour regularity is 85 percent.
Marius Holm, group director for communication and public affairs at train operator Vy, acknowledged customer dissatisfaction. "It is not satisfactory, and we understand very well that customers are not happy with the service as it has been this autumn," he said.
National punctuality for passenger trains sits at 87.1 percent for the year. The official target remains 90 percent.
The gap between reported statistics and actual service disruptions creates confusion for passengers. Many travelers experience frequent cancellations that don't reflect in official performance measurements.
Why do planned cancellations not affect official statistics? Railway authorities consider these trains never officially scheduled, so their cancellation doesn't count against performance metrics. This statistical approach masks the true scale of service reductions affecting Norwegian commuters.