Norwegian train passengers endured a difficult October with widespread delays and cancellations. The national railway infrastructure company Bane Nor missed its punctuality targets for most of the month.
Only five days in October met Bane Nor's overall punctuality standards. The situation was worse for Oslo commuters. Rush hour trains in the capital reached their timeliness goal on just one single day.
Bane Nor aims for 90% of all passenger trains to arrive on time. This means local and regional trains should not be more than 3 minutes and 59 seconds late. Long-distance trains should not exceed 5 minutes and 59 seconds delay.
For Oslo rush hour traffic, the target is 85% of trains arriving within the 3 minute 59 second window.
Roger Wold, Bane Nor's head of punctuality and analysis, called October "a heavy month" in a statement. He explained that work on the main railway line was delayed by over a week at the beginning of the month. This forced freight traffic through the Romeriksporten tunnel, creating delays for both freight and passenger services.
Wold noted that Oslo's central position makes the entire railway network vulnerable. "The whole of train Norway looks a bit like a star, with Oslo Central Station in the middle and tracks going out in every direction," he said. "Almost all trains go to and through Oslo Central Station, and delays that occur in the capital often spread to large parts of the country."
Official statistics reveal the scale of the problems. During the first four weeks of October, passenger trains accumulated 1,904 hours of delays. A total of 2,077 trains were completely canceled while 4,287 trains ran with partial cancellations.
Vy, one of Norway's main train operators, canceled 817 departures during October's first three weeks alone. Another 709 trains that should have operated with double sets ran at half capacity.
The railway system's struggles reflect ongoing capacity challenges that continue to frustrate Norwegian commuters. With Oslo serving as the national rail hub, problems in the capital quickly ripple across the country's transportation network.