(Rana No): When Monica Helgå and her youngest son Filiph (15) were going to Oslo for the winter holidays, they chose to travel by train to save money. The trip one way takes 16 hours and Monica therefore wanted to order a recliner on the stretch between Mo i Rana and Trondheim.
It would turn out to be anything but cheap.
– When I was going to order the tickets, it was over NOK 10,000 for me and my son round trip from Mo to Oslo, and it wasn’t even full price tickets. I thought there must be something wrong here, so I contacted SJ Norge, she says.
Monica got an answer and the prices turned out to be right.
– What they told me was that the prices are governed by demand and can change from hour to hour, so when it’s the winter holidays the prices go up, she says.
More than twice as expensive during the winter holidays
A quick search on a random day during the winter holidays shows that a sleeping compartment for two people on the stretch Mo i Rana to Trondheim costs NOK 2,039, while two recliners on the same stretch cost NOK 3,282, and this is only one way. Then the ordinary ticket comes in addition and this can vary greatly in price. At most, a single standard ticket can cost NOK 1,755 from Mo to Oslo, according to Børge Lein, press officer at SJ Norge.
If you apply for two recliners on a random day outside the winter holidays, it costs NOK 1,316 for the same route.
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Børge Lein says that ticket prices are determined by supply and demand, and within the framework of the agreement they have with the Norwegian Railways Directorate
– Ticket prices are dynamic, as in the airline industry, for example. The ticket price is controlled by which day you will travel on and how close to the departure time you book, he says.
– What do you think about the fact that it costs over NOK 10,000 for an adult and a young person from Mo i Rana-Oslo round trip, with a recliner on one of the sections?
– As mentioned, the prices are dynamic and it becomes more expensive the closer to the departure date you book. This week is also the winter holiday in Nordland, so this will also affect supply and demand, answers Børge Lein.
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– Works to ensure that this type of expensive tickets is avoided
– What is the most expensive a recliner can cost on the said stretch?
– The recliner is a premium product over and above the standard product, and you have access to hot drinks, water and snacks throughout the trip. As this is an additional product, for competitive reasons we cannot go into maximum prices, says Børge Lein and adds:
– SJ Norge is now working on a pricing strategy and is reviewing prices for additional options such as sleeping and reclining seats, so that this type of unfortunate outcomes and expensive tickets can be avoided.
– This is not for ordinary people
Monica was told by the train company to check other travel days to find cheaper tickets and ended up buying a train ticket without a recliner.
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– What do you think about the ticket prices?
– I am completely shocked. This is not for ordinary people, and we are ordinary people who travel with children on trains. We have packed lunches with us to make it economical. We do not travel 16 hours by train because the journey is the holiday. If I didn’t care about money, I would have taken a flight from Røssvoll down to Oslo, she continues.
The next time Monica will visit her son in Oslo, it will not be by train.
– I will never travel like this again. If we had planned this trip better, we would have driven to Bodø and taken a flight from there because it would have been much cheaper, she says.
2024-03-02 14:40:42
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