Narvick is in Norway, but the station is only connected to the Swedish rail network. This is because Sweden needs an ice free port on the west coast for their iron ore exports.
The train was waiting at the station when we arrived, this is not a glamorous fast train but a comfortable long distance one. Our route takes us first up a fjord, then over the mountains into Sweden then a long part travelling south through the relatively flat Swedish countryside.
The train was comfortable, the cabin had enough space for a coupe, (2 person cabin, second class) with a loo and shower at the end of the carriage. There was also a dining car with seats and food. At the start of the journey the train was not full so we could easily move around and chat to our fellow passengers.
We left Narvick in the afternoon and quickly climbed up the steep sides of the fjord. We looked backwards and saw the bridge being built across the mouth of the fjord. Impressive.
At the end of the fjord we travelled along a high plateau with snow and isolated settlements.
The train stopped at a village near the border for a very long time. The doors were opened so that the smokers could get out. We took the opportunity of stepping out – they rapidly changed our minds – so chilly and so exposed.
We visited the dining car to check out the dinner situation, and booked ourselves a reindeer stew !
It is morning, we realised we had slept through the midnight sun on a train ! The scenery has changed and now we were in the forest.
We wander down to the dining car to get hot water for tea and find that the train is now 7 hours late. SEVEN. Apparently there was a great electricity outage in Sweden and our train is low in importance, we are just not slightly late, we are really late. So, breakfast is free. We had an interesting collection of things, as the train was a bit low on food. This was handled very well, they phoned ahead and got a local shop to deliver to one of the stations and we had plenty of drinks and rolls.
More people have got on the train overnight, some are a bit stressed, others are going with the flow.
At Gavle we got off the train and on to buses. At the front of each bus as a basket of rolls and a box of drinks – we were being kept well fed.
The bus journey was uneventful and we arrived in Stockholm 8 hrs late. Not s big problem for us as we have a few days here, but for people catching a plane was a stressful time.
Next – Sweden – Sweden is a shock, an introduction
or
Back – to Europe in 2016
Next – Stockholm YHA if you want to see Sweden
A review of Norway, would we go again, what would we do differently.
Visited Norway again in 2024, see here (to be added)