The case in summary Eirik Remo has been commuting by train between Asker and Oslo for 15 years, but has now bought an apartment in Oslo due to constant delays and cancellations. He describes the train commute as frustrating and stressful, and believes the problems have worsened over time. So far this year, there have been 2,699 hours of delay on the Drammen line alone. Remo and his wife plan to live in the Oslo apartment during the weekdays and in Asker at the weekends. He believes that it is not a solution for everyone, but that it was necessary for them as they could not trust the train. Anne Kirkhusmo at Bane Nor points to several reasons for the delays and settings, including the winter’s extreme weather, missing train sets and several errors on trains and signals. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAI. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. – It has only gotten worse. Actually, I have bad experiences from day one. Over the years there have always been problems. Eirik Remo (57) lives in Asker and works in Oslo. For over 15 years, he has commuted by train the roughly 25 kilometers between home and work. It has not always gone smoothly. – Signal errors, settings and cancellations. After all, it’s daily. The fact that the train is not precise causes so many tracking errors – for so many, he says. – You can’t trust Vy. All the delays are just embarrassing. Planning for delays and hoping the train will arrive won’t do. Photo: Henning Rønhovde / news Hytte i byen Now he can’t take any more commuting chaos, delays and bus for train. Instead, it will be “house for train”. Two weeks ago, he and his wife bought an apartment at Torshov in Oslo. The plan: Oslo on weekdays. Go to work. At home in Asker at weekends. – Is this particularly economical, then? – No, it’s deer. Eirik Remo and his wife choose to live at the “cottage” at Torshov in Oslo during the weekdays, and at home in Asker at the weekends. Photo: Henning Rønhovde / news He does not want to go out with the sum, but says “we are highly leveraged”. – We are willing to take the cost for a few years to see what it is like. Some choose to buy a cabin in the mountains. We chose a cabin in the city. That’s how we solved the problem that comes from commuting. Vy has experienced a storm of complaints this year, and may end up with almost 120,000 complaints from dissatisfied customers. Eirik Remo does not look forward to life as a train commuter … Photo: Henning Rønhovde / news – We maintain and renew continuously Anne Kirkhusmo is the press officer at Bane Nor. She points to various reasons for the delays and the settings this year: The winter’s extreme weather with lots of snow, cold and wind Several major events Missing train sets Several errors on trains and several signal errors – We of course apologize that we cannot always deliver the offer that we should. Anne Kirkhusmo at Bane Nor apologizes. Photo: Moment Studio She says there has been a strong increase in train traffic over time. – Good for the environment, but more wear and tear on the infrastructure. With so much old infrastructure, over 90% single track and so many trains on the rails, a single fault spreads to several trains and often has major consequences. – How are you going to solve the daily delay hours? – We maintain and renew continuously, and are happy that the politicians will allocate more money for this, replies Kirkhusmo. Only on the Drammen line so far this year, there have been 2,699 hours of delay. Photo: Henning Rønhovde / news Is afraid the train delays are going beyond the grades A couple of weeks ago, news presented statistics from Bane Nor. Until 27 September, the trains on the Drammen line alone have a total of 2,699 hours of delay. That corresponds to close to 10 hours every single day. The case about train delays engaged news’s readers, who among other things wrote: Tilde Kristoffersen Olsen (16) lives in Ullern. She commutes from Lysaker in Oslo to the city center to get to Kongshavn upper secondary school in the Nordstrand district. It’s just a monkey. Train trouble. Tilde Kristoffersen Olsen travels a lot by train – and often experiences delays that affect school and leisure time. Photo: Private – It is very often delays that cause me to be late for school and give remarks. Now she is worried about the consequences. – I’m afraid I might end up without a grade in the subject I’m late for, and not get it on my diploma. – What happens then? – Then I have to take up the subject again. Go year round again. It’s stupid. I want to finish like everyone else in my class. It is very stressful. From 2022 to 2023, the number of journeys with Vy’s trains in Eastern Norway increased by 19 per cent, or 9 million journeys. On the route R13 Drammen to Dal, there was a total of 8,346,318 total journeys. Photo: Henning Rønhovde / news Thinks the train problems have gotten worse “Many times I took the wrong train to the right place”, philosophized the writer Jules Verne. But the daily train commuters don’t have the time or patience for that. Neither does Remo. – I had a car when junior went to kindergarten. Then I didn’t dare to bet on the train to pick him up, he says from almost bitter experience. Remo says that it was “frustrating” to come to the nursery after closing time, time and time again, where an employee was waiting with his son, due to train trouble. The same when he was going to change jobs, and people are waiting for you. – When I started commuting, there were also problems. But not as often or as large as now, he notes. Eirik says it is important not to let “train mind” go beyond the psyche. Photo: Henning Rønhovde / news Remo believes that the problems have gradually worsened, and that there have been especially many of them after the summer holidays. – There were promises of improvements when I started commuting. There are promises now. But it hasn’t worked in the last 15 years, and I don’t think it will work in the next 15 years either. Eirik Remo says that he is looking forward to a slightly less stressful everyday life, without train commuting. Photo: Henning Rønhovde / news – Is the solution a commuter apartment? – It is not a matter of course for everyone. And it has cost us. But when we can’t trust the train and it goes beyond everyday life… So, there’s talk of a solution in 2030. Then I’m getting close to retirement age! That’s why I’m doing something about it now. Now I can go to work, not have to wait for the train, have more free time – I think this will be good! concludes Remo. Published 24.10.2024, at 06.03
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