​Flytoget invited to run regional trains in eastern Norway

NORWAY: Jernbanedirektoratet has invited airport express operator Flytoget to bid for a contract to run regional passenger services on a package of routes radiating from Oslo.

Following the decision by the new government to end the competitive tendering of train operating concessions, Jernbanedirektoratet was was commissioned by the Ministry of Transport & Communications to enter into directly awarded contracts with either Vy Group or Flytoget to run services in the east of the country from 2023. These will replace the Lot 4 and Lot 5 concessions, for which tendering was cancelled in November 2021.

‘We think it is positive for the development of train services to have two strong state-owned train companies’, explained Director Knut Sletta. ‘If the negotiations result in the train services in eastern Norway being shared between Vy and Flytoget, we assume that the companies will co-operate and find joint solutions that are best for the customers.’ The objective is to provide a better service for customers which is also cheaper for the state and well co-ordinated with other public transport.

Jernbanedirektoratet has selected Vy as preferred negotiator for the Østlandet 1 package, and has opened discussions with Flytoget for the Østlandet 2 routes. The operator currently has a contract to run airport express trains from Drammen and Oslo to Gardermoen until February 1 2028, and the directorate believes that integrating regional trains with the airport services would enable better capacity utilisation. The direct award would also incorporate provision for continued operation of the airport services beyond 2028.

The directorate is required to ensure equal treatment of the two state-owned operators. Following initial discussions, Flytoget will be invited to submit a formal offer for the Østlandet 2 package which will form the basis of final negotiations.

‘Flytoget has historically had a very high and stable customer satisfaction rate and has been very successful in developing solutions that provide easy everyday travel for passengers’, Sletta added.

Describing the decision as ‘perhaps the most important news in Flytoget’s nearly 25-year history’, the operator said it was ‘a unique opportunity to raise the standard of the train service in eastern Norway. Our clear ambition is for customers to notice a difference from day one. We feel confident that many small measures will be able to make a big difference.