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The number of trains between Oslo and Bergen set to be slashed 

Frazer Norwell
Frazer Norwell - [email protected]
The number of trains between Oslo and Bergen set to be slashed 
The number of daily departures between Bergen and Oslo. Pictured is Bergen train station. Photo by Vidar Nordli-Mathisen on Unsplash

The number of daily train departures between Norway's two biggest cities, Oslo and Bergen, will be cut towards the end of the summer, Vy has said.

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Departures on the Bergen Line will be cut by a third, from six daily departures to four, operator Vy has announced. 

Vy is cutting the number of daily trains as it believes its passenger base will shrink following the summer. The government-owned company added that the pandemic has changed travel habits, with the number of those who use trains yet to stabilise. 

"We envision that we will gradually increase to the level we had before the pandemic, but the foundation is not there yet," Åge-Christoffer Lundeby, communications manager for Vy, told public broadcaster NRK

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However, the cuts are yet to be finalised as Vy needs to negotiate the number of daily departures it will offer with the Norwegian Railway Directorate. This will happen in August and September. 

The Norwegian Nature Conservancy has reacted strongly to the news and said that more train departures are needed rather than less. 

READ ALSO: Five stunning train trips to take in Norway this summer

"It is the opposite of what I need. Now there is a need to cut air traffic to reduce greenhouse gas emissions," Holger Schlaupitz from the Norwegian Nature Conservancy told NRK. 

He added that now was the time for the company to invest rather than strip back services. 

"It is actually time for Vy to invest, and try to get those passengers who may be on their way back to the plane onto the train," he said. 

Flights between Oslo and Bergen is one of the busiest air routes in Europe, with around 18 daily departures. 

Lundeby argues that running more services with fewer passengers would be more harmful to the environment.

"It is less environmentally friendly to run many departures with few passengers than to run a few departures with more passengers," Lundeby said.

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