Why trains in eastern Norway fail to meet punctuality targets
State-owned Bane Nor will likely fail to meet its punctuality targets for services out of eastern Norway, with several factors behind the problems.
Norway’s Bane Nor set itself the goal of having a punctuality rate of 85 percent. However, the newspaper Aftenposten reports that the rail operator will likely miss its target.
Currently, the punctuality rate is set at around 82.1 percent. However, in mid-December, the punctuality sits at about 72 percent.
Bane Nor defines punctuality as trains that arrive no more than three minutes and 59 seconds late to the terminus.
Issues with punctuality on several passenger and commercial services mean that Bane Nor is unlikely to meet any of its punctuality targets.
Recent problems with delayed and cancelled departures have been due to a number of factors, including the weather and signalling errors.
“We fully understand that train customers are not satisfied with the train traffic last week and today. Nor are we,” Lars Berge from Avinor told Aftenspoten.
Meanwhile, Bane Nor has said that increased train traffic in eastern Norway was putting the rail network under more significant pressure, which is an issue that affects punctuality year-round.
The increased traffic causes wear and tear on Norway’s rail network, meaning repairs and maintenance are required more frequently.
Berge explained that Norway’s railway infrastructure is quite old and is a fusion of technology from the 60s and 90s.
This is used to explain why trains in Norway don’t have the same reputation for arriving on time as those in Japan and Switzerland.
“Their infrastructure is better developed, which means that they have, among other things, more opportunities for detours. This makes the railway more robust,” Berge explained.
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Norway’s Bane Nor set itself the goal of having a punctuality rate of 85 percent. However, the newspaper Aftenposten reports that the rail operator will likely miss its target.
Currently, the punctuality rate is set at around 82.1 percent. However, in mid-December, the punctuality sits at about 72 percent.
Bane Nor defines punctuality as trains that arrive no more than three minutes and 59 seconds late to the terminus.
Issues with punctuality on several passenger and commercial services mean that Bane Nor is unlikely to meet any of its punctuality targets.
Recent problems with delayed and cancelled departures have been due to a number of factors, including the weather and signalling errors.
“We fully understand that train customers are not satisfied with the train traffic last week and today. Nor are we,” Lars Berge from Avinor told Aftenspoten.
Meanwhile, Bane Nor has said that increased train traffic in eastern Norway was putting the rail network under more significant pressure, which is an issue that affects punctuality year-round.
The increased traffic causes wear and tear on Norway’s rail network, meaning repairs and maintenance are required more frequently.
Berge explained that Norway’s railway infrastructure is quite old and is a fusion of technology from the 60s and 90s.
This is used to explain why trains in Norway don’t have the same reputation for arriving on time as those in Japan and Switzerland.
“Their infrastructure is better developed, which means that they have, among other things, more opportunities for detours. This makes the railway more robust,” Berge explained.
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