Why Do Trains Travel On The Left?
Next time you board a train on a double-track railway, notice which side of the tracks the train runs.
In the UK, the trains are virtually all driven from the left-hand seat and the trains go on the left. A lot of this is tradition, as early trains had to be compatible with existing traffic in the early days of trains. As the British helped built French railways, they followed our lead, as did many countries under British influence. Metro systems, which tend to run on streets at times, have to be compatible with road traffic, so they could be on the right. There’s a detailed explanation in Wikipedia here. This paragraph sums up a lot.
In France, for instance, cars keep to the right, but the first train lines were built by British engineers, so kept to the left. The Paris RER trains keep left, but the Paris Metro was designed to run on the right. Another anomaly occurs in the Alsace-Moselle region, where trains keep to the right because the lines were built in the late 19th century when Alsace-Moselle was part of Germany. Bridges at the former border allow the trains to swap sides. High-speed TGV trains, however, operate on dedicated lines which were built more recently, but they keep left because they interface with older lines.
The question was asked by our guide in Sweden. He had noticed that main line trains in Sweden run on the left and that most Metro systems run on the right, except for Stockholm, which runs on the left.
Wikipedia says that in Sweden trains generally run on the left except for Malmo and further south.
I uspect that the Stockholm Metro is on the left, as it was built in the 1940s when Sweden drove on the left and thus was following the more or less universal Metro compatibility rule. The first line was also converted from a underground tramway, which would of course be compatible with road traffic.
So we’re still left with the Malmo anomaly in Sweden.
We Need A Duty-Free By-Pass At Airports
Oslo Airport had one of the largest duty free areas I’ve seen in a long time. It was very crowded too, with passengers trailing cases and carrying overflowing baskets.
I found it difficult to walk through and it was a completely wasted few minutes, that I could have spent much better.
It’s all totally pointless, as if duty-free was banned on flights and passengers bought their duty free as they arrived in a country, airlines wouldn’t waste fuel flying all that useless junk around the skies.
I wonder how much duty free contributes to global warming?
The EU should make it the law, that every airport has a by-pass for those, who don’t want to buy any duty-free.
And was there anything to eat that was gluten-free in the airport? I didn’t see anything that was!
Oslo’s Tourist And Transport Information
There is a lot of transport information in Oslo, but much of it, is not really geared at tourists and especially those that walk everywhere like me. Here’s some examples.
Note that the bus timing information is in the stop itself and the clock in the train information.
But there were no walking maps and you needed to have a paper guide or book in your hand.
Mind The Gap – Norwegian Style
As I got into the Metro train to go away from the stop at the Munch Museum, I thought I heard the familiar phrase from the London Underground – Mind the Gap.
There was this picture on the train window.
Mind The Gap – Norwegian Style
However, when I took the Airport Express it was more obvious.
MInd The Gap On Airport Express
This article from Wikipedia explains the worldwide use of the phrase, but Oslo doesn’t get a mention.
Exploring Oslo
The hotel I was in, wasn’t bad, but it was in the wrong position, as the web site said it was ten minutes from the centre. I assumed that was walking, but it was by car or taxi and there wasn’t any Metro station nearby. However I took a bus to the centre and friendly young lady, told me to get off at the National Theatre.
Norwegian National Theatre
It was a good place to start, as a lot of the museums and other places to see are around that area. There was also a customer service centre, where I was able to buy a 24-hour ticket for the trains, trams, buses and ferries. It is also a station from which you get the train to the airport.
One thing about Norwegian and Swedish for that matter, is that a lot of the words can be guessed. For instance the stop for the Nation Theatre is Nationaltheatret. At least the Norwegian National Theatre is more centrally placed than ours in London.
From the theatre, I walked around for an hour or so, until I got to the National Gallery, as I wanted to see the Munch paintings.
Norwegian National Gallery
At the moment there is a celebration of Edvard Munch, so I bought a ticket for the two venues at both the National Gallery and the Munch Museum.
A Crazy Train Ride
it should have been very easy.
I was dropped back at Vasteras station and then all I had to do was take a train to Hallsberg, where I would get a fast train to Oslo, where I would arrive around nine o’clock. The aim was to then spent a day in Oslo, coming home on the Wednesday to London by British Airways.
The first part of the journey was uneventful, except that to me it seemed that no-one had adjusted the heating system on the train I got to Hallsberg. But it was in time to get my connection to Oslo at 17:06.
Hallsberg was a station that was the mix of old and new and had a wide bridge over the tracks like Reading and other rebuilt stations in the UK.
Hallsberg Station
But the train that arrived to take me to Oslo had seen better days. But if I thought that was a bad train, we were then informed that we’d be changing to another train to continue our journey.
Changing Trains
The new train was one of the worst I’d travelled on in the last couple of years and I’ve even been on a Pacer that was in better condition. None of the toilets were working.
No Toilets Were Working
All of this game of musical trains was because there works on the lines and they had to get the passengers through on only one line.
Eventually, we got to Kongsvinger, where Swedish Railways had assured us the fast train to Oslo would have been held.
But it hadn’t been held, so about fifty of us gathered in the waiting room at about eleven. Luckily, I had details of my hotel in Oslo and was able to get them on the telephone to assure them I was on my way. But I know others weren’t so lucky, as they hadn’t any rooms to go to in Oslo. They’d just hoped they’d get there early enough to find one.
Customer service was non-existent and even the toilets needed a credit card. Luckily a forceful Swede knew how to fix them, so everybody could have a much-needed pee.
Eventually, a train arrived and although it was fairly new and very clean, it wasn’t the fastest, as it crawled its way to Oslo.
A Train Arrives
It was an enjoyable journey though, as the Swede was handing out beer to fellow passengers, who included a teacher from Devon and his German girlfriend. Just as we did on that memorable night in Venice, we enjoyed ourselves and put the world to rights.
I got into Oslo about midnight and wandered around for perhaps half-an-hour until I found a taxi to take me to my hotel.
The Advantage Of A Full Beard
My bathroom in Pensionat Udden was shared.
This was no disadvantage for me, as all I need in the morning is a shower, a clean of my teeth and a good scratch of my face to be ready for the day.
However, it would all have been different, if I’d had to have a shave every morning.
But of course with a full beard, I don’t!
Searching For Beavers
After settling in to the guest house and having supper, we went searching for beaver in electric-powered rubber boats.
I found that I could see them in the water using a pair of borrowed binoculars, but they were rather too far away to photograph.
Beavers in Sweden are very much a success story and they are now very numerous compared to say fifty years ago. One of the best glimpses we got, was later whilst driving to see wolves, one was swimming along the shore of a lake bordering the road.
Strange Packaging
I always buy a new deodorant and toothpaste when I fly, as that means i don’t have to separate out all the bottles from my hand luggage.
Strange Packaging
This odd-shaped packaging for a deodorant was silly, as it won’t stand upright.
But why is it I can’t buy a small deodorant, toothpaste and perhaps shampoo in a chemist, after I’ve passed through the security checks. That sounds like someone is missing an opportunity. Perhaps Boots should march in.
After all Departure Areas of airports, are places you can buy loads of expensive things, you don’t need or even want and only a few affordable things that you do.
Enjoyable travel for me, is partly about carrying as little as you can.
The Anonymous Widower 