UKC

I'm travelling to Haugestol, Norway on Sunday 16th March for a course that starts on the Monday. My dilemma is this....

I land at 1045hrs and the only direct train leaves Oslo Sentrum at 1201hrs. That's a direct train that takes 4 1/2 hours. If I miss that I have around 14hrs of travel arriving at gone 0200 the next day.

Does anyone have experience of travelling through that airport and has an opinion as to whether the following are doable.

Get lucky and take the 1130 Flytoget train to Sentrum for 1152. How difficult is it to get the right platform for the main train?
Or even tighter, get the 1140 Flytoget train arriving at 1159hrs with just two minutes to get across the station for the main train.

Sensible answers from anyone who's used these routes before would be really appreciated.

Diolch,

N

In reply to Nigel R Lewis:

Some of the gates at Oslo Gardermoen are quite a distance from the exit to the railway station, but you should have no trouble making it to the 11:30 flytog if you land at 10:45. From memory, it's easy to get to the correct platform for the flytog to Oslo Sentrum. Signage in the airport and the station are excellent, and often in Englsh as well as Norwegian.

I wouldn't try making it across Oslo Sentrum to catch your train to Haugestol in 2 minutes. That is not a goer. Even nine minutes is going to be tight, I am afraid, but it's doable if you keep an eye out. Try going to the Norwegian railway website www.nsb.no, which will probably tell you what platform your train leaves from, so you can plan ahead.

On the subject of the return journey, I advise getting to Gardermoen as early as possible, as there always seem to be disconcertingly long queues at the security barriers.

Hopefully none of this is teaching granny to suck eggs. I am jealous that you are off to Norway!

In reply to Greg:

Thanks Greg, that's exactly the sort of info I'm after.

N

In reply to Nigel R Lewis:

you'll be able to shave a few minutes off the time to get on the Flytoget train by using a credit card at the entrance gates of the station to buy your ticket. just swipe your card and away you go. no queuing at the ticket booths or wrestling with ticket machines.

In reply to Nigel R Lewis:

I agree with Greg and kingborris. In my experience Gardermoen is pretty efficient (even the security check queues move pretty quickly). If your flight is on time (and you haven't checked baggage in) you should make the 1130 Flytoget.

To get to the station entrance you come out of the arrivals door, turn right and head right down to the end of building to the ticket machines and escalator down to the platform. To get into Oslo it's usually the righthand platform as you descend.

The trains alternate to Oslo S and Drammen but both stop at Oslo S, so don't worry.

In reply to Nigel R Lewis:

Gardermoen airport is not a large airport, and this should go fine.
Two possible problems:
Delayed airplane... Not much you do about that.
Baggage reclaim... Normally done in appr. 10 minutes. I assume you can't travel with hand baggage only as you will need lots of winter gear at Haugastøl at winter. If you carry some kind of special baggage like skis, these are delivered at another place than the conveyor belt, and will normally take longer time to be delivered.

Once you have got your baggage, walk out through customs and head immediatly to right, 150 meters and take the escalator down one floor and you are on the platform for the flytoget.
Easiest way to pay is to use your credit card when entering the escalator. This is unassisted service, just mark your destination as Oslo S. Will cost you appr 20 £.
From the baggage reclaim area to the the train you should not use more than 5 minutes.

At Oslo Sentralstation it is possible to get from the flytoget to the train to Haugastøl in 2-3 minutes, provided you know the platform number for this train. All lines/platform is connected with an underground corridor directly from the platform. Down in the corridor there is signs with information of which trains that are the next to leave from each platform. Your train will have the destination Bergen.
The platform for trains to Bergen will usually be at low number, 3 to 7, but it can be changed due to trafic issues.

If you take the standard exit from the platform to the main entrance hall in Oslo S, there is a large information board diaplaying all in- and outgoing trains with departure time and platform number. Look for the train to Bergen.
Even with this small detour to the entrance hall, you should manage the shift from flytoget to the Haugastøl train in 5-6 minutes.
Tickets to the train can be bought on board the train, but then with an extra fee. Otherwise this can be bought at the entrace hall or online at https://www.nsb.no/en/

In reply to Nigel R Lewis:

Thanks all, this is really helpful stuff.
I'm very grateful.

N

In reply to Nigel R Lewis:

You are in with a chance but 10:45 is when the wheels hit the tarmac. 5 minutes to taxi to the gate, 5 to open the doors, 5 to get off the plane and 5 to get through passport control (get a seat near the front). But the baggage handlers will decide it, just depends on how many flights are in at the same time as yours.

Once you've got your bags, straight out through customs and turn right, Flytog gates are down the far end, you'll see a big sign showing how many minutes until the next train - 2 minutes is what you need. Swipe your card to save time, you'll be shown a list of stations, hit Oslo S and the barrier will open. Escalators to the left, lifts to the right.

Good luck!

In reply to AndyC:

That's about right! Cheers.

N