For armchair travelers like myself, your videos are a godsend. Thanks for sharing your trips with us. I live in the midwest of the US and I love "feeling" like I am seeing the world!
I'm in the UK and some of these clips have a feel of being right on my doorstep, certainly giving me thoughts about future travel plans...plenty of inspiration!
Me too, I live in the Blue Mountains in New South Wales Australia, the beautiful scenery reminded me of Canada. Love the train, it looked very modern, clean and comfortable. 🇦🇺
I have done the Arctic Express from Stockholm all the way to Narvik during winter. Beautiful, I spent most of the time looking out of the windows, all my train journeys are like that.
10:04 reason for that is that since this is a long distance train it doesn't stop so much, so they tell in advance that train is coming so you can get ready (especially in winter it can be helpful if you need to get on your winter jacket and so on) - i like that feature since i used long distance train for a while (i lived close to a station on Sørlandsbanen until recently). But really nice video, this is the only train that i haven't taken yet!
Well I can tell you about announcements. 5-6 minutes is usually the standard for long distance trains across Scandinavia as it allows people the right amount of time to package the stuff they've set up at their seat and be ready by the door in time to disembark. I mean the train won't wait if anyone is too slow to get off in time, thats their problem, not the train company's
@@drdewott9154 - yes, a rough estimation, which is absolutely unnecessarily longer then needed to be. :) Of course, in this case we are talking about a half second that will hurt no-one. But there are cases when more and more information is added this way and the announcements become almost useless in the end. :)
Thanks for filming northern Norway. I had no idea what to expect but your video shows how beautiful the landscape really is. (Also, wow, the toilet with that wall mural deserves a 5 star rating.)
Deployed there in 88 operation Northern Star I think.(it was a long time ago)It was the friendliest and warmest city I’ve ever been to. I will forever be grateful how well we were treated. VMFA 251(I was a Navy Corpsman assigned to the Marines) was my unit. Had a very expensive beer at a place called Bonaparte I think. Again we were treated so well it has kept Norway 🇳🇴 in my heart for over 35 years. Hope to return one more time. Thanks for posting.
8:13: The landscape changed because you climbed above 'treeline'. Once you go above a certain elevation (depending on the local climate and latitude), no trees will grow there. You could see this on the mountains you passed earlier; the further north you go, the lower the treeline on the mountains gets.
That's right. Even between Tromso and Narvik there were plenty of trees depending on the elevation. I think the artic circle line area on the video is on a plateau?
@@yasukiwi The railway (and the road E6) crosses the arctic circle on a mountain, called Saltfjellet, but it's not a very steep mountain, at least not where the rail line and road is
Too bad you missed out on the new seats on Sj's new premium class. New recliner seats with excellent comfort on both Trondheim- Bodø and Trondheim- Oslo 😅 Glad you enjoyed your trip north though 😁
Trondheim S is currently undergoing a massive redesign, the old ugly station will be basically torn down and entirely replaced with something bigger and better. Also, gotta apologize for the poor quality of trains up here! Norway massively lacks behind the European mainland when it comes to railways, but we are working on the problem🥲
The quality of what was seen in this clip suggests you aren't getting much wrong at the moment, but there is of course always room for improvement...offer the best and constantly strive to make it better, that is always the approach to take.
@@Northstander slow speeds, loads of single track and the long haul carriages are getting outdated. They are replacing the long haul trains in a few years though. Quite excited for the new trains that will probably be announced this or next year.
If I can only do one rail journey, this is it. So many talk about the Oslo-Bergen rail trip, but this is the one that I'd want to do when I visit Norway one day. It's just such beautiful scenery. Reminds me of the U.S. Northwest. Elsewhere on UA-cam, the entire trip is shown, and it's quite an amazing watch.
I did Oslo-Bergen and back (one in day, one overnight), Oslo-Trondheim in day, and then this same Nordlands Line but on the night train not the day (hey in NZ we don''t have any night trains so...) I did the trips in early january so I got the winter scenery. I would say both Oslo-Bergen and Oslo-Trondheim scenery is slightly better than this one (my subjective view of course) mostly because the other two include the fantastic mountain plateaus. But really any of them are great! Also there is the Narvik (further up the coast) over to Swedish west coast and down to Stockholm service too but that is disconnected with the rest of Norwegian rail system ie Bodo is the end of the line, and onwards to Narvik is by bus or rental car (maybe domestic flight).
@@podr0znik1 Yes I took the night train route in Winter up to Bodo from Trondheim. Train came in about 20-30mins before departure so time to make oneself comfortable onboard. Was operated by same Di4 series. Of course no scenery for most of the trip but cool to see the snow coming down outside, and the quiet platforms at stations on the way during the night. Cosy feeling! There is a bluish light for the last part of the trip so you see a bit of a fjord near Bodo at the end. The good thing about the night train is the arrival was at 9.15am and basically the length of the trip was perfect for the night train (ie enough time to really sleep and not too early arrival) compared to slightly shortish time of the Olso-Bergen night train. The scenery on the fjord near Bodo was also very nice. I am glad I later took a local service during the daylight hours.
Another wonderful video! Thanks for doing this one. I've wanted to see this for a long time. This makes me want to take this trip. And yes, it does resemble Alaska quite a bit.
I did this trip around 1981, I drove from Oslo to Bodo, stopping off at a few places en route. (Then on to Sweden back via Mo-I-Rana). The sceneary is eye opening, as we crossed the Artic Circle everythign (except the road) was covered in deep snow. Thrilling trip, midnight sun with no night darkness, would love to do it again, by train would be great option.
I am so looking forward to taking this train. You probably know that there are cabview videos produced by VY of the whole 10+ hour trip, four of them, one for each of the seasons. I've watched those videos repeatedly so it's nice to have a sense of what the interior of the train etc is like. Thank you!
Gosh, it was nice to see this line again, I last rode it on the 11 September 1988!! I have just found the certificate given by the Station Master at Bodo signed by 'Jack Frost' giving me freedom of the Artic Circle!!! A magical journey, and ever changing scenery, and seem to recall being above the tree line as so bleak. Your video has bought back many memories, same locos and stock looking better now.
Oh so you traveled on a section of the Meraker Line too. I traveled on the entire Meraker line from Trondheim to Storlien, Sweden onboard a Class 93 DMU over the summer and thought Hell station was quite a funny name! ;D The views along the fjord was stunning!
They are electrifying the Meraker line at moment so I think unfortunately there are not train services available but in the near future there will be electric trains through to Sweden which is a nice alternative to normal routes Oslo-Stockholm or Narvik-Boden in the North.
Went to Norway several years ago. I have a friend that lives in Bodø. We drove from Trondheim to Bodø. It was during the summer. We didn’t have a true midnight sun, but it got dusky for several hours. Weird thing if you never experienced it.
Ah the wonderful sound og GM two-stroke engines! The Norwegian locomotives are quite similar to the now retired Danish class ME locomotives except for the exterior design
I've just returned from making the same trip north as far as Fauske and then the full return from Bodo to Trondheim, and then to Oslo. There were some significant differences, particularly on the southern journey, where the train stopped five times including once for 20 minutes to allow trains to pass. This added a combined 70 minutes onto the journey and meant the night train from Trondheim to Oslo had to wait for us - leaving 8 minutes alte from Trondheim. On the return journey there was an announcemt to say when we were crossing the Arctic Circle and the train slowed to allow us a view of the marker - the cairn between the train and the building at 18:10 in your video. For anyone wanting to go further North you change at Fauske to a bus service (the 100) to Narvik, where you can also pick up the line to Abisko and Sweden. It was also worth noting that when I ordered food (A moose burger), this was freshly cooked in an over, not a microwave.
Hell is a nice place to visit.. They have a genuine Gods expedition there. :D Norwegian trainlines are just amazingly beautiful to travel on. And reasonably priced as well.
Great video! Normally they also serve you a nice little breakfast in premium class, on this morning departure. And they do offer warm dishes in the dining car as well.
Nice Trip Report! They used to announce the crossing of the polar circle, did they stop that? Whats also interesting: big parts of the line are fenced in to prevent accidents with Elk and reindeer. There used to be a rifle onboard the locomotives to be able to end the suffering of animals that were hit. but due to more strict gun laws the rifles disappeared
I really enjoyed the quality of your video, congratulations. The beauty of the landscapes are simply stunning. It really makes you want to go on a trip to see Norway by train. Congratulations Bernard Babin, railway enthusiast Levis, Quebec, CANADA
Hi, there. Thanks for the awesome content you put up for us. We see plenty of your trips through Europe and the US/Canada. How about some new adventure rail trips on some of the less trodden railroads? South Africa to Dar Es Salaam, Ethiopia, Kenya, Ethiopia to Djibouti, South East Asia, China, India, etc. They might not be as fancy as those European ones, but I think would make for some memorable adventure railing for you and your viewers. The world is bigger than just Europe and North America, brother. Give us more.
Thanks Thibault. Another fine video. have been on most of the Norwegian routes but when they were all NSB (now VY) a few years ago. I went in Winter, and the Winter scenery is of course completely different, and no less stunning, especially for a Kiwi who never sees the snow even in Winter in his home city. Yeah the free coffee was great (on NSB it was called Komfort Class and only 100NOK more than regular class fare), I noticed on the local train services in Bodo there was also a paid hot drink and snack machine. Great for a local service! Don't know whether you saw, as it wasn't mentioned on the video, but there is currently an electrification project from Trondheim to the Swedish border (you may have seen the tracks split off to the Merkanerbahnen just before the bridge over the river to the town of Hell, and Trondheim Airport, and you may have seen some OLE infrastructure after leaving Trondheim) so in the distant future we will see electric locos on at least the southern part of the Nordlandsbahnen. The Swedish line linking to the Merkanerbahnen has already been electrified for some time. It's a nice alternative way to go between Stockholm and Trondheim and v.v. Or it will be when the Norwegian side electrification is done. Also, I noticed when I travelled on the NSB services, and also at normal food outlets like BK in Trondheim etc that there was a surcharge for eating in compared to takeaway. Now that SJ took over the service, was that still in place? I never saw this surcharge anywhere else in Europe, and not in japan, US, India etc on rail trips. Finally at Bodo Station firstly on the top top floor there was a cafe with nice sweet treats, and the left part of the building was a youth hostel, so very convenient for those on a budget. I wonder whether those have survived covid?
Nordlandsbanen is one of the 2 railways linies I have't been on yet, the other is Rörosbanen. In Fauske you can take a bus to Narvik then take the Iron railway (Malmbanan) back south on the Swedish side. Btw you should take a trip on the Inlandsbanan (if you haven't done it yet) some summer.
The Flirt class 76 is not a DMU, but a bi-modal DEMU. Parts of the rail network north of Trondheim is being electrified now, so they will run more and more electric and diesel only where necessary.
The catanary will extend even further to storlien Sweden and to Trondheim Airport Because of the electrification project of the nordlandabanen and meråkerbanen to storlien swedeen
The Stockholm-Luleå night train can also go even further north to Narvik in Norway. This is one of if not THE northernest train line in the world and is operated by Norwegian VY. This will definitely be the northernest train you’ve ever taken!
Yeah and great scenery leaving Narvik and then along the top of the fjord! Pity this line is not connected to the Norwegian system at Bodo. There were plans to go further than Bodo and the work was started but never got far. Maybe one day!
Great video; what a discovery for me! I knew nothing of these Italian heritage trains. I definitely must try them. Grazie! PS: try to stress these two words on the first syllable: PAdova - Adige.
I have never seen anyone do a review on nord, I remember I only went on it once on a really scenic ride across the hills and waterfalls, it was part of a cruise trip from Fred oslen, also I remember the vending and coffee machines on like a 20 min journey 😂 views are somewhat once in a life time 🤩
Thank you for that upload! beautiful scenery. I am actually planning to take this train to Bodo, then bus to Narwik and Lofoten, and then come back with a train from Narvik to Stockholm
Wooewwww ❤ Amazing journey and beautiful train ..... My brother is in Oslo... Greetings from Indian railfan. Keep in touch always... Waiting for hearing from you
Great video! But again, as in so many modern trains, and despite being otherwise a comfortable and well designed train: Seats without window access (even in the 1. class). I find this outrageous, particulary if one considers the epic views! At least they could have used the windowless space for luggage storage or something like that.
18:07 I think the scenery change has more to do with the altitude than with latitude. I remember crossing the Arctic circle in Norway on a bus many years ago. The bus stopped near the visitor/tourist center and the area around it looked just the way I imagined the Arctic before coming there - no trees, only some shrubs, rocks and patches of snow (it was late June). But going further north the road descends and you can see trees and grass again. I even saw lawns around homes in Alta and people enjoying sunny weather in their gardens (it was around +20C). But north of Alta pines and spruce disappear and only short birches can be seen. Some 50 kilometers south of Nordkapp begins typical tundra if I remember correctly. Of course a railway line doesn't change altitude as quickly as a road does.
It can get disgustingly hot in Nortern Norway. If you ever wonder which sucks the most, -35 or +35, the North will give you both and expect you to ask for more! :D
One train I recommend is the Krösatågen Y2 between Linköping and Kalmar. I have personally never ridden on one, but from images I’ve seen it may be one of the most comfortable DMUs I’ve ever seen!
We did the Hurtigruten sea return between Bergen and Kirkenes. On the return it was a Beaufort Gale 12. No risk of that. Another fantastic video. The only problem with Norway is the ridiculously expensive prices. 👍🏻🏴
@@yasukiwi Those prices will get worse as Norway is earning billions of U.S. Dollars (currently the strongest currency) as all fossil fuels are sold as huge windfall profits from it’s sale of gas and oil to Europe. Decades ago in 1987 a kitchen knife was cheaper than a sandwich in their Co-op supermarket which is a good place to buy the cheapest food in Scandinavia. Then people were subsided to inhabit the areas north of the Arctic Circle. Unfortunately that area has then had the highest incidence of violent crime and suicide related to alcohol and depression. Norway and Sweden’s political Parties introduced a type of Prohibition intended to bring widespread alcohol abuse under State control. As a consequence alcohol is prohibitively expensive. In Sweden it is solid in the State controlled outlets called Systemboglet in brown paper bags!. Only lager etcetera under 3%? can be purchased in supermarkets. As a result Swedes go on Booze Cruises to Finland or like Norwegians were to be seen drunk and worse for wear. How Sweden circumvents E.U. liquor sales is a mystery to myself. Unfortunately we in Britain inherited that ridiculous Viking habit of overindulgence to the regret and shame of some of us. Of course it might be related to our colder climate as opposed to the warmer wine areas. 👍🏻🏴🇫🇷 👍🏻🏴
@@Backwardlooking Yeah I saw the state liquor outlets in Sweden. I think Estonia is also a popular booze cruise for them too. I've been to Iceland a couple of times too (excellent country) and they also have the same state liquor outlet system as well. For a pretty small capital city, Reykyavik has a bit of a rep for getting rowdy on a Sat nite too with alcohol (although not only fault of Icelanders I heard).
@@yasukiwi Thanks. I omitted to mention that Denmark is a popular spot for especially young men from Norway and Sweden to get blind drunk. As regards their Governments if you treat your population as incapable of behaving sensibly that is the result. And as regards beyond the Arctic Circle Norway especially has a problem with illegal Moonshine stills that were widespread during America’s Prohibition. Organised Crime took-off there and now it is the same in Scandinavia with ruthless Balkan drug gangs.
18:45 This is Saltdalsfjorden (Saltdal Fjord) and it's about 5-10 min until you reach to the part where Skjerstadfjorden (Skjerstad Fjord) begins. These two fjords together is called Saltfjorden (Salt Fjord)
I suppose that the announcement 5-6 minutes prior to the Station is because the passengers might be so relaxed and chilled or dozing given the scenery and long intervals between Stations. Going back decades Norway and Sweden introduced compulsory vehicle sidelights because of the same reasons; tired drivers misjudging the distances of the equally rare oncoming traffic. I can speak from experience as regards that; and overtaking an enormous timber truck with it’s two long log-stacked trailers with another one approaching!. 👍🏻🏴
I took this route a few years ago, although unfortunately I didn't get to see much because it was the night service (albeit during summer, so there was still light). I guess if you return during the winter, that will be the light level you can expect.
So basically in most of Scandinavia there is not too big a difference between first and other classes. It’s mostly to do with the available service rather than seating.
More outstanding landscape 😂👍👍 Like to be profoundly happy too !!! Maybe they made some special investigation and stats showed 5 to 6 mins, funny task for students Wrecked by kids? 😂😂
Yeah, went there in August, great trip! The train got 2 hours delay so we missed the day's only connecting bus to Narvik, however kudos to SJ Nord, they provided us with a free taxi that raced with us to catch up with the bus all the way at the ferry in Bognes (160 km, halfway to Narvik!!). :)
Reminds me a lot of our trip from Oslo to Bergen. Wondering if there were many tunnels on this route? We were amazed at how many tunnels we went through during our stay in Norway.
The B5 coaches are from the late 70s/early 80s. They originally had a traditional open layout like the open three series coaches, and Minden-Deutz bogies. Bombardier rebuilt them ten years ago with bogies similar to the UK Voyager/class222/class172. The interiors were redesigned to be identical to the seven series coaches at the same time. I went on this line in April 2017. The Di4 locos are absolute beasts (and need to be)- here is video I took in April- imagine what it must be like in winter! What a stunning railway! ua-cam.com/video/G_OBIuGXWt8/v-deo.html
I'm not surprised that it took 80 years to build the line. I'd imagine once they got to Hell, Hela would have made it a bit difficult for the builders, as would the lost souls there.
Very nice video, however the idea of taking the route in the winter would basically mean a night trip: there are very few hours of daylight in the winter that far north, so not much of the scenery to see.
There is a 4-part series of videos taken from the driver's cab on this train--one in winter, summer, fall and spring. Amazing to see the way the terrain changes. Check it out. They are on UA-cam
For armchair travelers like myself, your videos are a godsend. Thanks for sharing your trips with us. I live in the midwest of the US and I love "feeling" like I am seeing the world!
Same here!
I'm in the UK and some of these clips have a feel of being right on my doorstep, certainly giving me thoughts about future travel plans...plenty of inspiration!
Me too, I live in the Blue Mountains in New South Wales Australia, the beautiful scenery reminded me of Canada. Love the train, it looked very modern, clean and comfortable. 🇦🇺
I live in southern Sweden and do the same thing. To my wife's consternation...
I have done the Arctic Express from Stockholm all the way to Narvik during winter. Beautiful, I spent most of the time looking out of the windows, all my train journeys are like that.
10:04 reason for that is that since this is a long distance train it doesn't stop so much, so they tell in advance that train is coming so you can get ready (especially in winter it can be helpful if you need to get on your winter jacket and so on) - i like that feature since i used long distance train for a while (i lived close to a station on Sørlandsbanen until recently). But really nice video, this is the only train that i haven't taken yet!
Norway is such a amazing country. Incredible breathtaking scenery.
Well I can tell you about announcements. 5-6 minutes is usually the standard for long distance trains across Scandinavia as it allows people the right amount of time to package the stuff they've set up at their seat and be ready by the door in time to disembark. I mean the train won't wait if anyone is too slow to get off in time, thats their problem, not the train company's
I think the question isn't "why" but "why 5-6 minutes". :) The announcement "we will arrive in 5 minutes" would do the same trick. :)
@@carthtc3429 Its rough estimation buddy. Semantics.
@@drdewott9154 - yes, a rough estimation, which is absolutely unnecessarily longer then needed to be. :) Of course, in this case we are talking about a half second that will hurt no-one. But there are cases when more and more information is added this way and the announcements become almost useless in the end. :)
Thanks for filming northern Norway. I had no idea what to expect but your video shows how beautiful the landscape really is. (Also, wow, the toilet with that wall mural deserves a 5 star rating.)
Thanks for filming my Train up home!
I've been excited for this video ever since you released a short from this journey!
Epic scenery! Love the exterior colors. Interior refurbishments well executed.
Thank you Thibault.😀😀💚
Deployed there in 88 operation Northern Star I think.(it was a long time ago)It was the friendliest and warmest city I’ve ever been to. I will forever be grateful how well we were treated. VMFA 251(I was a Navy Corpsman assigned to the Marines) was my unit. Had a very expensive beer at a place called Bonaparte I think. Again we were treated so well it has kept Norway 🇳🇴 in my heart for over 35 years. Hope to return one more time.
Thanks for posting.
always waiting for your video stay always blessed
I remember driving to the arctic circle and seeing the railtrack on what seems to be a arctic desert
As someone living near the equator, this feels like a magic land. Taking a trip on this route and on that Alaska railroad are my dream journeys.😍😍
Its been my experience in Norway during the winter riding a train is a journey through a winter wonderland....
yes you should take that train again during the winter!
oh damm .. i really really loving ice mountain here, so pretty 💚 thanks for video guys ✌
Un beau voyage en train suédois merci simply Railway c'était une belle vidéo
totalement d'accord avec votre commentaire, magnifiques paysages.
8:13: The landscape changed because you climbed above 'treeline'. Once you go above a certain elevation (depending on the local climate and latitude), no trees will grow there. You could see this on the mountains you passed earlier; the further north you go, the lower the treeline on the mountains gets.
That's right. Even between Tromso and Narvik there were plenty of trees depending on the elevation. I think the artic circle line area on the video is on a plateau?
@@yasukiwi Stockholm to Narvik!!!!!
@@yasukiwi The railway (and the road E6) crosses the arctic circle on a mountain, called Saltfjellet, but it's not a very steep mountain, at least not where the rail line and road is
Too bad you missed out on the new seats on Sj's new premium class. New recliner seats with excellent comfort on both Trondheim- Bodø and Trondheim- Oslo 😅
Glad you enjoyed your trip north though 😁
Bom dia simply uma viagem verdadeiramente bonita pela Planalto da montanha 🗻
Amazing vedeo amazing view 💓💓💓 norway 💖💖💖 train ride
Wow thnks...✌✌✌
Trondheim S is currently undergoing a massive redesign, the old ugly station will be basically torn down and entirely replaced with something bigger and better. Also, gotta apologize for the poor quality of trains up here! Norway massively lacks behind the European mainland when it comes to railways, but we are working on the problem🥲
The quality of what was seen in this clip suggests you aren't getting much wrong at the moment, but there is of course always room for improvement...offer the best and constantly strive to make it better, that is always the approach to take.
@@Northstander slow speeds, loads of single track and the long haul carriages are getting outdated. They are replacing the long haul trains in a few years though. Quite excited for the new trains that will probably be announced this or next year.
Thank you for sharing, I hope to get up to Norway one day but this is the next best thing
I share your delight in discovering this line. Until I took it myself, I had no idea it would be so wonderful. Beautifully presented as always.
Thanks so much Thibault! Great as usual. I would have loved to tagged along on this trip! Very beautiful country.
If I can only do one rail journey, this is it. So many talk about the Oslo-Bergen rail trip, but this is the one that I'd want to do when I visit Norway one day. It's just such beautiful scenery. Reminds me of the U.S. Northwest. Elsewhere on UA-cam, the entire trip is shown, and it's quite an amazing watch.
I did Oslo-Bergen and back (one in day, one overnight), Oslo-Trondheim in day, and then this same Nordlands Line but on the night train not the day (hey in NZ we don''t have any night trains so...) I did the trips in early january so I got the winter scenery. I would say both Oslo-Bergen and Oslo-Trondheim scenery is slightly better than this one (my subjective view of course) mostly because the other two include the fantastic mountain plateaus. But really any of them are great! Also there is the Narvik (further up the coast) over to Swedish west coast and down to Stockholm service too but that is disconnected with the rest of Norwegian rail system ie Bodo is the end of the line, and onwards to Narvik is by bus or rental car (maybe domestic flight).
This seems like a good route for a sleeper service as well. Especially in winter where it will be dark even during "daytime"
There is a night train on this route as well.
@@podr0znik1 Yes I took the night train route in Winter up to Bodo from Trondheim. Train came in about 20-30mins before departure so time to make oneself comfortable onboard. Was operated by same Di4 series. Of course no scenery for most of the trip but cool to see the snow coming down outside, and the quiet platforms at stations on the way during the night. Cosy feeling!
There is a bluish light for the last part of the trip so you see a bit of a fjord near Bodo at the end. The good thing about the night train is the arrival was at 9.15am and basically the length of the trip was perfect for the night train (ie enough time to really sleep and not too early arrival) compared to slightly shortish time of the Olso-Bergen night train. The scenery on the fjord near Bodo was also very nice. I am glad I later took a local service during the daylight hours.
Another wonderful video! Thanks for doing this one. I've wanted to see this for a long time. This makes me want to take this trip. And yes, it does resemble Alaska quite a bit.
I did this trip around 1981, I drove from Oslo to Bodo, stopping off at a few places en route. (Then on to Sweden back via Mo-I-Rana). The sceneary is eye opening, as we crossed the Artic Circle everythign (except the road) was covered in deep snow. Thrilling trip, midnight sun with no night darkness, would love to do it again, by train would be great option.
I am so looking forward to taking this train. You probably know that there are cabview videos produced by VY of the whole 10+ hour trip, four of them, one for each of the seasons. I've watched those videos repeatedly so it's nice to have a sense of what the interior of the train etc is like. Thank you!
A truely beautiful trip across the Salt Mountain Plateau
Such an amazing review! So relaxing!
Gosh, it was nice to see this line again, I last rode it on the 11 September 1988!! I have just found the certificate given by the Station Master at Bodo signed by 'Jack Frost' giving me freedom of the Artic Circle!!!
A magical journey, and ever changing scenery, and seem to recall being above the tree line as so bleak. Your video has bought back many memories, same locos and stock looking better now.
Oh so you traveled on a section of the Meraker Line too. I traveled on the entire Meraker line from Trondheim to Storlien, Sweden onboard a Class 93 DMU over the summer and thought Hell station was quite a funny name! ;D The views along the fjord was stunning!
They are electrifying the Meraker line at moment so I think unfortunately there are not train services available but in the near future there will be electric trains through to Sweden which is a nice alternative to normal routes Oslo-Stockholm or Narvik-Boden in the North.
Excellent video again sir !!! Bravo...
Good morning simply a beautiful train journey in mountains place
Went to Norway several years ago. I have a friend that lives in Bodø. We drove from Trondheim to Bodø. It was during the summer. We didn’t have a true midnight sun, but it got dusky for several hours. Weird thing if you never experienced it.
Ah the wonderful sound og GM two-stroke engines! The Norwegian locomotives are quite similar to the now retired Danish class ME locomotives except for the exterior design
Don't forget max speed: 140 vs. 175 km/h
Both Norway 🇳🇴 and Sweden 🇸🇪 are beautiful Countries with incredible landscapes
Thanks or the trip, George!
I am enjoying watching from Kanagawa, Japan.
I've just returned from making the same trip north as far as Fauske and then the full return from Bodo to Trondheim, and then to Oslo. There were some significant differences, particularly on the southern journey, where the train stopped five times including once for 20 minutes to allow trains to pass. This added a combined 70 minutes onto the journey and meant the night train from Trondheim to Oslo had to wait for us - leaving 8 minutes alte from Trondheim. On the return journey there was an announcemt to say when we were crossing the Arctic Circle and the train slowed to allow us a view of the marker - the cairn between the train and the building at 18:10 in your video. For anyone wanting to go further North you change at Fauske to a bus service (the 100) to Narvik, where you can also pick up the line to Abisko and Sweden. It was also worth noting that when I ordered food (A moose burger), this was freshly cooked in an over, not a microwave.
The route was amazing and I am interested to travel on this scenic rail route.Amazing.
Great video !!
Hell is a nice place to visit.. They have a genuine Gods expedition there. :D
Norwegian trainlines are just amazingly beautiful to travel on. And reasonably priced as well.
Great video! Normally they also serve you a nice little breakfast in premium class, on this morning departure. And they do offer warm dishes in the dining car as well.
What a stunning trip!
Nice Trip Report! They used to announce the crossing of the polar circle, did they stop that? Whats also interesting: big parts of the line are fenced in to prevent accidents with Elk and reindeer. There used to be a rifle onboard the locomotives to be able to end the suffering of animals that were hit. but due to more strict gun laws the rifles disappeared
I really enjoyed the quality of your video, congratulations. The beauty of the landscapes are simply stunning. It really makes you want to go on a trip to see Norway by train.
Congratulations
Bernard Babin, railway enthusiast
Levis, Quebec, CANADA
Thank you for this video. I love the landscape in norway and would like to do this trip by myself.
Hi, there. Thanks for the awesome content you put up for us. We see plenty of your trips through Europe and the US/Canada. How about some new adventure rail trips on some of the less trodden railroads? South Africa to Dar Es Salaam, Ethiopia, Kenya, Ethiopia to Djibouti, South East Asia, China, India, etc. They might not be as fancy as those European ones, but I think would make for some memorable adventure railing for you and your viewers. The world is bigger than just Europe and North America, brother. Give us more.
What beautiful countryside
Thanks Thibault. Another fine video. have been on most of the Norwegian routes but when they were all NSB (now VY) a few years ago. I went in Winter, and the Winter scenery is of course completely different, and no less stunning, especially for a Kiwi who never sees the snow even in Winter in his home city.
Yeah the free coffee was great (on NSB it was called Komfort Class and only 100NOK more than regular class fare), I noticed on the local train services in Bodo there was also a paid hot drink and snack machine. Great for a local service!
Don't know whether you saw, as it wasn't mentioned on the video, but there is currently an electrification project from Trondheim to the Swedish border (you may have seen the tracks split off to the Merkanerbahnen just before the bridge over the river to the town of Hell, and Trondheim Airport, and you may have seen some OLE infrastructure after leaving Trondheim) so in the distant future we will see electric locos on at least the southern part of the Nordlandsbahnen. The Swedish line linking to the Merkanerbahnen has already been electrified for some time. It's a nice alternative way to go between Stockholm and Trondheim and v.v. Or it will be when the Norwegian side electrification is done.
Also, I noticed when I travelled on the NSB services, and also at normal food outlets like BK in Trondheim etc that there was a surcharge for eating in compared to takeaway. Now that SJ took over the service, was that still in place? I never saw this surcharge anywhere else in Europe, and not in japan, US, India etc on rail trips.
Finally at Bodo Station firstly on the top top floor there was a cafe with nice sweet treats, and the left part of the building was a youth hostel, so very convenient for those on a budget. I wonder whether those have survived covid?
Nordlandsbanen is one of the 2 railways linies I have't been on yet, the other is Rörosbanen. In Fauske you can take a bus to Narvik then take the Iron railway (Malmbanan) back south on the Swedish side. Btw you should take a trip on the Inlandsbanan (if you haven't done it yet) some summer.
One of the best train journeys I have been on. I did from Bergen to Oslo to Bodo return.
The Flirt class 76 is not a DMU, but a bi-modal DEMU. Parts of the rail network north of Trondheim is being electrified now, so they will run more and more electric and diesel only where necessary.
Or just BMU as Stadler calls it :)
Great trip report
Belle vidéo!!!
The catanary will extend even further to storlien Sweden and to Trondheim Airport Because of the electrification project of the nordlandabanen and meråkerbanen to storlien swedeen
Norway has best scenery in the world 😊
The Stockholm-Luleå night train can also go even further north to Narvik in Norway. This is one of if not THE northernest train line in the world and is operated by Norwegian VY. This will definitely be the northernest train you’ve ever taken!
Yeah and great scenery leaving Narvik and then along the top of the fjord! Pity this line is not connected to the Norwegian system at Bodo. There were plans to go further than Bodo and the work was started but never got far. Maybe one day!
Great video; what a discovery for me! I knew nothing of these Italian heritage trains. I definitely must try them. Grazie!
PS: try to stress these two words on the first syllable:
PAdova - Adige.
I have never seen anyone do a review on nord, I remember I only went on it once on a really scenic ride across the hills and waterfalls, it was part of a cruise trip from Fred oslen, also I remember the vending and coffee machines on like a 20 min journey 😂 views are somewhat once in a life time 🤩
there are quite a few channels which reviewed trains in northern Sweden, also those going even further north and over to Norway
You should try the night train up to Narvik in Norway, from Stockholm. It’s exciting views and you go even more north.
He did it, but opposite side - from Lulea to Stockholm.
Thank you for that upload! beautiful scenery. I am actually planning to take this train to Bodo, then bus to Narwik and Lofoten, and then come back with a train from Narvik to Stockholm
Wooewwww ❤ Amazing journey and beautiful train ..... My brother is in Oslo... Greetings from Indian railfan. Keep in touch always... Waiting for hearing from you
I would love to see this ride in the winter!!
should do it in late winter then ... otherwise you'd barely get sunlight beyond the arctic circle
That's no problem at all: ua-cam.com/video/mv47Hexb4jY/v-deo.html
Sir.
Your video is very beautifully 💚. I will appreciating for your good efforts❤️. carry-on your great job.. I am a railway
Lover from.. India 🇮🇳
Superb video. Loved it. Please do come and visit India 🇮🇳.
Great video! But again, as in so many modern trains, and despite being otherwise a comfortable and well designed train: Seats without window access (even in the 1. class). I find this outrageous, particulary if one considers the epic views! At least they could have used the windowless space for luggage storage or something like that.
18:07 I think the scenery change has more to do with the altitude than with latitude. I remember crossing the Arctic circle in Norway on a bus many years ago. The bus stopped near the visitor/tourist center and the area around it looked just the way I imagined the Arctic before coming there - no trees, only some shrubs, rocks and patches of snow (it was late June). But going further north the road descends and you can see trees and grass again. I even saw lawns around homes in Alta and people enjoying sunny weather in their gardens (it was around +20C).
But north of Alta pines and spruce disappear and only short birches can be seen. Some 50 kilometers south of Nordkapp begins typical tundra if I remember correctly.
Of course a railway line doesn't change altitude as quickly as a road does.
It can get disgustingly hot in Nortern Norway. If you ever wonder which sucks the most, -35 or +35, the North will give you both and expect you to ask for more! :D
One train I recommend is the Krösatågen Y2 between Linköping and Kalmar. I have personally never ridden on one, but from images I’ve seen it may be one of the most comfortable DMUs I’ve ever seen!
We did the Hurtigruten sea return between Bergen and Kirkenes. On the return it was a Beaufort Gale 12. No risk of that. Another fantastic video. The only problem with Norway is the ridiculously expensive prices. 👍🏻🏴
Yeah thank goodness Norwegians love hotdogs. At least there was something cheapish to eat!
@@yasukiwi Those prices will get worse as Norway is earning billions of U.S. Dollars (currently the strongest currency) as all fossil fuels are sold as huge windfall profits from it’s sale of gas and oil to Europe.
Decades ago in 1987 a kitchen knife was cheaper than a sandwich in their Co-op supermarket which is a good place to buy the cheapest food in Scandinavia. Then people were subsided to inhabit the areas north of the Arctic Circle. Unfortunately that area has then had the highest incidence of violent crime and suicide related to alcohol and depression. Norway and Sweden’s political Parties introduced a type of Prohibition intended to bring widespread alcohol abuse under State control. As a consequence alcohol is prohibitively expensive. In Sweden it is solid in the State controlled outlets called Systemboglet in brown paper bags!. Only lager etcetera under 3%? can be purchased in supermarkets. As a result Swedes go on Booze Cruises to Finland or like Norwegians were to be seen drunk and worse for wear.
How Sweden circumvents E.U. liquor sales is a mystery to myself. Unfortunately we in Britain inherited that ridiculous Viking habit of overindulgence to the regret and shame of some of us. Of course it might be related to our colder climate as opposed to the warmer wine areas. 👍🏻🏴🇫🇷
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@@Backwardlooking Yeah I saw the state liquor outlets in Sweden. I think Estonia is also a popular booze cruise for them too. I've been to Iceland a couple of times too (excellent country) and they also have the same state liquor outlet system as well. For a pretty small capital city, Reykyavik has a bit of a rep for getting rowdy on a Sat nite too with alcohol (although not only fault of Icelanders I heard).
@@yasukiwi Thanks. I omitted to mention that Denmark is a popular spot for especially young men from Norway and Sweden to get blind drunk. As regards their Governments if you treat your population as incapable of behaving sensibly that is the result. And as regards beyond the Arctic Circle Norway especially has a problem with illegal Moonshine stills that were widespread during America’s Prohibition. Organised Crime took-off there and now it is the same in Scandinavia with ruthless Balkan drug gangs.
Great video.
Type 76 is a type of hmu, it have pantographs in addition to the diesel electric unit, the weird middle section part
18:45 This is Saltdalsfjorden (Saltdal Fjord) and it's about 5-10 min until you reach to the part where Skjerstadfjorden (Skjerstad Fjord) begins. These two fjords together is called Saltfjorden (Salt Fjord)
I suppose that the announcement 5-6 minutes prior to the Station is because the passengers might be so relaxed and chilled or dozing given the scenery and long intervals between Stations. Going back decades Norway and Sweden introduced compulsory vehicle sidelights because of the same reasons; tired drivers misjudging the distances of the equally rare oncoming traffic. I can speak from experience as regards that; and overtaking an enormous timber truck with it’s two long log-stacked trailers with another one approaching!. 👍🏻🏴
This route was covered in a US TV show on Discovery called Mighty Trains. Yours is much more comprehensive and gives a much better idea of the route.
I took this route a few years ago, although unfortunately I didn't get to see much because it was the night service (albeit during summer, so there was still light). I guess if you return during the winter, that will be the light level you can expect.
2:30 Ah yes about time for more EMD sounds
i got to say your Denali (Alaska) by train is by far my most favorite
So basically in most of Scandinavia there is not too big a difference between first and other classes. It’s mostly to do with the available service rather than seating.
Well in Swden - at least on SJ - first class usually has 1+2 seating. (Not on X40 and X55 but they are excetions)
ประเทศนอรเวย์ สวย เจริญ
Super
Some of my favorite zone-out YT videos are the cabviews on this line. You can see the full almost-10 hrs, in each season, on the Saalbahnhof channel.
Yeah Bahnenor and Norwegian state TV did their very famous slow tv shows. The Nordlandsbahnen has been done in all four seasons. Loved the Winter one.
More outstanding landscape 😂👍👍
Like to be profoundly happy too !!!
Maybe they made some special investigation and stats showed 5 to 6 mins, funny task for students
Wrecked by kids? 😂😂
2 Things I wish to do before I croak. Visit Angkor Wat in Cambodia, and ride the Nordlandsbanen to Bodo in winter.
Yeah, went there in August, great trip!
The train got 2 hours delay so we missed the day's only connecting bus to Narvik, however kudos to SJ Nord, they provided us with a free taxi that raced with us to catch up with the bus all the way at the ferry in Bognes (160 km, halfway to Narvik!!). :)
Reminds me a lot of our trip from Oslo to Bergen. Wondering if there were many tunnels on this route? We were amazed at how many tunnels we went through during our stay in Norway.
The B5 coaches are from the late 70s/early 80s. They originally had a traditional open layout like the open three series coaches, and Minden-Deutz bogies. Bombardier rebuilt them ten years ago with bogies similar to the UK Voyager/class222/class172. The interiors were redesigned to be identical to the seven series coaches at the same time. I went on this line in April 2017. The Di4 locos are absolute beasts (and need to be)- here is video I took in April- imagine what it must be like in winter! What a stunning railway! ua-cam.com/video/G_OBIuGXWt8/v-deo.html
Rebuilt with Voyager bogies? 😝
@@AndreiTupolev Yes- with voyager bogies. I am trying to post a link to the info, but it keeps deleting my reply.
@@AndreiTupolev Lookup Bombardier Flexx Eco (the name of the bogies).
thanks for an norwegian railroad video im norwegian and how was it taking the train to trondheim?
im a huge fan of you and vy
I'm not surprised that it took 80 years to build the line. I'd imagine once they got to Hell, Hela would have made it a bit difficult for the builders, as would the lost souls there.
The round building you see at 18:11 is the Arctic Circle Center.
Nice video
7:31 The BM76 are not DMU's insed they are BMU (Bi-mode Multiple Unit) aka hybrid trains.
Very nice video, however the idea of taking the route in the winter would basically mean a night trip: there are very few hours of daylight in the winter that far north, so not much of the scenery to see.
2:55 I thought double-decker freight trains didn't exist in Europe 🤯
They dont
Look again at the freight train in the background....
@@flopunkt3665 Maybe you should, because those are containers simply stacked on the ground
I took the Hurtegruten ferry from Kirkenes to Bergen. We stopped at Bodo and Trondheim. Beautiful, but different, scenery.
Is Bodo the end of tracks?
There is a 4-part series of videos taken from the driver's cab on this train--one in winter, summer, fall and spring. Amazing to see the way the terrain changes. Check it out. They are on UA-cam
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