International trains from Norway and from Sweden

The trains from Norway to Sweden take one of four routes:

on the route from Ed to Kronsjo:

This border crossing is on the railway which shadows the North Sea coast; Oslo – Moss – Fredrikstaad - Halden – Oxenered* - Goteborg/Gothenburg
* connect in Oxenered for Karlstad
Thanks to the completion of works which have improved the route between Oslo and the Swedish border, the number of Regiontog train on this route has been doubled on the latest timetable!
The journey time is also faster by more than 10 minutes

Trains are usually scheduled to depart from Oslo S station as follows:

• on Monday to Friday at 06:11; 08:14; 10:14; 12:14; 14:14; 15:46*; 18:10
• on Sat / Sun at 08:14; 10:14; 12:14; 14:14; 16:15*; 18:10
  *= the train which departs Bergen daily at 08:25 connects into this train.

The trains which depart Oslo before 16:00 arrive in Goteborg in good time to connect with the hourly Oresundtag services on to Kobenhavn / Copenhagen via Malmo.
The time between arrival and departure in Goteborg C station is typically 55 minutes, but that 15:46 train has a 22min 'connection' into the final train of the day on to the Danish capital.

Depart on that 06:11 train and it's possible to connect in Kobenhavn for Hamburg.

the route from Storlien
Two trains per day depart from Trondheim and travel via Hell over the border to Storlien.

Swedish regional trains on from Storlien to Sundsvall via Ostersund are timed to connect with these trains.
If you take the morning train from Trondheim, when you get to Sundsvall, you can connect into a Snabbtag train on to Stockholm via Galve and Uppsala.

the route from Charlottenberg

This route, pictured at the top of the page, is taken by Swedish IC trains travelling Oslo → Kongsvinger → Charlottenberg → Arvika → Karlstad → Hallsberg → Stockholm.
The frequency on this route has been increased to five departures per day on Monday to Friday, four trains on Sunday and three trains on Saturday.
The Swedish Snabbtag trains have also returned to the route and now operate all departures.

the route through Riksgransen:

This crossing is taken by the nightly SJ Night Train on this route: Narvik → Boden → Sundsvall → Galve → Uppsala → Stockholm
There are also two daytime trains from Narvik to Boden, one of which continues beyond Boden to arrive in Luleá.

There are three options for heading to Hamburg, the gateway to destinations on Germany and beyond, which involve taking ferries from Oslo, Bergen, Kristiansand and Stavanger to ports in Denmark; and connecting into trains.

From Oslo:

The overnight ferry from Oslo to Copenhagen operated by DFDS is a good option for those heading on to Germany and beyond who don't want to set off from Oslo at the crack of dawn - and would prefer to spend the night in cabin on a ferry rather than a hotel/hostel in Copenhagen.

The ferry departs from Oslo daily at either 15:00 or 17:00, bus route/line 60 connects Oslo S station to the ferry terminal at Vippentangen.

In Copenhagen / Kobenhavn, where the ferry is due to arrive at 10:00, the DFDS terminal is a 10 - 20 min flat walk from Nordhavn railway station.
It has local S-Tog trains departing every 5 - 10 mins to Kobenhavn H station, from where trains on to Hamburg will be available - here will be a departure at 11:26.

From Kristiansand

Kristiansand is on the railway route between Oslo and Stavanger and Hirtshals is a ferry port in northern Denmark and two ferry companies operate on this route; Color Line and Fjordline.

The crossing by Fjordline is 45 minutes faster because it uses catamarans, but the disadvantage of using Fjordline is that its terminal in Hirsthals is some distance from the town's railway station.
The Fjordline website suggests walking to Lilleheden st, the station on from Hirtshals, but it's a 20-30min trek through an industrial area.

In contrast the transfer between the Color Line terminal and the trains couldn't be simpler, because an elevated covered walkway connects the dock to Hirsthals railway station.

The morning Color Line fast ferry departs Kristiansand at 08:00 and arrives in Hirtshals at 11:15
The Fjordline catamaran departs from its terminal in Kristiansand at 08:30 and arrives in Hirtshals at 10:45; which allows over an hour mins to take a taxi to Hirtshals station, or to walk to Lilleheden station.

Though neither of these morning ferry departures from Kristiansand have connections by train from Oslo or Stavanger.
Trains which typically depart Oslo at 11:25 and Stavanger at 12:47 arrive in Kristiansand before 16:00 and therefore connect into a Color Line ferry which usually leaves at 16:45; the ferry terminal is a 5 min walk from the railway station.
On arrival in Hirtshals on Monday to Friday, connections by train are possible on to Aarhus for an overnight stay; morning direct trains will be available on to Hamburg.

Kristiansand → Hamburg in a single day:

The negative of this route is that Hirtshals is some distance from the main railway routes in Denmark, so the train journey to Hamburg typically requires multiple connections; though the end-to-end journey can be looked up and booked on DB, the German national railways ticketing service; enter Hirtshals st as the departure station.
All trains from Hirtshals call at Lilleheden four mins after departing.

Monday to Friday typical schedule:

• Hirtshals st at 11:50 → Aalborg
• Aalborg at 13:50 → Aarhus
• Aarhus at 15:45 → Kolding
• Kolding at 17:18 → Hamburg hbf, arrive at 20:04

Saturday and Sunday typical schedule

• Hirtshals st at 12:29 → Hjoerring st
• Hjoerring st at 13:02 → Aalborg
• Aalborg at 13:50* → Aarhus
• Aarhus at 15:45 → Kolding
• Kolding at 17:18 → Hamburg hbf, arrive at 20:04
  *the connecting time between trains will only be 6 minutes, but from June 13th to Aug 25th, the connections are
• Aalborg at 14:50 → Aarhus
• Aarhus at 17:45 → Kolding
• Kolding at 19:18 → Hamburg hbf, arrive at 21:57

From Bergen and Stavanger

Fjordline also operates a ferry route which typically departs from Bergen at 13:30 and from Stavanger at 20:00; its terminal in Stavanger is some distance from the city centre, but every 30 mins a local bus route/line 2 connects the station to the port named Risavika utenriksterminal.

The ferry is due into Hirtshals at 08:00, but the Fjordline terminal in Hirsthals is some distance from the town's railway station.
The Fjordline website suggests walking to Lilleheden st, the station on from Hirsthals, but it's a 20-30min trek through an industrial area.
All trains from Hirtshals call at Lilleheden four mins after departure.
So the other option is to book a local taxi prior to arrival in Hirtshals.

Monday to Friday:

• Hirtshals st at 08:50 → Aalborg
• Aalborg at 10:50 → Aarhus
• Aarhus at 13:45 → Kolding
• Kolding at 15:18 → Hamburg hbf, arrive at 18:04

Saturday and Sunday:

• Hirtshals st at 09:29 → Hjoerring st
• Hjoerring st at 10:02 → Aalborg
• Aalborg at 11:05 → Aarhus
• Aarhus at 13:45 → Kolding st
• Kolding st at 15:18 → Hamburg hbf, arrive at 18:04

The daily ferry operated by Color Line typically departs Oslo daily at 14:00 and arrives the next day into Kiel at 10:00.

In Oslo bus route/line 81 provides a service from the area around Oslo S station to the ferry terminal.
In Kiel it's many railway station, Kiel Hbf is 10-15 min flat walk from the ferry terminal.
Typically two Regio trains per hour link Kiel to Hamburg Hbf with a journey time of around 1hr 10mins.

At around 11:12 an ICE train will depart Kiel for Hannover, Kassel, Frankfurt (Main), Mannheim (connect for Stuttgart), Karlsruhe, Freiburg and Basel - and destinations in Switzerland.
So this combination on ferry and ICE train is usually the best option for a Norway to Switzerland journey.

Sweden has six international rail connections, one link to Denmark, one to Germany and four with Norway; and they all have a wow factor!

Three train services cross the amazing Oresund Bridge, which is the only rail link between Sweden and Denmark:

(1) Up to 6 x Snabbtag trains per day take this route: Stockholm → Norrkoping → Mjolby → Nassjo → Alvesta → Hassleholm → Lund → Malmo* → Kastrup Airport → Kobenhavn H; these are the only direct trains from the Swedish capital to the capital of Denmark.
*Tickets are not available for journeys from Malmo on these trains.

When typically departing Stockholm on a Monday to Friday, at around 05:20, the arrival time into Hamburg is shortly after 16:00, thanks to an interval between trains at Kobenhavn H station of under an hour.
The daily option, which has the same transfer time, usually involves departing Stockholm C station at around 09:20 and arriving into Hamburg shortly after 20:00.

An often convenient option is to take one of the Snabbtag trains which travel no further than Malmo and then connect there for an Oresundtag train on to Kobenhavn, where other trains on to Hamburg trains can be joined.

(2) Three x Oresundtag trains per hour take this route:
Lund → Malmo → Kastrup Airport→ Kobenhavn H* → Norreport → Osterport → Nivaa

*Kobenhavn H is the main station in Copenhagen, but Norreport station is closer to the city centre; and Osterport serves the northern part of central Copenhagen.

These three trains services all take a different route to Lund, thereby providing direct trains from multiple towns in southern Sweden to Denmark; on which rail pass users don't have to pay any reservation fees:

• Goteborg → Helsingborg → Lund
  So Goteborg has an hourly train service to Kobenhavn.
• Kalmar → Alvesta → Hassleholm → Lund
• Karlskrona → Kristianstad → Lund

(3) There are now sleeper trains from Stockholm to Germany, see below, which cross the Oresund Bridge and travel through Denmark, but they don't travel overnight from Stockholm to Kobenhavn.

Swedish operator Snälltåget now provides an overnight train which conveys couchettes and seats from Stockholm to Berlin via Malmo and Hamburg.
For details of its timetable and dates of operation, check out its website though from March 31st to November 1st, it will typically depart on Monday to Friday and Sundays.

A second overnight service is also available on the Stockholm - Hamburg - Berlin route, as the Swedish national rail operator has introduced ** its night trains**, which have sleeping cabins - and now departs daily.

The trains from Sweden to Norway take one of four routes.

the route through Charlottenberg

Swedish IC trains take this route: Stockholm → Hallsberg → Karlstad → Arvika → Charlottenberg → Kongsvinger → Oslo; this is the only direct link by train between the Norwegian and Swedish capitals.
The frequency on this route has been increased to five departures per day on Monday to Friday, four trains on Sunday and three trains on Saturday.
The Swedish Snabbtag trains have also returned to the route and now operate all departures.

the route from Ed to Kronsjo

Thanks to the completion of works which have improved the route between Swedish border and Oslo, the number of trains which travel over this border crossing has been doubled on the latest timetable!
Up to eight Norwegian Regiontog trains per day now take this route which shadows the North Sea coastline:
Goteborg / Gothenburg → Oxenered → Halden → Fredrikstaad → Moss → Oslo.

This latest timetable has also opened up new journey possibilities for travelling from southern Sweden to western Norway by train.

From Goteborg / Gothenburg the trains which typically depart at:

• 08:10 on Mon - Sat
• 10:15 daily
• 12:15 daily
  have conveniently timed connections with trains on to Bergen.

By departing from Kobenhavn at 05:30 and 07:30 daily it's also possible to travel from Kobenhavn to Bergen by train during a single day, by making connections in Goteborg and Oslo.

the route via Storlien:

Two trains per day depart from the Swedish border town of Storlien for Trondheim, these trains travel via Hell.
Swedish regional trains from Sundsvall to Storlien via Ostersund are timed to connect with these trains over the border to Norway.
Though these trains from Sundsvall to Storlien are operated by Norrtag and not the national rail operator, SJ.

A daily IC express train operated by SJ, which usually departs from Stockholm Central station at 07:55, has a three hour connection in Duved into a train on Storlein - and the train on to Trondheim is scheduled to arrive there at 20:28.

via Riksgransen:

This crossing is taken by the nightly SJ Night Train on this route:
Stockholm – Uppsala – Galve – Sundsvall – Boden – Narvik

There are also two daytime trains from Boden to Narvik, one of which commences its journey in Luleá.

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