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.
The number of trains which come this way has has increased as up to four Norwegian Regiontog trains per day now take this route:
Oslo – Moss – Fredrikstaad - Halden – Oxenered* - Goteborg/Gothenburg
* connect in Oxenered for Karlstad.

Take the first departure of the day on Monday to Friday and it's possible to reach Hamburg in Germany by the end of the day, by making connections in Goteborg and Kobenhavn.
All but the final departures of the day offer easy connections in Goteborg C station into trains on to Kobenhavn/Copenhagen.

Or an alternative is to take the Stena Line ferry from Oslo to Frederikshavn in Denmark, it travels overnight and it's possible to be in Hamburg at 18:02 by changing trains in Aalborg and Aarhus.

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 four departures per day on Sunday to Friday and three trains on Saturday.

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 who would prefer to spend the night in cabin on a ferry rather than a hotel/hostel in Copenhagen, or in a bunk on the night train; and who also don't want to set off from Oslo at the crack of dawn.

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.
There 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 13:05 → Fredericia
• Fredericia at 16:45 → Kolding
• Kolding at 17:18 → Hamburg hbf, arrive at 20:02

typical schedule on Sunday:

• Hirtshals st at 12:29 → Hjoerring st
• Hjoerring st at 13:02 → Aalborg
• Aalborg at 14:05 → Fredericia
• Fredericia at 18:45 → Flensburg (two hour connection)
• Flensburg at 20:15 → Hamburg hbf, arrive at 22:16 (seven minute connection)

This journey is not possible on a Saturday.

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.

On to Hamburg until June 17th and from Aug 22nd:

Monday to Friday:

• Hirtshals st at 08:50 → Aalborg
• Aalborg at 10:05 → Aarhus
• Aarhus at 14:58 → Hamburg hbf, arrive at 18:03

Saturday and Sunday:

• Hirtshals st at 09:29 → Hjoerring st
• Hjoerring st at 10:02 → Aalborg
• Aalborg at 1105 → Aarhus
• Aarhus at 13:39 → Hamburg hbf, arrive at 18:03

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, until Apr 1st it will go to call at Zurich and Chur, and from Apr 1st it will go on to Bern and Interlaken.
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 (soon to be four) train services cross the amazing Oresund Bridge, which is the only rail link between Sweden and Denmark:

(1) Up to 7 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.

Though these trains typically have poor connections with the trains on to Hamburg from Kobenhavn.
The best option is usually 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 the 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.

From Sept 1st a second overnight service will be available, as the Swedish national rail operator is to introduce its night trains, which have sleeping cabins, to a Stockholm to Hamburg route.

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 four departures per day on Sunday to Friday and three trains on Saturday.

the route from Ed to Kronsjo

The number of trains which travel over this border crossing has increased as up to four Norwegian Regiontog trains per day now take this route which shadows the North Sea coastline:
Goteborg/Gothenburg → Oxenered → Halden → Fredrikstaad → Moss → Oslo.

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

That 06:10 departure on Monday to Friday and the 10:15 train (except Saturday) both have conveniently timed 34min connections with trains on to Bergen
By departing from Kobenhavn at 05:27, on Mondays to Fridays it's also possible to travel from Kobenhavn to Bergen by train during a single day.

On Mondays to Fridays and Sundays there is also a new connection available in Oslo for those travelling from Goteborg to Trondheim; though the 10:15 from Sweden is due in to Oslo only 11mins before a train on to Trondheim will be departing.

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.

On Saturdays a Snabbtag train, which is usually scheduled to depart from Stockholm C at 10:21, has an eight minute connection into a train on to Storlein, but on the other days of the week a train, which is usually scheduled to depart Stockholm at 09:21, allows over an hour to make the connection in Sundsvall.
Take these trains from Stockholm and you should arrive in Trondheim at 20:20; the train on from Storlein will usually be heading beyond Trondheim to Heimdal.

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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