First leg of my interrail is not technically interrail, but a bus from Oulu to Haparanda, Sweden, paid without any concession.
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First leg of my interrail is not technically interrail, but a bus from Oulu to Haparanda, Sweden, paid without any concession. Feels weird to start the trip south by traveling northwards.
The Finnish ticket shop Matkahuolto insists on using Finnish time everywhere, so according to timetable I’ll be arriving 13:05, instead of the actual 12:05. Also SJ sometimes shows timetables in user’s local time, making that, too an hour off. Annoying and unpractical.
I’m in Lapland!
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@tml the Reitit & liput app shows local times, maybe it was that.
@mkivinen Ah, and it is reittiopas.matkahuolto.fi that shows local times for Haparanda railway station. (And allows you to specify time of day for the search.)
Consistency is overrated.
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@mkivinen Ah, and it is reittiopas.matkahuolto.fi that shows local times for Haparanda railway station. (And allows you to specify time of day for the search.)
Consistency is overrated.
@mkivinen More fun inconsistencies: When searching for buses on March 2nd from Kemi railway station to Haparanda railway station, the reittiopas.matkahuolti.fi site shows the route on the map with correct locations for start and end stops, and the couple of stops in-between, but with just straight line segments between them.
For the opposite journey, it doesn't manage to correctly show the journey starting at Haparanda railway station, but screws up the route completely there. The rest of the route does follow the actual road, though.
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@mkivinen More fun inconsistencies: When searching for buses on March 2nd from Kemi railway station to Haparanda railway station, the reittiopas.matkahuolti.fi site shows the route on the map with correct locations for start and end stops, and the couple of stops in-between, but with just straight line segments between them.
For the opposite journey, it doesn't manage to correctly show the journey starting at Haparanda railway station, but screws up the route completely there. The rest of the route does follow the actual road, though.
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I’m in Lapland!
And now in Sweden!
The bus route from Oulu ended to the Haparanda-Tornio Travel centre, but I asked the driver just for laughs if he was continuing to the railway station. He said he indeed has a habit to take a stretch there, in case someone is going.
I don't know if it's every driver's habit or official or if I just got lucky, but it was very nice, since the station was further than I thought.
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And now in Sweden!
The bus route from Oulu ended to the Haparanda-Tornio Travel centre, but I asked the driver just for laughs if he was continuing to the railway station. He said he indeed has a habit to take a stretch there, in case someone is going.
I don't know if it's every driver's habit or official or if I just got lucky, but it was very nice, since the station was further than I thought.
@mkivinen That's good service, congrats!
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And now in Sweden!
The bus route from Oulu ended to the Haparanda-Tornio Travel centre, but I asked the driver just for laughs if he was continuing to the railway station. He said he indeed has a habit to take a stretch there, in case someone is going.
I don't know if it's every driver's habit or official or if I just got lucky, but it was very nice, since the station was further than I thought.
And what a station Haparanda is! Magnificent! The only thing missing is a cafeteria, but luckily I have some provisions. It does feel a tad unrespectful to nibble knäckebröd in this fancy environment, though.
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And what a station Haparanda is! Magnificent! The only thing missing is a cafeteria, but luckily I have some provisions. It does feel a tad unrespectful to nibble knäckebröd in this fancy environment, though.
I still won't get into a train, though, since there's an replacement bus between Haparanda and Luleå. Depending on the source this is because of broken train or not enough of train.
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And what a station Haparanda is! Magnificent! The only thing missing is a cafeteria, but luckily I have some provisions. It does feel a tad unrespectful to nibble knäckebröd in this fancy environment, though.
@mkivinen so beautiful
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And what a station Haparanda is! Magnificent! The only thing missing is a cafeteria, but luckily I have some provisions. It does feel a tad unrespectful to nibble knäckebröd in this fancy environment, though.
@mkivinen There's a sign announcing a “Kafé”, though, did you follow it to look there?
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@mkivinen There's a sign announcing a “Kafé”, though, did you follow it to look there?
@tomminieminen This is a really small station, but I checked like ten times, just in case. There is no cafeteria.
But I do have some instant coffee, milk and sugar with me, and a freeze box that can be used as a mug. If there's warm enough water in the washroom, I could have a lukewarm cuppa.
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@tomminieminen This is a really small station, but I checked like ten times, just in case. There is no cafeteria.
But I do have some instant coffee, milk and sugar with me, and a freeze box that can be used as a mug. If there's warm enough water in the washroom, I could have a lukewarm cuppa.
@mkivinen Well, the Kafé arrow points at the direction of Utgång, so maybe the intention is “if coffee is what you want, please take the nearest exit and go fish”.
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I still won't get into a train, though, since there's an replacement bus between Haparanda and Luleå. Depending on the source this is because of broken train or not enough of train.
Finally in the night train from Luleå to Stockholm!
The route from Oulu was surprisingly fluent. There were long-ish waits between the legs, but taken SJ's unreliability, possible transfers between stations and provision shopping, it's actually a good thing.
My next concern is if this train is on time and if I'll have time for the hotel breakfast before my next breakfast in the train to Malmö.
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Finally in the night train from Luleå to Stockholm!
The route from Oulu was surprisingly fluent. There were long-ish waits between the legs, but taken SJ's unreliability, possible transfers between stations and provision shopping, it's actually a good thing.
My next concern is if this train is on time and if I'll have time for the hotel breakfast before my next breakfast in the train to Malmö.
@mkivinen Isn't it possible to enjoy the breakfast in the train, don't the night trains between Northern Sweden and Stockholm have restaurant cars? At least last year when I travelled in a 1st class sleeping car Boden–Stockholm there was breakfast available in the restaurant car.
(But yeah, it was the same box as in the SJ Snabbtåg... the hotel one surely is better if you have time.)
I was coming from the Narvik direction and changed into the sleeping car from Luleå in Boden. The bistro car was missing from the Narvik–Luleå train, so I was very hungry in the evening before I finally got something to eat in the restaurant car.
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@mkivinen Isn't it possible to enjoy the breakfast in the train, don't the night trains between Northern Sweden and Stockholm have restaurant cars? At least last year when I travelled in a 1st class sleeping car Boden–Stockholm there was breakfast available in the restaurant car.
(But yeah, it was the same box as in the SJ Snabbtåg... the hotel one surely is better if you have time.)
I was coming from the Narvik direction and changed into the sleeping car from Luleå in Boden. The bistro car was missing from the Narvik–Luleå train, so I was very hungry in the evening before I finally got something to eat in the restaurant car.
@tml I'll have to check that! I was under the impression that all the SJ first class breakfasts are hotel based now. It would be great to be wrong, though, since I just noticed that the Stockholm hotel breakfast starts half an hour later than previously, which is too late for me.
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Finally in the night train from Luleå to Stockholm!
The route from Oulu was surprisingly fluent. There were long-ish waits between the legs, but taken SJ's unreliability, possible transfers between stations and provision shopping, it's actually a good thing.
My next concern is if this train is on time and if I'll have time for the hotel breakfast before my next breakfast in the train to Malmö.
@mkivinen Welcome to Stockholm
