When will train tickets for Easter go on sale in Sweden?
With only five weeks left until Easter, it is still impossible to buy train tickets between Stockholm and Gothenburg or between Stockholm and Sweden's mountain ski resorts. What's behind the delay and when will it end?
According to Sweden's state-owned rail company SJ, it is unable to release tickets until the Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket) releases its long-delayed plans for track work for the Easter period,
"It's unbelievably frustrating," SJ's press spokesperson Martina Nord told the TT newswire. "We cannot release the tickets until we have received 100 percent of Trafikverket's planning."
Although the administration has committed to releasing track work plans 13 weeks ahead of each day, it has failed to meet this deadline over Easter, repeating the situation seen ahead of Christmas for which the administration already risks fines of 24 million kronor.
Bengt Olsson, the Transport Administration's press spokesman, said that it was working to speed up the system.
"We are recruiting people to our planning department and working with our new planning system so that it can be done faster," he said.
He said that the agency was struggling to deal with a backlog in its planning system, with several bits of planning which should have been completed a year ago still on the table.
He said that he believed that the plans would soon be completed, enabling rail companies to sell tickets "in the coming weeks".
"I can only ask people to show a bit of faith and keep checking the web pages of the rail companies. I think we will have tickets in the coming weeks."
The Transport Administration is planning track work primarily on Maundy Thursday (April 6th) and Easter Monday (Apr 10th), SJ told TT.
Dan Olofsson, Nord's colleague, said that when the tickets are released they will be released "in dribs and drabs" to avoid overloading the company's booking system. He advised those wishing to travel to check the website every morning.
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According to Sweden's state-owned rail company SJ, it is unable to release tickets until the Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket) releases its long-delayed plans for track work for the Easter period,
"It's unbelievably frustrating," SJ's press spokesperson Martina Nord told the TT newswire. "We cannot release the tickets until we have received 100 percent of Trafikverket's planning."
Although the administration has committed to releasing track work plans 13 weeks ahead of each day, it has failed to meet this deadline over Easter, repeating the situation seen ahead of Christmas for which the administration already risks fines of 24 million kronor.
Bengt Olsson, the Transport Administration's press spokesman, said that it was working to speed up the system.
"We are recruiting people to our planning department and working with our new planning system so that it can be done faster," he said.
He said that the agency was struggling to deal with a backlog in its planning system, with several bits of planning which should have been completed a year ago still on the table.
He said that he believed that the plans would soon be completed, enabling rail companies to sell tickets "in the coming weeks".
"I can only ask people to show a bit of faith and keep checking the web pages of the rail companies. I think we will have tickets in the coming weeks."
The Transport Administration is planning track work primarily on Maundy Thursday (April 6th) and Easter Monday (Apr 10th), SJ told TT.
Dan Olofsson, Nord's colleague, said that when the tickets are released they will be released "in dribs and drabs" to avoid overloading the company's booking system. He advised those wishing to travel to check the website every morning.
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