The Norwegian Ministry of Transport has announced that Vy and Flytoget are to be merged. Flytoget AS will become a subsidiary of Vygruppen AS, with effect from 1 January 2025.
The decision that Flytoget’s routes will become part of Vy’s regional train offer from 2028 at the latest was taken by the Directorate of Railways and the Ministry of Transport one year ago. It laid the foundation for a completely new and better route model in Eastern Norway.
“We look forward to getting to know Flytoget’s skilled employees, and together further developing the train offer in Eastern Norway, for both everyday travelers and those who are going out to fly”, says Vy’s CEO Gro Bakstad. She says a merger now offers three significant advantages:
- There will be plenty of time to work together until the train service itself is integrated from 2028 at the latest. This ensures that Flytoget’s expertise and culture are taken care of, and that their skilled employees participate in the development of the future train service both to Oslo Airport and the rest of Eastern Norway.
- The employees in both companies get peace of mind and predictability in their everyday working life.
- It provides opportunities for more optimal utilization of train material and other resources in the transition phase until the integration of the route offer in 2028.
Plans for major improvements in the train service
The reason why the authorities decided in 2023 to integrate Flytoget’s train offer into the ordinary train offer was that many years of urban growth and traffic growth have resulted in a shortage of rail capacity.
Vy has had over 40 per cent passenger growth in Eastern Norway in the last 10-12 years, and expects a further 20-30 per cent growth in the next ten years. Without more departures, this growth will come as increased car traffic. This is the reason why the Directorate of Railways has recommended that all train departures through Oslo must be open to everyone, regardless of whether they are going to Oslo or to the airport.
The integration of Flytoget’s routes opens up a completely new route model in Eastern Norway, which gives customers a better train offer.
- From Drammen to Oslo, the number of departures will increase from five to eight per hour.
- From Lillestrøm to Oslo, the number of departures will almost double, with a total of 14 departures through Romeriksporten during rush hour
- From Drammen to Oslo Airport, there will be six trains per hour as today, but with an approximately even ten-minute frequency compared to today’s uneven frequency with up to 20 minutes between departures.
- From Lillestrøm to Oslo Airport, the number of departures increases from six to nine or ten trains per hour.
“Norway has a small railway sector, but two state-owned train companies. It makes sense to join forces in the face of future competition from much larger, foreign train companies”, says Vy’s CEO Gro Bakstad.
The decision to merge will not result in any changes to Flytoget’s offer and operation now. The fly train will continue as a separate offer, with the same trains, employees, ticket solution and timetable as today, right up until the time of integration of the fly train routes into the regional train offer, in 2028 at the latest.
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