Flytoget is economically beneficial for society
Oslo, 22.11.2023
The airport express train service to Oslo Airport, established in 1999, and Vy's basic route model for regional traffic in Eastern Norway, established in 2013, are the biggest successes in recent Norwegian railway history. Both services are based on departures every 10 minutes and high-quality rolling stock, but the framework conditions for the two services are different: Flytoget will operate at a profit and have high ticket prices, while Vy's services are operated with low fares and public subsidies.
Due to the growth in local and regional traffic, the capacity of regional trains is not sufficient to meet increasing demand. The Norwegian Railway Directorate has therefore decided that Flytoget will be integrated into the regional train service, no later than 2028.
On behalf of Flytoget, Vista Analyse has assessed various solutions for transport services to Oslo Airport. We have calculated the consequences for shuttle traffic and assessed the consequences for local and regional traffic. We find that an integration of the shuttle service into the ordinary train service has major, negative consequences for shuttle traffic that are not outweighed by benefits for other passengers.
A contributing factor to this is that traffic volumes in regional trains and expectations for future traffic growth are lower than they were at the time the Norwegian Railway Directorate conducted its analyses.
In our work, we have established a model for transport traffic with Vista Analyse's modelling tool, Ada. The model is suitable for assessing different forms of differentiation of train services since it reflects variations in road users' preferences, has time-dissolved (timetable-based) transport services and has variables that represent road users' trade-offs related to their desire to arrive at the airport on time.
Member of Parliament Trond Helleland (H) has on 15 November, partly based on our report, asked the Minister of Transport and Communications whether the minister will reconsider the decision to close the Airport Express Train.
The report is available here (in Norwegian).
Contact:
Project manager Tor Homleid
E-mail: tor.homleid@vista-analyse.no
Phone: (+47) 93 42 48 06