Due to the weather, all train services in Norrbotten will be cancelled from Friday morning to Sunday evening. No replacement buses are expected either – even though SMHI has only issued a class 1 warning in the interior of Norrbotten and along the coast.
SMHI has currently issued two class 2 warnings for Västerbotten and Västernorrland. The snowstorm is expected to continue this weekend and therefore the Swedish Transport Administration is planning to close parts of the railway completely over the weekend, as it is feared that trains will be stopped.
– We want to keep the railway closed so we can clear in the meantime, says Katarina Wolffram, press communicator at the Swedish Transport Administration.
Train line south of Boden closed
One of the closed routes runs between Vännäs and Boden. That route will be closed from Friday morning until Sunday 6:00 PM, which means that all night trains to and from Norrbotten will be canceled.
Train view: All train services are cancelled
Now Vy Tåg has also announced that they have decided to cancel all trains in Norrbotten from Friday at 4:00 a.m. to Sunday at 6:00 p.m., despite the Swedish Transport Administration keeping the railway between Boden and Narvik open.
This means that a passenger could take a replacement bus to and from Boden and then get on the train. However, Vy Tåg will not be deploying any replacement buses.
– No, we don't do that when trains are canceled due to severe weather. Because we don't know what the road conditions are like either, says Stefan Linder, business manager at Vy Tåg.
”Following this continuously”
SMHI has issued a class 2 warning over the Lapland mountains from Thursday evening to Friday morning. However, in the rest of the county, SMHI has only issued a class 1 warning from Thursday evening to Friday morning.
The weather looks pretty normal in Norrbotten this weekend. Why aren't you deploying replacement buses?
– We are based on the Swedish Transport Administration's forecasts and according to them the snow storm is moving upwards towards Luleå, Boden and Älvsbyn, says Stefan Linder, business manager at Vy Tåg.
But the Transport Administration chooses to keep open north of Boden?
– We will monitor this continuously and the Swedish Transport Administration will hold several decision-making meetings that may change the plan. But right now this is the plan that applies.
Vy Tåg states that they will offer overnight accommodation to affected passengers and help with cancellation of the trip. Malmtrafiken will not be affected by the weather and will continue as usual.
Source: svt.se
