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Published: February 10th 2006
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Getting on the train in Jonkoping
Onboard entertainment provided courtesy of the junior crew of Holmalunds IF, en route for their first championship. After having finally spent the past weeks to sort out which flights to use it was now time to make my mind up on how to get to Kastrup airport. It may seem like the smallest of concerns yet this simple transfer has a tendency to become drawn out, due to the limited availability of connecting flights or other means of transportation. Basically it boiled down to two options; jumping on and off trains southward or going north to grab a connecting flight to Copenhagen from Stockholm (There is also a theoretical third option. My hometown Jönköping is blessed with an "international" airport, but opting for the flight to Copenhagen would mean arriving at 8 am for an onward flight in the late evening. Thanks, but no thanks). A connecting flight from Stockholm was my first choice, yet the transfer time at Arlanda airport would be either dangerously short or mind-numbingly seven hours of wasted time.
Not an option.
I came to the conclusion that it meant I would have to utilize the train option. Hunting for tickets all the cheap ones were of course sold out, yet the price was not too intimidating (Note: In Sweden the train
Waiting to escape the snow and darkness
...about to trade it for smog and darkness. will often be more expensive than the plane) so I decided to gamble on the railroad. I say gamble because although most train rides will be a breeze there can also be horrible delays due to infernal catastrophes such as:
-Ice on the track
-Leaves on the track
-A non operating shunt
-Collision with a roaming elk or deer
-"Signalfel". This is my favourite. Basically a semaphore somewhere along the route will be glowing angrily red even though the onward track is clear. The train will be stuck in limbo waiting for someone to fix the issue.
I also have vivid memories of that Friday evening back in 2000 when I was riding home from work in Stockholm only to be stuck for two hours in a small town five minutes north of my hometown due to the fact that there was a cargo hauling engine stuck in the onward section of the track, desperately trying to negotiate the steep (0.00005%) hill.
Then there is of course the unlikely event that something may actually be malfunctioning...
The winter had come late this year, in fact the first actual snow of the season had begun falling in
the very last days before my departure. I tried to take a buddhist approach to traveling, since there was not really much I could do about the weather anyway. However, seeing images in my head of myself arriving delayed in Copenhagen arguing with jaded airline service center staffers didn't exactly help. As it turned out though, even though it snowed heavily in the south of Sweden all three trains departed on time and we managed to avoid those dreaded semaphore failures. Instead it turned out to be a relaxing experience watching the lights of small snow covered towns in the darkened coutryside rushing past my window.
Once at Kastrup Airport I noticed that all the service centers at the airport were either closed or replaced by overpriced bars, I guess they finally tired of rebooking all those delayed passengers. Before boarding my flight I went over to the gate were the small plane for the Faroe Islands was readying for departure. Watching the passengers board I came to the conclusion that I picked the right destination after all. And I was in good company too, as the A340 was pretty much full. I cannot recommend the Scandinavian direct flights
to China enough (a mere nine hours), never mind the fact that the airline had themselves admitted to failing to do proper maintenance check ups on their Airbus fleet. Chung Kuo here I come!
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- Kay -
non-member comment
choo choo....
train train train...nothing else to see? mmm next time please consider taking some photo of cute blonde gals ok?