Many years ago when Susie and I arrived back In Sweden after a particularly long holiday touring Italy we told the lady at SJ (Swedish Railways) just what a pleasure it was to be back in Sweden after all our troubles we had in Italy. We came back from that holiday with many good dinner party stories of how things are done in Italy and how fustrating things were.
Well I have one now I can tell about Sweden, the county where I thought they get everything right.
One of my biggest concerns when going to Lund was how was I going to get back. So a few weeks ago we went to the central station here in Stockholm and asked about bringing bikes on the train. We were told that it wasn't possible between Malmo and Stockholm because of the type of train used.
Not to be deterred I contacted SJ again by phone to confirm that this applied to all trains and all routes and was told no it didnt apply to all routes and that as long as the train had some sort of carriage for bikes I could bring my bike. At least if the bike was packed up in a box it could be loaded as frieght.
So armed with this I set forth for Lund.
On Sunday I pedalled into town and asked about which train I could take only to be told that I had been given the wrong information and that it wasnt possible to bring the bike on the train at all, at least from Lund. I would have to send it by bus (packed in a box) and that the nearest Bus Goods station was in Malmo.
So on Monday I pedalled into Malmo and eventually located the bus goods station after having gone by the rail station and having it confirmed by the rail frieght companies that I couldnt send my bike with them. Of course I then had to find a bike shop that could pack my box and this took another 30 minutes.
However I must say the chaps at Fridhems Cykel were just great and they packed up my bike very efficiently. They even arranged for a cheap taxi to take me into town to the bus station. Thanks guys!
I then had a shower and changed into some less smelly travelling clothes before catching the X2000 train home. It was sad to travel back so fast, it made the effort seem so slight :)
Was wonderful to see Susie and Fredrik again, just shame my bike is still in Malmo
Distance : 34km
Time : 2 hours 12 minutes
Average : 15.35 kmph
Max : 31.10 kmph
Total for the trip
Distance : 1026km
Time : 57 hours 43 minutes
Average : 17.77 kmph
Max : 50.42 kmph (Day 6)
Longest Day : 203km
Shortest Day : Day 8
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