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Everything you need to know about travel in Norway this Easter

Whether you're driving to the in-laws in Bergen, taking the train, or flying to your family elsewhere in the world, here's everything we know about travel to, from, or around Norway this Easter.

Published: 28 March 2023 15:02 CEST
Updated: 5 April 2023 10:33 CEST
Everything you need to know about travel in Norway this Easter
Track work will be taking place near Oslo Central Station over Easter. Photo: Øystein Grue/ Bane NOR

Rail lines closed over Easter in Eastern Norway

Norway’s state-owned rail track operator Bane NOR is closing several lines around Oslo and elsewhere in Eastern Norway between April 1st and April 9th to upgrade the tracks, with all journeys served by bus replacements. 

Here are the stretches of track affected: 

Brakerøya–Mjøndalen/Sande. The R12, R13, RE10 and RE11 lines between Brakerøya and Mjøndalen in the city of Drammen will be closed.   

Ski–Mysen/Rakkestad. The R22 line between Ski and Mysen and Rakkestad. 

Oslo S–Ski / Moss / Rygge / Mysen / Rakkestad. Lines L2, R21, R22, R23 and RE20, from Oslo to Rakkestad. 

Oslo S–Lillestrøm. The L1 line travelling from Oslo S to Lillestrøm.

The Airport Express Train from Oslo Airport to Oslo Central Station is also affected by the track work, as is the Sørtoget line between Oslo and Stavanger.

Bus replacements on Oslo to Gothenburg train. Between April 3rd and April 5th, trains from Oslo to Gothenburg will only travel as far as Halden, with a bus replacement service for the rest of the route. From April 6th to April 9th, trains will stop completely. Passengers are asked to use Vy Bus4You. 

Bus replacements on Bergensbanen.

People travelling on the track towards Bergen should know that between April 1st and April 9th, the train goes directly from Oslo Central to Hønefoss, missing out on stops at Sandvika, Asker and Drammen.  

Between April 7th and April 9th, trains will not travel between Bergen and Arna, with rail replacement buses ordered to take their place. 

Travelling by road

Norwegian schools break up for påskeferie (Easter holidays) this Friday (March 31st) so you can expect heavy traffic on the roads out of the big cities starting from Friday afternoon and continuing over the weekend.

Typically well over a million Norwegians take to the roads over Easter to stay in their cabins or visit relatives. 

There is also likely to be heavy traffic between Maundy Thursday (April 6th) and Easter Saturday (April 8th), and again on Easter Monday (April 10th) as people return home. 

The E6 in Gudbrandsdalen around Lillehammer and the E18 in Agder tend to see delays over Easter, 

The Norwegian Public Roads Administration has yet to issue its traffic prognosis for Easter (we will update this article when they do). 

Travelling by air 

While there are no strikes planned at Norwegian airports or at the airlines servicing them, anyone flying to Spain, Germany, Italy, or the UK’s Heathrow airport should check to make sure that their flight is not going to be disrupted. 

Between now and April 13th, ground services and cargo handling unions in Spain working for Swissport are mounting 24-hour walkouts every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. 

This will impact most Spanish airports, including Madrid-Barajas, Barcelona-El Prat, Reus, Alicante, Valencia, Murcia, Málaga, Almería, Salamanca, Valladolid, Burgos, Logroño, Zaragoza, Huesca, Lanzarote, Gran Canaria and Tenerife Sur airports. It is not yet clear which flights will be affected. 

The German transport unions Ver.di and EVG mounted a 24-hour mega strike on March 27th. EVG has promised not to strike over Easter, but Ver.di has so far not given any such assurances. 

Those flying to Italy should keep in mind that air traffic controllers working for the company Enav are planning to strike from 1pm to 5pm on April 2nd. 

READ ALSO: Calendar of the transport strikes expected in Italy this spring

Finally, 1,400 security guards at Terminal 5 at London Heathrow Airport plan to hold rolling strikes for 10 days from March 31st until April 9th, threatening “huge disruption and delays… throughout Easter.” Heathrow’s management have said that they aim to keep the airport “open and operational despite unnecessary threats of strike action by Unite”.

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Reader question: What will EES mean for foreigners living in Europe?

The EU's new Entry & Exit System (EES) of enhanced passport controls is due to come into force later this year, but among many questions that remain is the situation for non-EU nationals who live in the EU or Schengen zone.

Published: 27 April 2024 07:59 CEST
Reader question: What will EES mean for foreigners living in Europe?

Currently scheduled to start in autumn 2024 (unless it’s delayed again, which is not unlikely) the EU’s new Entry & Exit System is basically an enhanced passport check at external EU borders, including a facial scan and fingerprinting.

You can find a full explanation of the new system HERE.

Travellers crossing an external EU or Schengen border for the first time will be required to complete EES ‘pre-registration’ formalities including that facial scan and fingerprinting.

There are, however, several groups exempt from EES and one of them is non-EU nationals who have a residency permit or long-stay visa for an EU country.

So if you’re a foreigner living in the EU or Schengen zone, here’s what you need to know.

Exempt

One of the stated aims of EES is to tighten up enforcement of over-staying – IE, people who stay longer than 90 days in every 180 without a visa, or those who overstay the limits of their visa.

Obviously these limits do not apply to non-EU nationals who are resident in the EU or Schengen zone, which is why this group is exempt from EES checks. They will instead be required to show their passport and residency permit/visa when crossing a border, just as they do now.

In its explanations of how EES will work, the European Commission is clear – exempt groups include non-EU residents of the Bloc.

A Commission spokesman told The Local: “Non-EU citizens residing in the EU are not in the scope of the EES and will not be subject to pre-enrollment of data in the EES via self-service systems. The use of automation remains under the responsibility of the Member States and its availability in border crossing points is not mandatory.

“When crossing the borders, holders of EU residence permits should be able to present to the border authorities their valid travel documents and residence permits.”

How this will work

How this will work on the ground, however, is a lot less clear.

Most ports/airports/terminals have two passport queues – EU and non-EU. It remains unclear whether the non-EU queue will have a separate section for those who are exempt from EES.

It does seem clear that exempt groups will not be able to use the automated passport scanners – since those cannot scan additional documents like residency permits – but should instead use manned passport booths. However it is not clear whether these will be available at all airports/ports/terminals or how non-EU residents of the EU will be directed to those services.

There’s also the issue that individual border guards are not always clear on the processes and rules for non-EU residents of the EU – even under the current system it’s relatively commonly for EU residents to have their passports incorrectly stamped or be given incorrect information about passport stamping by border guards.

Brits in particular will remember the immediate post-Brexit period when the processes as described by the EU and national authorities frequently did not match what was happening on the ground.

The Local will continue to try and get answers on these questions. 

READ ALSO What will EES mean for dual nationals

What if I live in the EU but I don’t have a visa/residency permit?

For most non-EU citizens, having either a visa or a residency permit is obligatory in order to be legally resident.

However, there is one exception: UK citizens who were legally resident in the EU prior to the end of the Brexit transition period and who live in one of the “declaratory” countries where getting a post-Brexit residency card was optional, rather than compulsory. Declaratory countries include Germany and Italy.

Although it is legal for people in this situation to live in those countries without a residency permit, authorities already advise people to get one in order to avoid confusion/hassle/delays at the border. Although EES does not change any rules relating to residency or travel, it seems likely that it will be more hassle to travel without a residency card than it is now.

Our advice? Things are going to be chaotic enough, getting a residency permit seems likely to save you a considerable amount of hassle.

Delays 

Although residents of the EU do not need to complete EES formalities, they will be affected if the new system causes long queues or delays at the border.

Several countries have expressed worries about this, with the UK-France border a particular cause for concern.

READ ALSO Travellers could face ’14 hours queues’ at UK-France border

Where does it apply?

EES is about external EU/Schengen borders, so does not apply if you are travelling within the Schengen zone – eg taking the train from France to Germany or flying from Spain to Sweden.

Ireland and Cyprus, despite being in the EU, are not in the Schengen zone so will not be using EES, they will continue to stamp passports manually.

Norway, Switzerland and Iceland – countries that are in the Schengen zone but not in the EU – will be using EES.

The full list of countries using EES is: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Therefore a journey between any of the countries listed above will not be covered by EES.

However a journey in or out of any of those countries from a country not listed above will be covered by EES.

You can find our full Q&A on EES HERE.

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