Flam Train_group booking question

[thuyronald]

Hello everyone,

 

I was wondering about the specifics of the group booking on the Flamsbana train in Flam.

 

I want to do a group booking with a minimum of 10 people for our upcoming trip next June. I understand that if you buy individual tickets, there are no seat assignments and you may end up jostling with the crowds to get seats. Therefore, I want to put together a group so we can get a reserved carriage.

 

Question#1_ how many seats are in one carriage?

Question#2_If I have only 10 people, will we still have to jostle for seats in our assigned carriage?

Question#3_Some previous cruisers had arranged a group of 30 people. Is it advantageous or worth the hassle to form such a big group? I prefer to keep if below 16 people.

 

Also, any tips or suggestions for group bookings or relevant information about the Flam train you're willing to share?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Twee

[MeHeartCruising]

Hello everyone,

 

I was wondering about the specifics of the group booking on the Flamsbana train in Flam.

 

I want to do a group booking with a minimum of 10 people for our upcoming trip next June. I understand that if you buy individual tickets, there are no seat assignments and you may end up jostling with the crowds to get seats. Therefore, I want to put together a group so we can get a reserved carriage.

 

Question#1_ how many seats are in one carriage?

Question#2_If I have only 10 people, will we still have to jostle for seats in our assigned carriage?

Question#3_Some previous cruisers had arranged a group of 30 people. Is it advantageous or worth the hassle to form such a big group? I prefer to keep if below 16 people.

 

Also, any tips or suggestions for group bookings or relevant information about the Flam train you're willing to share?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Twee

 

If you do a Google search on "flam railway cars" and click on the Images tab you can get quite a few pictures of the cars. The rows are 5 each (2 on one side of the aisle and 3 on the other). Rows face each other. From the pictures, it looks like there are probably 8 to 10 rows on a car, so somewhere between 40-50 people per car. This seems about right from my recollection when I wrote it several years ago.

 

Unfortunately, I can't help with your Group questions. I rode the train as part of a ship excursion. I believe our entire excursion group was just guided to one particular car, then told to find a seat. It was a pretty chaotic rush to find a seat... any seat... your seat. As a solo traveler, I lost the battle and ended up with an aisle seat on the 3-seat side -- not ideal for window viewing. Especially, since I'm tall, I really didn't get to see much of the beauty, since my straight line of vision was above the window. I did the train as part of an all day bus/train/Flam train triangle that I enjoyed immensely. But the Flam train ride was less than spectacular to me due to this seating situation. The fact that it rained part of the day didn't help. But I'd do it all again in a heartbeat.

 

Here is a link to my pictures from that day. https://flic.kr/s/aHskpdGrp4

 

Near the end of them, you can see the outside of the train cars. So that should give you an idea of the car lengths. Compare those to the google pictures and you'll see that they are large cars that hold a lot of people.

[thuyronald]

Thank you MeHeartCruising for your information.

 

Your pictures look beautiful, even with the fog. Were all the photos taken during the train ride and walk around town? There was a beautiful waterfall where everyone was taking photos. Was this near town where we can walk to?

 

After posting this question, I did get an answer from Flamsbana office and they told me there were 94/96 seats in each carriage. They also mentioned if you have a group booking, seats will be allocated for the group, so that is good to know.

 

Twee

[hallasm]

Capacity is closer to 100 per car - the capacity of the train is in the order of 600 people - should not be a problem to find space for a group of 10 to 15 people - just be first in line when train is arriving.Tickets and time table for June next year still not available - link to Flåm Railway.

 

In the video below from 1:00 to 1:10 minute you can see the interior of the train.

 

yjnzGcyWPIk

[Capt_BJ]

what I observed this July

 

no assigned seats .. period .....

 

The boarding area is roped off in two sections (at the FLAM end)

 

groups are in one area and everyone else in another. The groups are boarded first and they try to keep them to the set of cars intended for them. In our case the rope had set off 3 cars ... aka reserved for groups; after maybe 2 minutes they dropped the rope for general boarding. It was VERY crowded the day we rode and we were in general (with luggage) and it was a bit of a free for all ... HOWEVER once all the pushing was over ... there WERE open seats ..... <bigger issue was finding places for luggage too large for the overhead rack!!>

 

 

 

 

 

we did Flam post cruise which ended in Bergen .. via Norway in a Nutshell ... one way, heading to Oslo. We took the train from Bergen one stop and transferred to a bus for the 1 hour ride of a lifetime down amazingly steep and twisty roads, then got on a ferry for a fiord trip to Flam lasting about 2 hours - here we'd chosen to overnight in Flam. The next day took the Flam railway <one way> up to Myrdal and transferred to the train to Oslo ....

 

To try to get specific on your question: what I saw was all groups boarded at the same time ... nothing like 'this group' then 'this group' .... the free for all was the same except they had only the 'group' crowd to contend with for maybe 2 or 3 minutes .... but like I said the train ... even on this VERY busy day was not full .....

Edited September 30, 2018 by Capt_BJ

[MeHeartCruising]

Thank you MeHeartCruising for your information.

 

Your pictures look beautiful, even with the fog. Were all the photos taken during the train ride and walk around town? There was a beautiful waterfall where everyone was taking photos. Was this near town where we can walk to?

 

After posting this question, I did get an answer from Flamsbana office and they told me there were 94/96 seats in each carriage. They also mentioned if you have a group booking, seats will be allocated for the group, so that is good to know.

 

Twee

 

I'm not surprised by that number of passengers per car. They were large.

 

My pictures are from an all-day ship excursion (Celebrity). They took us by bus from Flam to various sites along the way to the town of Voss. We had lunch there. Then we boarded a regular Norwegian Railway train (we had a private car -- the red train in the pictures) from Voss through the country side to the small town of Myrdal. Myrdal is not much more than a train station. Myrdal is where we got on the Flam train (the green train in the pictures) and traveled it downhill back into Flam. Some people had this same exact excursion, except it went the opposite direction. I didn't get to choose which direction I wanted to go. They just split the tours up some how, I'm sure to spread out the load, so to speak.

 

There are actually 2 waterfall stops in the picture set. One was while we on the bus and it wasn't walkable from Flam. The second one was a stop that the Flam train makes as it goes up/down between Flam and Myrdal. They stop long enough to get off the train and look around. While we were stopped there, some music started playing from the hillside and an actor appeared halfway up the waterfall from a hiding spot and did a little dance type thing. A little theatric for me, not to mention it was raining pretty hard at the time. :-)

 

So my tour was not just the Flam train. Although there was a Flam Train-only excursion offered by the ship. The Flam Train only travels from Flam up to Myrdal and then back down to Flam.

Edited September 30, 2018 by MeHeartCruising

[thuyronald]

Thank you hallasm for the video.

 

Do you think it's better to book a later train ride for better weather?

 

We'll be visiting on June 17th and our ship's time here is from 8:30am -5:30pm. Our ship is scheduled to dock and not tendered. According to the 2018 schedule, the train departures are: 8:35, 9:45, 11:05, 12:20pm, 1:35pm and 2:50pm. There are other times but none will fit into our schedule.

 

Twee

[hallasm]

The first trains in the morning are more crowded. We did the 1:35 train. It will be warmer after noon - can still be cold and snow In Myrdal.

I’ll consider 2:50 too late. Then you have the morning for other activities.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[naturelovergirl]

We rode the Flåmsbana as individuals last year...

And although the trip on the train was historical and visually amazing, the jockeying for seats and views was not relaxing...

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[thuyronald]

Capt_BJ,

 

Is there only one area to wait for boarding, as you mentioned "The Flam end"? Where exactly is the "Flam end"?

 

So no seat assignments, just a reserved carriage for group bookings? Still have to jostle for seats?

 

Twee

[gnome12]

Capt_BJ,

 

Is there only one area to wait for boarding, as you mentioned "The Flam end"? Where exactly is the "Flam end"?

 

So no seat assignments, just a reserved carriage for group bookings? Still have to jostle for seats?

 

Twee

I assume that means the departure from Flam and not the return from Myrdal.

[hallasm]

I assume that means the departure from Flam and not the return from Myrdal.

 

 

Same train and same seat back from Myrdal - the stop in Myrdal is very short - You may not want to leave the train at all.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Capt_BJ]

Same train and same seat back from Myrdal - the stop in Myrdal is very short - You may not want to leave the train at all.

 

cruise ship excursions for ships that visit Flam will typically do a round trip Flam - Myr - Flam; but this is NOT everyone on the train.

 

The stop at Myr is about 10 minutes as I recall .... (and there is nothing there besides the train station with a small snack bar ... the station is ONLY a transfer station to the Bergen Oslo line ...)

 

 

 

as I mentioned we did a tour under 'Norway in a Nutshell' and it included a one way Flam to Myr ... you can book this the other direction and go just Myr to Flam and then get a ferry towards Voss and Bergen

 

Other folks will take the train UP: Flam to Myr, and hike or bike down .... one way train ride, return to Flam by other means

 

Round trip folks tend to stay in their seats (or change to the other side / better seats) when the train hits Myr and heads back down the mountain .... while other folks are board for the one way down.

 

Also note that this is a 'real' train and there are stations along the way where folks may get on/off!

 

The 'stampede' that I mention happens at the Flam station - on cruise ship days ..... IME

 

On our visit (a cruise ship day) I'd say less than 15% of the 'full' train got off at Myr with the majority of these boarding a train to Bergen or Oslo ... probably 60% Oslo bound (as were we)

 

***********************************

 

know about the webcam at Flam showing the pier and the train station? Note the time there is 6 hours LATER than

eastern dst ... and I get one static screen shot when I access, not a live feed. https://aurlandhavn.no/maps-cam/webcam-flam/

 

this is 5pm eastern today 10/2 .... 1700 + 0600 = 2300 local time (11pm)

camera is on top of the museum building

 

Edited October 2, 2018 by Capt_BJ

[naturelovergirl]

Seeing this was my favorite thing on the Flåmsbana trip... magnificent

And this is why it is worth it...

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Babyeddiedog]

We're were planning on doing the Flam train trip, but from the comments on the pushing for seats I'm beginning to wonder if its worth it.

 

We'll be travelling with my mum who has walking difficulties, pushing and shoving for seats is even less fun when you can't move quickly. Can anyone tell me is it really bad? I imagine that even if we booked a group tour with the cruise line it would still be a free for all, we might not even get to sit together.

[hallasm]

I did travel with 93 years old mother in law - no problems at all. You’re lined up and sufficient seats - even empty seats left. However might be better with a later departure after lunch.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[thuyronald]

I'm thinking of also doing the cruise to Gudvangen from Flam and bus back or bus the other way in addition to the train. If the crowds are worse in the morning, it might be better for us to do the cruise first and then train in the afternoon. However, I would think that the weather in Naeroyfjord would be more prone to fog and overcast if doing it in the morning.

 

What are the chances of the cruise being sold out if we wait until we get there? I'm thinking if the weather is not ideal, we can skip the cruise. I would not want to commit to it before arrival if there's little chance of not be able to get tickets on the day of arrival.

 

I would also need to figure out how much time would be needed to pick up my group booking tickets before the ride.

 

Assuming the schedule is the same as 2018, I'm leaning towards doing the 9:45 am train (our ship arrival is 8:30 am), finishing the round trip ride at 11:55am. Take the boat tour at 1:30pm, arriving at Gudvangen at 3:30pm. Then take the 3:30pm bus back to Flam.

Doing it this way would allow us not to rush picking up the tickets prior to getting on the train. Also, this would give us 1 1/2 hour in Flam to look around, perhaps visiting the Flamsbana Museum or getting a quick bite to eat before the cruise.

 

Any thoughts or suggestion for my schedule?

 

Twee

[Babyeddiedog]

I did travel with 93 years old mother in law - no problems at all. You’re lined up and sufficient seats - even empty seats left. However might be better with a later departure after lunch.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

Thank you, that's good to know!