Leg three: over the bridge and on to Stockholm

Yet another tick off my bucket list; the Oresund bridge; the amazing feat or engineering that has been immortalised in a Scandi crime drama... but for me it also involved using a train that I wanted to travel on since I was about 10 years old, the Swedish X2000.

So... Eh, yes. Even from someone with a bit of an interest in trains like myself, I would completely expect a response of "the what?!". It's not an especially famous train. It's not particularly technically advanced by modern standards, I can understand why you would not understand why I would be excited about it.

When I was about 10 years old I had a book, I think it was called "High tech trains". I must have read that book from front to back so many times that any self respecting library would have just chucked it in the bin. It featured all the amazing innovations made in train technology in the 80s and 90s; the TGV of course, the German ICE, the British HST/ Inter-City 125, and the Italian pendulino. Driverless Metros and Maglevs were also in there... you get the idea. I was 10 or 11 years old and all of it fascinated me. Including the section on the (at the time) innovative Swedish tilting train, the X2000.

The X2000 was ultimately never the success the swedes hoped it might be, efforts to sell it to the US and China didn't work out, but it has remained as one of the mainstays of the Swedish rail network, where it still serves their flagship 'high speed' services. By international standards it's not really that 'high speed' (it runs at up to 200 km/h), but it tilts around corners... it looks cool, and it's very Scandinavian.

Like the French and Spanish high speed trains, the X2000 requires a seat seat reservation, and tickets can be bought online like a Ryanair flight. I booked quite far in advance but was impressed with just how cheap it was - SEK 235, or about €22. Fares obviously get a lot higher closer to the time, but I felt it was exceptionally good value for such a long journey.

Catching the international X2000 from Copenhagen appears to always involve using the rather daunting sounding platform 26 (there are nowhere near 26 platforms at Copenhagen central station). All the signs for platform 26 warn of a minimum 15 minute walk. It is quite a trek from the main concourse, but no matter how long you follow the signs for, the '15 minute' warning never gets shorter... just another '15 minute' warning, keep walking. And another... until all of a sudden you're there. Basically, coming from the main station building you need to access one of the main platforms, go all the way to the end, and then transfer over to an isolated extra platform which is basically in the middle of no man's land.

There's no doubt about it, it's annoying. But, unless you have 3 suitcases it won't take 15 minutes. And also, if you just want to go straight to the train, you can skip the station buildings and the whole hullabaloo of walking all the way to the end of a different platform altogether. Just to the south of the station, along a street called 'Tietgensgade', there is direct access (including elevator access) to all platforms, including platform '26'. Just head to that street instead of the main station building, and you're there! In fact, if you're changing from another train, including an S-Tog train, just head all the way to the southern end of the platform on arrival, use that exit (to Tietgensgade), and you can get straight to platform 26 the same way!

The X2000 itself is... well, what you'd expect really. It's a nice train but nothing to write home about. Comfortable but not luxurious. Airline style seats, but with enough legroom. A little dated but in that Scandinavian way where it was all so ahead of it's time that it now feels weirdly... "retro-modern"? It was busy, and I had to sit in my assigned seat by the aisle for most of the journey, but was able to move towards the end and have two seats to myself. Catering options were fine; a nice bistro/ shop section that beats a virgin trains/ LNER 'shop' hands down, but lacks the social atmosphere and ambiance of a German 'Bordbistro' or even the TGV's 'le bar' - although I suspect the Swedish offering is more reliable and will always be open.

As for the journey itself, especially across the Oresund tunnel and bridge, it was what I can only describe as satisfyingly underwhelming. After Copenhagen airport, the train simply passes through a short tunnel, and then under the road deck of the bridge... due to the nature of the construction, there's not much of a view from the train, and probably due largely to the fact that for almost every other passenger on the train, this is a journey they do all the time, it all feels very mundane and run of the mill. Much like going through the channel tunnel for the 2nd, 3rd or 4th time....

But I think that's part of the thrill; doing something that is really quite amazing; going from one country to the next, over a straight of water that has separated cultures for centuries, be it Sweden and Denmark, or the UK and France; it's the same thrill. Except now it's now just a case of hopping on a train... and in as little as 20 minutes you're on the other side, without even noticing. The thrill and the excitement of the journey is precisely how easy and mundane the journey has become.

The journey to Stockholm takes a little over 5 hours, but I believe there are works in progress to bring that down - even an hour reduction would be great I think, as the Copenhagen - Stockholm flight path is still a very busy route. As the train passes straight through Copenhagen airport, something like a 4 hour train journey could realistically start to steal the connecting flight market as well. I have a lot of faith in how the Scandinavians do things, so I look forward to seeing how this connection develops.

Arriving in to Stockholm can end up being a very nondescript experience. Like a lot of big European stations, the station has far outgrown the original infrastructure, and has been expanded into a maze of modern buildings. As a result you can very easily alight the train and leave via a series of very nice but functional 70s/ 80s extensions and exit straight into one of Stockholm city centre's very modernist and functional streets or squares. Alternatively you might end up transferring to the amazing 'T-Bana' Metro station underneath (which I have decided deserves a post in it's own right). But if you're lucky, you'll end up in the magnificent section that was the original station, that still forms the central concourse and has been beautifully integrated into the new complex. Straight outside is a traditional station square, complete with fountain and clock, but it's the inside that is truly impressive.

Everything is well signposted, in both Swedish and English, and staff and public alike are as friendly and helpful as you'd expect. One thing that really did impress me, though, was the raised tiling found on the floor around the station (you can see some in the bottom right of this photo). It took me a while to work it out, but they are guide ways designed to help blind people navigate the station.

But for me, it was out the main door and a short walk up the hill to my hotel. I had made it all the way to Stockholm without flying... time to relax, unwind for a couple of days and explore another city I had never been to before.