Please sign in to post.

Rail Europe "booking" - high-speed train Copenhagen to Stockholm

Last month I used rail Europe (via ricksteves.com) to reserve tickets on the highspeed train from Copenhagen to Stockholm in August. I got back an email from rail Europe that they'd confirm the reservations "when they become available" and would contact me if any problems. I thought maybe I'd misunderstood the number of days ahead schedules become available, and I sat tight for a month before inquiring. (Dumb) The story I get now is "once we receive the fares and schedules from Europe we will confirm your order" and a promise to contact me at least 5 days before my departure "wth alternate options if the fares and schedules have not been released to the international market."

Now I've looked directly on SJ.SE and all the non-stop highspeed trains that day are marked as sold out. (It does look like we could take several more hours to go to Malmö and catch the fast train there. For twice as much as the initial quote.) We are on a tight schedule and it's either the highspeed train or I'll need to make plane reservations. (Also 2x cost)

Does anyone have insight into whether the seats have truly not been released or are actually sold out?

Posted by
16895 posts

The trains are not sold out. They're just not yet for sale past August 7, which matches what Rail Europe told you. Because they want to implement ID checks before boarding the train in Copenhagen, and are trying to get those resources in place, Sweden has not finalized and published later schedules for this train.

Posted by
8889 posts

So basically RailEurope took your money and sold you something that doesn't exist yet.
If the timetable has not yet been finalised, how could they tell you what times the trains will run? They are sitting on your money (and earning interest on it) waiting for the "product" to arrive, which may or may not be as advertised, and not telling you the "product" is not yet available. Does this sound like honest business practice?

Posted by
16895 posts

Chris, Rail Europe has not taken any money. They have no way to charge a credit card until a ticket is actually issued. And the original posts also states that fares were not released. RE is doing their best to provide a service to this customer, so that she doesn't have to take her own time to keep checking back. Also, FYI, I don't know whether RE can match the complicated kaleidoscope of fares that SJ offers on any one train route, but I see that they offer this ticket starting at $48, which is a huge discount over full fare.

Posted by
2 posts

Laura is correct that my credit card wasn't charged. I've received a call from Rail Europe and they arranged the alternate routing, through Malmo, and explained what was going on. It does have to do with where the passport control takes place and better controls in light of the current situation in Europe. It's a little more expensive - still cheaper than flying and we get to see more of Sweden - and adds another leg to the trip, but I am very satisfied and relieved to have it all settled. Thank you to Laura or whoever at RickSteves may have given them a nudge.