During times of pandemic, there has not been much travel at all. But despite that, it has happened.
Travelling by train should be the most climate-smart thing to do, unless you count sailing boats.
I often travel by train for longer trips in the country and sometimes even outside the country. But if it’s too far away, I’ve travelled by plane. For example, I flew to Turkey in the spring to see my daughter who lives in Beirut.
But I have relatives down in Germany and sometimes it’s a good time to go and see them and my wife would go to see her sister in Kalmar. We have then had occasion to look at a few different travel apps.
During my time as an itinerant consultant, I have also had occasion to try booking trips by train. So some experience with some travel apps I have. Here I will review two apps, SJ’s app and Omio.
Omio
The Omios app is owned by a German company (GoEuro Travel GmbH) based in Berlin and has been around since 2012, so it will be 10 years this year (2022). They are available in 15 countries and 21 languages. The app is of course free to download just search on Omio where you usually download your apps.
Overview
This app allows you to book not only train journeys but also buses and flights. And the sheer number of travel options and countries means that there is almost certainly a very complex system behind it. Because you can’t just search and see the possible modes of transport between different locations in 15 countries. You can also book and buy tickets. This makes the system a bit inflexible. They are mostly based on other systems that exist in the different countries.
Concrete examples, book a trip
For example, I wanted to travel with a dog within Sweden but there was no way to book such a trip.
Another time I was going down to Hamburg to visit relatives. Something that happens every 5 years or so. Before the trip, I felt a bit crabby. In these Corona times, it felt safest to tune in. Especially since slightly older people were also expected to attend the meeting. I had booked that you could get your money back if you got a medical certificate.
I got a doctor’s note. It took a few days and finally I actually got the money back for the trip that didn’t happen. So in that trip it was plus on the edge.
Prices
Once again I searched for a trip from Skåne to Södertälje. This meant that I would be able to travel partly on my local public transport card that I have for Skåne. This allowed me to see that it was the Snälltåget that was recommended for the longer distance from Hässleholm up to Södertälje. And then I went to the Kind Train page. There, the ticket was SEK 30 cheaper for the same journey. And of course Omio has to live too. They have to collect money in different places. But this time I got to keep my 3 gold coins. Not a huge saving just on a trip for maybe 866 SEK, the example is for one way. But it can be useful for those who have the energy to check directly with the travel companies that come up when you search via Omio and certainly other similar apps that collect information from various transport companies. That’s probably part of the price we as consumers have to pay for searching the web ourselves to find different possible combinations of different train carriers or other travel companies when we want to get from point A to point B.
Summary reviews
On the whole, Omio has just that advantage. It helps to develop options when it comes to public transport between different places, especially when travelling between different countries, there is a great advantage to using an app like Omio.
In Omio you can also search and compare flights and trains and in some cases buses. So you have more comprehensive app than just one mode. Flights and buses may not be considered as climate-smart modes of transport, but sometimes they can be an option anyway.
SJ
So as a comparison, I thought I’d look at the SJ app. SJ is the good old Statens Järnvägar, a company that is wholly owned by the state. They have a requirement to be profitable. Although the reason SJ was formed and took over large parts of the rail network and trains was that the railways were facing competition from the emerging car industry. If you want to read more about the railway there is a lot of literature here I just refer to wikipedia’s article on SJ’s history.
Overview
SJ’s app is for train travel only. It’s not so bad either because it is not only possible to book with SJ as operator but also at least some other companies are included. You can also book and pay for regional trains. Such as Stockholms länstrafik SL, Skånetrafiken and others. The Sjs app includes more options such as ordering food, different types of seating by the window or corridor, ordering food and so on. This is much more difficult with Omio if at all possible?
Prices
What are the prices on the SJ app? Price from Hässleholm to Södertälje South on Thursday 11 August. Kl. 9.48 costs single in 2nd class, 862 kr While the same trip with the same departure time and the same operator, namely SJ. Cost a little less if you buy it via the Omio app. namely 823 kr. This is a bit puzzling as you take exactly the same train to Norrköping where you change to a regional train to Södertälje south. The trip is no different except for the price.
