Skånetrafiken is funked up!

Two in two days...talk about a frustrating time.

Skånetrafiken, where do we start. For those who don't know, the public transport services here in Sweden are divided up by region. For our region in the south of Sweden (Skåne) the service is offered by Skånetrafiken. Skånetrafiken are the inconsistent body, who control the buses and trains in the area, and serverely struggle to get it right.

My biff with Skånetrafiken goes back a long way...from their drastic overpricing for a service of diminishing quality, to the bus drivers who don't stop when you press the 'stop' button (happened several times when mom was visiting from Australia, and more). Their only reasonably priced service is the 'Sommerkort' (Summer card) which allows you to take 50 trips for 485kr (so around $2 a trip, anywhere within Skåne). This is in stark contrast to their usual pricing...a domestic journey within Malmö setting you back 19SEK (around $3.50 for something you could walk in the same time), and a one way trip from Malmö to Lund costing over 40SEK ($8), for what is usually a 10-15 minute bus trip from Malmö Värnhem. To quote my friend Jessica 'they should also have a winter card, spring card and autumn card'. Couldn't have said it better myself!

Further still, the staff of the buses/trains are often rude, unhelpful and inconsistent. While they'll allow their friend to hop on the bus without paying, they'll close the door as you are about to hop onto the bus and drive off.

Today was a day where I experienced the true wonders of this system. Due to the change of schedule of the usual bus route I took to university (171), I was unable to get to the part of Lund I desire. So I went onto the website last night and found a bus which would get me to the Central station. I walked down to the bus stop in Malmö, and hopped on the bus, to find that I needed to recharge my travelcard. So I asked the driver to charge it up for 200kr, and because he did not know how to do his job, he wouldn't let me ride the bus. He said I had to go into the 'shop' and recharge the card, and consequently I had to wait 30m for the next bus.

Coming back from a lovely day out in Lund, I had to find a place to board the bus back to Malmö. As the route 171 has been cut short, I could not board the bus at the Hospital. I walked to Scheeleparken, where the buses were meant to begin from according to the new revised schedule. (actually they are meant to run from Delfinen, but for some reason don't) After waiting half an hour at Scheeleparken, without a bus showing up, I decided to walk to the next bus stop. (in which time my purchased ticket ran out) When getting to Ole Römers väg, a bus came after 10 minutes, where I told the driver how long I had been waiting, and that consequently my ticket had expired. She frankly didn't care, made me pay for another ticket to Malmö, and said that I should know (who knows how) that the return bus leaves from Ole Römers väg and the bus to Lund only goes to Scheeleparken. With no signage at any of their bus stops, heaven knows how I/anyone else should be aware of this.

Fortunately, for my next journey, I plan to evade the 'monopolistic' system, and use Swebus express, who offer cheaper options if you book in advance. Copenhagen for 45SEK (OW) from Malmö...thats less than half the price on the Skånetrafiken/DSB service.