Stockholm to Ostersund in March

[Merseysider]

How are the prices for these journeys worked out then? (For anyone unable to view the image, Stockholm to Ostersund on 04.03.15)

I understand the difference between Non-rebookable, Rebookable and Refundable. It's just that the prices for each journey seem to be plucked from the air at random with not even the Refundable fares having parity, even for journeys following the same route. Is there a quota for these flexible tickets which means they go up in price as they are purchased?

Secondly, why are the fares so damned cheap?! I don't think advance tickets for the 0813 have been released yet, but they are available on the 0813 a month earlier (05.02.15) and the price is 235 SEK (£18). For a journey of nearly 600km, that's incredible.

Thirdly, as first class is also bloody cheap, I'm giving that consideration. Has anyone got experience of first class on SJ Intercity trains?

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

The through SJ trains are priced according to quality (Inter City or Snabbtag) and the time of day, with a small supplement for a full refund if your plans change. The other services involve a change at Sundsvall from SJ to Norrtag and through fares are priced somewhat higher - I wonder why? It will be cheaper to book SJ to Sundsvall and then re-book Norrtag from there.

http://www.norrtag.se/sv/planera-din-resa/biljetter/

SJ Inter City services are traditional, comfortable loco-hauled rakes whilst SJ Snabbtag services are high-speed 'X2' EMUs with bistro/buffet-car.

 

[stut]

First class in Scandinavia tends to use the same seating as second. There are add-ons (free wifi if it's not already free, some food and coffee, lounge access at major cities - think it's only Stockholm and Gothenburg in Sweden). But it is often slightly calmer and quieter, if you're likely to be on a busy service.

 

[Ianigsy]

I used Norrtag and SJ for a Umea-Stockholm journey two years ago with a first class ticket- on Norrtag you get a coffee or two (the customer host also manages the small shop area in between ticket checks) and on SJ there's a table laid out at the end of the carriage with fruit, brownie bites, juice and jugs of coffee and hot water.

The brownie bites are gorgeous.

When I booked on SJ you could also order an open sandwich for about another 100 SEK- you might think of a prawn sandwich as something insubstantial, but this was about the size of a piece of A4 paper and came with a lot of salad and a whole sliced hardboiled egg.