8,000 kilometers: that is the round-trip distance between La Rochelle, France and Ånderdalen National Park, Norway. Determined to keep their carbon footprint low, the group of young adventurers (aged 14 to 15) opted for a more sustainable travel by train and bus.

This journey turned out to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for these teenagers who were on their way for another adventure in Ånderdalen with Rissa Citizen Science (a story we’ll share in another post).

For now, Alban shares his experience, as he was the one who volunteered to book all the tickets.

Morgan, Alban and Victor still a few thousands km away from Ånderdalen National Park.

Hi Alban, can you briefly introduce yourself?

Hi, I'm 15, I'm French, I'm a student at Fénelon Notre-Dame high school in La Rochelle, and I've just completed my Grade 10 school year. I recently took part in a fantastic trip to Northern Norway and Ånderdalen National Park.

First of all, why did you guys travel by train and bus, instead of flying?

We wanted our trip to be low in carbon emission, so it stood to us as evidence not to fly but to instead use more sustainable means of transportation. We used ADEME's CO2 calculator to assess our cabon emission for the entire round trip (ADEME is the French Agency For Environment and Energy's Control) :

Alban's animation showing the return trip from Ånderdalen National Park to La Rochelle (4,376 km).

Alban, you are the one who booked all the tickets for this incredible journey. Why did you take on this role?

I did book all the tickets, but that was not the plan initially!

First, when we planned the journey, we realized that we were going to have to take a night train through Germany from Hamburg to Karlsruhe. Since we were a group, we had to fill out a form in German. I speak a bit of German, so I filled out the form, and that's how I started booking the tickets. Then I just continued doing it!

Kalina, Alban, Marion and Morgan keeping spirits high.

What were the challenges before the project started?

They were many! First, the train from Stockholm to Narvik didn't run on the days we needed to travel because of some track works. Then, we faced another problem with the train from Narvik to Stockholm: four days before the departure, the train was cancelled! We had to find a solution, and fast! But thanks to our teacher's determination, we found a way to come back to France.

No rush for Charlotte, Myrtille, Victor, Gabin, Clovis and Morgan.

What was the biggest challenge during the trip?

It's hard to say between train delays and train cancellations... If we add all the delays, the result is mind-blowing: 6 hours and 38 minutes. And we missed 7 trains and buses due to these delays or other problems!

Waiting for the train to Narvik, where the rairoad ends.

Will you still avoid flying next time you are planning a long journey?

Yes, I will try, because I want my impact on the climate to be as low as possible, but sometimes it's impossible, or very difficult to avoid flying. For example, take the trip from Paris to Athens: without counting connecting time, you need 2 days and a half minimum by train and bus, whereas it takes only 3 hours by plane!

4,000 km at train speed.

Could you share one anecdote that you will remember for the rest of your life?

During this journey, something quite ordinary happened, but it greatly influenced the rest of the trip: The wind was blowing hard, and a tree fell on the train tracks between Hamburg and Hanover. Our train had to stop immediately, and we returned to Hamburg to find the nearest junction, so we had a lot of delay. And due to this delay, we missed all our connections. As a result, instead of arriving in La Rochelle on Sunday, the 8th of June, at 10:25 PM, we finally arrived on Monday, 9th June, at 10:19 AM.

Clovis didn't come back from this journey entirely sane.

This is the detail of the trip

Underlined italic: What has changed since the initial booking

Italic: What has been added or modified during the trip

Bold-italic: Reasons why things have changed

La Rochelle, France -> Ånderdalen National Park, Senja, Norway

• TGV Inoui (SNCF) N°8370 from La Rochelle-Ville (28th May, 05:39 AM) to Paris Montparnasse (28th May, 08:34 AM)

• Subway transfer (line 4) from Montparnasse-Bienvenüe to Gare de l'Est

• ICE (SNCF × DB) N°9591 from Paris Est (28th May, 09:55 AM) to Berlin Hauptbahnhof (28th May, 06:03 PM 07:29 PM Traffic light problem in Strasbourg train station + Police control at the border in Kehl train station + Switch rails error between Karlsruhe Hauptbahnhof and Frankfurt-am-Main Süd)

• Snälltåget Night Train (Snälltåget) N°10300 from Berlin Hauptbahnhof (28th May, 09:10 PM) to Stockholm Centralstation (29th May, 01:15 PM)

• SJ Night Train (SJ) N°94 from Stockholm Centralstation (29th May, 06h09 PM) to Boden Centralstation/Resecentrum (30th May, 05:44 AM 06:14 AM Unjustified delay)

• SJ Night Train (SJ) N°3964 from Boden Centralstation / Resecentrum (30th May, 06:07 AM 06:52 AM Waiting in Boden Centralstation / Resecentrum train station for the connection with SJ Night Train N°94) to Narvik Stasjon (30th May, 12:45 AM 01h30 PM Waiting in Boden Centralstation/Resecentrum train station for the connection with SJ Night Train N°94)

• Bus Line 100 (Svipper) from Bromsgård (30th May, 01:03 PM) to Buktamoen (30th May, 03:14 PM) Train SJ Night Train N°3964’s delay

• Bus Line 110 (Svipper) from Buktamoen (30th May, 03:30 PM) to Finnsnes kai 01 (30th May, 04:06 PM) Train SJ Night Train N°3964’s delay

• Bus Line 100 (Svipper) from Bromsgård (30th May, 03:48 PM) to Buktamoen (30th May, 06:00 PM)

• Bus Line 110 (Svipper) from Buktamoen (30th May, 06:00 PM) to Finnsnes kai 01 (30th May, 06:36 PM)

• Private minibus from Finnsnes kai 01 to the Ånderdalen Nasjonalpark

Ånderdalen National Park, Senja, Norway  -> La Rochelle, France

• Private minibus from the Ånderdalen Nasjonalpark to Finnsnes kai 01

• Bus Line 110 (Svipper) from Finnsnes kai 01 (06th June, 11:45 AM) to Buktamoen (06th June, 12:25 AM)

• Bus Line 100 (Svipper) from Buktamoen (06th June, 12:30 AM) to Bromsgård (06th June, 02:20 PM) Bus was full

• Bus Line 100 (Svipper) from Buktamoen (06th June, 12:30 AM) to Setermoen (06th June, 01:11 PM) Substitution bus

• Bus Line 100 (Svipper) from Setermoen (06th June, 01:10 PM 01:12 PM Connection with the substitution bus) to Bromsgård (06th June, 02:20 PM)

• SJ Intercity (SJ) N°99 from Narvik Stasjon (06th June, 03:11 PM) to Boden Centralstation /

• Resecentrum (06th June, 09:50 PM 10:03 PM Track works)

• SJ Night Train (SJ) N°93 from Boden Centralstation / Resecentrum (06th June, 10:18 PM 10:38 PM Waiting in Boden Centralstation / Resecentrum train station for the connection with SJ Night Train N°99) to Uppsala Centralstation (07th June, 09:23 AM) Stockholm Centralstation (07th June, 10:13 AM 10:33 AM Waiting in Boden Centralstation / Resecentrum train station for the connection with SJ Night Train N°99) Connection at Uppsala Centralstation train station was not guaranteed

• Regionaltåg (Mälartåg) N°10911 from Uppsala Centralstation (07th June, 09:44 AM) to Stockholm Centralstation (07th June, 10:23 AM)

• SJ Snabbtåg (SJ) N°20541 from Stockholm Centralstation (07th June, 04:07 PM 04:27 PM Engine change on the locomotive) to Malmö Centralstation (07th June, 10:24 PM 10:44 PM Engine change on the locomotive)

• SJ EuroNight (SJ) N°13471 from Malmö Centralstation (07th June, 11:59 PM 08th June, 03:39 AM Track works) to Hamburg Hauptbahnhof (08th June, 09:00 AM or 10:06 AM (Depending on the information source → we, and even the ticket inspector, didn’t know before the departure) 10:03 AM Track works)

• ICE (DB) N°75 from Hamburg Hauptbahnhof (08th June, 10:24 AM) to Karlsruhe Hauptbahnhof (08th June, 03:09 PM) Hannover Hauptbahnhof (08th June, 11:38 AM 01:41 PM A tree fell on the tracks between Hamburg and Hannover, so we needed to go back to Hamburg to change of route) No stop at Karlsruhe due to the delay

• ICE (DB) N°77 from Hannover Hauptbahnhof (08th June, 01:38 PM 01:49 PM A tree fell on the tracks between Hamburg and Hannover, so the train changed route) to Mannheim Hauptbahnhof (08th June, 04:44 PM) Substitution to the ICE N°75

• ICE (DB) N°9572 from Karlsruhe Hauptbahnhof (08th June, 03:32 PM) to Paris Est (08th June, 06:05 PM) Connection at Karlsruhe Hauptbahnhof train station was not guaranteed

• TGV Inoui (SNCF) N°9560 from Mannheim Hauptbahnhof (08th June, 05:38 PM 05:43 PM Traffic management) to Paris Est (08th June, 08:41 PM) Substitution to the ICE N°9572

• Subway transfer (line 4) from Gare de l'Est to Montparnasse-Bienvenüe Connection at Paris Montparnasse train station was not guaranteed

• Subway transfer (line 4 + line 14) from Gare de l'Est to Bercy with a change at Châtelet Connection at Paris Montparnasse train station was not guaranteed

• TGV Inoui (SNCF) N°8393 from Paris Montparnasse (08th June, 07:12 PM) to La Rochelle-Ville (08th June, 10:25 PM) Connection at Paris Montparnasse train station was not guaranteed

• Night bus (Flixbus) from Paris Bercy Seine (08th June, 10:15 PM) to Bordeaux Saint-Jean (09th June, 05:50 AM) Substitution to the TGV Inoui N°8393

• Intercités (SNCF) N°3852 from Bordeaux Saint-Jean (09th June, 07:54 AM) to La Rochelle-Ville (09th June, 10:19 AM) Substitution to the TGV Inoui N°8393