Rail transport in Norway

Track

The main railway network consists of 4,087 km of lines, of which 262 km is double track and 60 km high-speed rail (210 km/h). In addition there is 225 km of urban railways, of which 218 km is double track. In addition there are some industrial tracks and minor branch lines and some abandoned and heritage railways. The entire main network is 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) (standard gauge), as are the urban railways in Oslo and Bergen. Of the operational railways in Norway, only the Trondheim Tramway has a different gauge, the meter gauge, 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in). Some heritage railways, though, operate with various kinds of narrow gauge.

The Kirkenes–Bjørnevatn Line used to be the northernmost railway in the world, but was in 2010 beaten by the Obskaya–Bovanenkovo Line in Russia. Still, Narvik is one of the northernmost towns in the world to have a railway connection, as the terminus for the Ofoten Line. It connects to Kiruna, Sweden, but not to Bodø, the northern terminus of the Norwegian railway network. Kiruna is, however, connected to the Swedish railway network, which again is connected to the Norwegian network at the Swedish stations of Charlottenberg, Storlien and Kornsjø.

Traction

2,622 km (64%) of the railway network is electrified, all of it at 15 kV  16.7 Hz AC with overhead wires. The only sections that are not electrified are the lines north of Mjøsa, with the sole exception of the Dovre Line and the Ofoten Line. On non-electrified sections diesel locomotives are used. All of the urban railways use 600 or 750 V DC, via overhead wires on the tramways and via third-rail on the Oslo T-bane.

Future expansion plans

In its plans,^{[citation needed][when?]} Bane NOR will concentrate its expansions primarily on the cramped network around Oslo and the larger cities.

• New tunnel under Oslo city center.^{[citation needed]}
• Vestfold Line: A new alignment between Larvik and Porsgrunn around 23 km (14 mi) long, reducing travel time by 22 minutes. Double track between Drammen and Tønsberg is under construction and due by 2025.^{[needs update]} The plan is to make the whole line double tracked from Drammen to Porsgrunn.
• Sørland Line: Plans may include between Porsgrunn and Skorstøl,^{[citation needed]} which would realign trains to southern Norway via Vestfold.
• Østfold Line: The Østfold Line is today double track both north and south of Moss, but in Moss 10 km (6 mi) remains as a single track bottleneck. Plans is to realign the railway through Moss, with double track through two tunnels.^{[citation needed]}
• Ringerike Line is a planned railway between Sandvika and Hønefoss that will reduce travel time between Oslo and Hønefoss/Bergen by 50 minutes. Construction is postponed indefinitely.
• Bergen Line: Double track from Bergen to Arna.^{[citation needed]} Later plans call for double track further east to Stanghelle and Voss.^{[citation needed]}
• Dovre Line: Expanding the rest of the line between Eidsvoll and Hamar to double track by 2027.^{[citation needed]} Realignment of Dovrebanen south of Trondheim may be done together with relocating of Trondheims freight terminal.
• Nordland Line/Meråker Line: Later plans may include double tracking between Trondheim and Stjørdal, and a new tunnel between Stjørdal and Levanger.^{[16][needs update]}
• The Bergen Light Rail was opened in 2010, and extensions are being built.^{[citation needed]}
• The Oslo T-bane will be expanded,^{[citation needed]} as will the Trondheim tramway.^{[citation needed]}

High speed rail

The question about building a high-speed railway between the largest Southern Norwegian cities has been discussed at political level, and a report was ready by the end of 2007. Advocates for rail transport and environmentalists have wanted to build high speed railways, including upgrades to 250 km/h on the Sørland Line, Bergen Line, and Dovre Line while others, including Norsk Bane, have suggested construction of a new line through Haukeli to Stavanger, Haugesund and Bergen.

Platform heights

There are current proposed figures:

• 300 mm (11.8 in) above rail for long-distance trains
• 760 mm (29.9 in) above rail for commuter trains
• 550 mm (21.7 in) above rail for shared platforms
• For 1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in) or 1,524 mm (5 ft) broad gauge lines, passenger platforms shall be as low to 127 mm (5.0 in) above rail should be allowed.

Heritage

There are also several operational museum railways in Norway, including the Krøder Line, Setesdal Line, Urskog–Høland Line, Thamshavn Line, Rjukan Line, Valdres Line, Nesttun–Os Railway and Old Voss Line. The Norwegian Railway Museum is located in Hamar and includes exhibits of train hardware, related objects, as well as document and photography archives.

Lines

Urban railways

Railway companies

Traditionally, all trains were operated by Vy (formerly NSB), but the deregulation in the 2000s has led to the introduction of a number of new freight operators, including CargoNet, Hector Rail, Tågåkeriet and Ofoten Line. The conservative-liberal government tried to introduce public service obligation bids on subsidized passenger routes in 2005, but the contract was won by the NSB subsidiary NSB Anbud and the following red-green government has cancelled further PSO contracting. Also the Airport Express Train has been made a separate company.

In 2017 Norway's Ministry of Transport and Communications decided to develop tenders for the operation of passenger rail services. On 4 February 2018, it launched a tender to deliver Traffic Package 1 that will commence on 15 December 2019, comprising long-distance services on the Sørlandet Line from Oslo to Stavanger.^[21] In October 2018 this package was awarded to Go-Ahead Nordic.^[22]

In March 2018, the Norwegian Railway Directorate launched tenders for Traffic Package 2, passenger services on the Røros Line, Meråker Line, Rauma Line, and Nordland Line, plus regional services in Trøndelag county.^[23] SJ will commence operating the package on 7 June 2020.^[24]

On 21 December 2018, the Norwegian Railway Directorate launched tenders for Traffic Package 3, passenger services on the Oslo to Bergen line starting on 13 December 2020.^[25]

Passenger services

Passenger rolling stock

Until the 1990s only commuter and regional trains were operated with multiple units, but since then Vy has ordered numerous multiple units for its regional and express lines. Express trains are operated with 16 BM 73 units with tilting technology, regional trains with 16 BM 70, 6 BM 73b (both electric) and 15 BM 93 (diesel) units while the local trains are operated by 71 BM 69 and 36 BM 72 (both electric) while the local trains around Trondheim, Trøndelag Commuter Rail, uses 14 BM 92 diesel multiple unit. The Airport Express Train uses 16 BM 71 and Vy Gjøvikbanen operates 9 BM 69g units. The Ofoten Line operates three BM 68 electric multiple units.

Vy still uses locomotive hauled passenger trains on a few of the long-distance lines. For this task they use 22 El 18s and 5 Di 4s in addition to six El 17 on the Flåm Line. Most of the cars are B7 on long-distance services and B5 on regional services. Most of the locomotives have been transferred to the freight division CargoNet.

Freight rolling stock

CargoNet uses a combination of 30 El 14, 15 El 16, 19 Di 8 and 6 CD66. The other companies use stock retired by NSB, including the Ofoten Line's 7 El 13, 5 Di 3 and 2 T43, HectorRail's 6 El 15 (now known as 161) and Tåkåkeriet's Rc2.

Abandoned urban railways

• Lade Line (Trondheim Tramway) (1901–1988)
• Elgeseter Line (Trondheim Tramway) (1913–1983)
• Singsaker Line (Trondheim Tramway) (1927–1968)