Norway - General Information

Country Name

Norway (Norge)

National Railway System

National Railway Operator

Norges Statsbaner (NSB).

The train service between Oslo and Gardermoen Airport is operated by a subsidiary company, NSB Gardermobanen AS. The Linx company, jointly owned by SJ and NSB and which operated services between Norway and Sweden, was liquidated and ceased operations on 8 January 2005. Through services Stockholm - Oslo are again operated by SJ. Oslo - Göteborg is operated by NSB in cooperation with Svenska Tågkompaniet (TKAB), and in 2007 NSB acquired full ownership of TKAB. The ‘Nabotåget’ trains between Trondheim and Östersund are operated by Veolia Transport on behalf of Z-trafik AB, the transport authority of the Jämtland region.

Language

Norwegian. There are two forms of Norwegian, Bokmål and Nynorsk. Bokmål predominates, with Nynorsk used mainly in western fjord and central mountain areas.

Currency

Norwegian Krone

UIC code

NSB: numeric 76; alpha N

Timetable

Journey Planner

www.nsb.no/rutetider (English: Timetables)

Downloadable Timetable

A list with individual PDFs is available here.

Working (Staff) Timetable

Eight pdf downloads for all freight and passenger trains in Norway, complete with distance information, are available on the Rutesirkulærer page of the Informasjon for togselskapa (Information for Companies) section of the Jernbaneverket website.

Printed Timetable

NSB does not publish a single comprehensive timetable. A series of leaflets, available free of charge at stations, give details of services on different lines, and include route diagrams. The "Rutebok for Norge" is no longer printed; It is available only on line rutebok.no.

Engineering Information

Work on the railway. For weather reasons, the major engineering work takes place in the summer season.

Maps

Printed Maps

• European Railway Atlas: Scandinavia and Eastern Europe by M.G. Ball (1993) (ISBN 0-7110-2072-4)
• European Railway Atlas by M.G. Ball (2008 onwards)
• There are numerous maps of particular lines and complex areas in "Norwegian Railways from Stephenson to high speed" by Roy Owen.

Web-based Maps

• NSB passenger service map NSB
• Thorsten Büker's Map of Scandinavia

Ticketing

Seat reservations are essential on most long-distance trains and reserved seats are not indicated as such.

Many carriages in Oslo suburban trains are reserved for season ticket holders between the hours of 04:00 and 20:00 Mondays to Fridays. These are indicated by prominent yellow signs on the carriage doors.

On some services First and Second Class accommodation has been redesignated Økonomiklasse (Economy) and Kontorklasse (Business), but on many trains only Second or Economy Class is provided. First or Kontorklasse accommodation is generally not indicated by a yellow stripe on the outside of vehicles. Couchettes are not provided on internal overnight trains, but sleeping cars have up to three berths per compartment.

Premium fares are charged on the "Airport Express" service between Oslo and Gardermoen Airport, and InterRail and similar tickets are not valid. In addition, ordinary NSB trains run between Oslo and the Airport twice hourly.

Infrastructure

Infrastructure Authority

Infrastructure is owned and managed by a public authority, Jernbaneverket.

Network Statement

Network Statement.

Gauge

Standard

Electrification

15 kV 16.7 Hz.

Rule of the road

Right, but almost all lines in Norway outside the Oslo suburban area are single track.

Distances

The best source is the Network Statement section 3.6.1.1 Station Overview.

Other Railways

None, but iron ore trains to Narvik are operated by Malmtrafik AS (and Swedish company Malmtrafik AB) which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Swedish mining company LKAB. Passenger trains between Narvik and Sweden are again now operated by SJ, which had formed a subsidiary SJ Norrlandståg which won the contract back. Trains on the Flåm branch are operated by NSB, but commercial responsibility for the service rests with Flåm Utvikling, a company owned by local councils.

Tourist lines

(Standard gauge unless shown otherwise)

• Krøderbanen: Vikersund - Krøderen www.njk.no/kroderbanen/index_e.php
• Gamle Vossebanen: Garnes [near Bergen] - Midttun: www.njk.no/vossebanen/index.php
• Lommedalsbanen: Lommedalen in Bærum (600 mm gauge) www.lommedalsbanen.no
• Norsk Bergverksmuseum: Saggrenda (west of Kongsberg) (800 mm gauge) www.bvm.museum.no
• Numedalsbanen: Kongsberg - Rødberg (mainly cycle draisine facility with occasional trains when advertised) www.numedalsbanen.no
• Rjukanbanen: Mæl - Rjukan (no regular train service but cycle draisines are available on the section from Mael rasteplass - not the station - to the outskirts of Rjukan; to be taken over by the Norsk Industriarbeidermuseum [Norwegian industrial workers' museum] of Vemork from 2010; see also Wikipedia entry)
• Setesdalsbanen: Grovane - Røyknes (1067 mm gauge) www.setesdalsbanen.no/index_en.php
• Thamshavnbanen: Løkken - Fannrem (electric, metre gauge) www.oi.no/engelsk/index.html
• Urskog-Hølandsbanen: Sørumsand - Fossum (750 mm gauge) www.akersmus.no/tertitten

There is a listing of Nordic narrow gauge tourist lines and funiculars at the Scandinavian Railways Society website.

Rail cycling is possible on a number of lines; see the IG Draisinenfahrten website. Click on 'International', followed by 'Draisinenlinks' to obtain website details under the heading 'Draisinenstrecken in Norwegen (NO)'.

Metro

Oslo

Trams

Bergen, Oslo, Trondheim

A track plan for the Trondheim tram system is available on the Gleisplanweb site.

See also Tram services over obscure routes - Norway

Recent and future changes

Line Openings

Extensive re-alignments and new lines have been built to improve journey times. The line from Oslo to Sarpsborg via Moss has been rebuilt over much of its length. Work on the Bergen line has included construction of a long tunnel below the summit at Finse.

A new railway (the Gardermobanen) has been built from Oslo to Eidsvoll via the Romeriksporten tunnel, Lillestrøm and Gardermoen Airport. Passenger traffic between Dal and Eidsvoll (on the Hovedbanen, the old main line) was withdrawn on 13 June 2004 although the line remains open for freight traffic.

The Setesdalsbanen tourist line was extended from Beihølen to Røyknes in 2004 and an extension within Røyknes opened on 5 September 2008.

Doubling of Stavanger – Sandnes was completed 14 December 2009.

The new Notodden station alongside the bus terminal opened on 25 August 30 2004, whereupon the previous station on the line to Tinnoset closed. It lies at the end of a short non-electrified dead-end branch running west and is closer to the town centre. The entire branch from Hjuskebø was threatened with closure at the December 2014 timetable change but funding has now been agreed until 2017, including electrification of the branch to the station. However, the branch has been operated by electric units since early August 2015, so the service has accordingly reverted to using the old station.

Oslo T-Banen (= Metro) has been extended to form a circle (lines 4/6). The first new section (Ullevål Stadion – Storo) opened 20 August 2003, and the circle was completed 21 August 2006 when Storo – Carl Berners plass opened. The Kolsås line (line 2) has been rebuilt to full Metro standard. Smestad – Åsjordet opened 18 August 2008. As at December 2012 it was open to Gjønnes and was completed to Kolsås on 12 October 2014. The Lørenbane (Line 4), linking Sinsen on the Ring Line with Økern on the Vestli line was opened on 3 April 2016, resulting in several changes to line numbers.

Mysen - Rakkestad was reopened on 14 December 2015 after a year long closure.

There are a number of projects in the Jernbaneverket portfolio. Some projects are presented in English, but there are more in Norwegian:

• Oslo – Ski is being quadrupled (the Follo Line Project), with construction of an entirely new double track line including a 19.5 km tunnel, the longest in the Nordic region. Work will start in 2014, with completion scheduled in 2021.
• Drammen – Tønsberg – Larvik – Porsgrunn: As at June 2015 the upgraded Drammen to Holm section was in use. The 14 km Holm – Holmestrand – Nykirke cut-off, replacing the existing line through Holmestrand, is due to open in December 2016. The realigned and double tracked Barkåker – Tønsberg tunnel section was formally opened on 19 November 2011. The new connections result in services now using the complete circle round Tønsberg in the opposite direction to that taken before - See Maps and Plans - Norway.
• It was alleged construction started of a completely new Larvik (Farriseidet) - Porsgrunn line in September 2012, which was claimed to reduce the journey time from 34 minutes to 11. Completion was planned in summer 2018 but in June 2015 the only evidence was a cut-off near Porsgrunn. Passenger loadings do not justify a construction project of this magnitude so further confirmation would be appreciated.
• Two more tracks are under construction between Skøyen and Asker. The first section, Sandvika – Asker, was completed in 2005; rebuilding of Lysaker station was completed in 2009; the new Baerum Tunnel between Lysaker and Sandvika opened on 28 August 2011; the original Lysaker - Sandvika line reopened on 13 December 2015 after being closed for 15 months for reconstruction. Work on the last section, Skøyen – Lysaker, was due to start in 2015 at the earliest.
• Doubling of Eidsvoll - Hamar (the Dovre line) on a new alignment is planned by 2024, with the Minnesund - Steinsrud section jointly with the E6 road development. A new 17 km double track route from Langset (just north of Minnesund) to Kleverud (south of Espa) opened on 1 December 2015.
• Oslo - Bergen: Contracts were let in October 2013 for the doubling of Arna - Bergen, with a new tunnel between Arna and Fløen. In December 2015 the government announced plans to double the main line and reconstruct the section between Arna and Voss, starting with the Arna - Stangehlle section, mostly in tunnel to overcome problems caused by avalanches and mud slides.
• Electrification of Støren - Røros - Elverum - Hamar and Kongsvinger has been recommended as a means of providing increased capacity for freight between Trondheim and southern Norway / Sweden.
• The Norwegian parliament approved funding in December 2015 for planning the doubling of Narvik - Kiruna.

In 2010 the Ministry of Transport asked NSB to study the possibility of constructing high-speed railway lines in Southern Norway. The lines under review are:

• 1. Oslo - Bergen
• 2. Oslo - Trondheim
• 3. Oslo - Kristiansand - Stavanger
• 4. Oslo - Göteborg
• 5. Oslo - Stockholm
• 6. Bergen - Haugesund - Stavanger in combination with 1 and 3

No one line emerged as the most viable but Oslo - Kristiansand - Stavanger would be carry the largest number of passengers.

The tramway in Bergen, Bybanen, 9.8 km long between Byparken in the city and Nesttun, opened on 22 June 2010. The depot is at Kronstad. At time of writing a film of the route is available. There are already plans to extend the line: see Wikipedia. Nesttun - Rådal (Lagunen) opened on 22 June 2013. Lagunen to Bergen Airport, Flesland was planned to open in 2016 but construction of a new airport terminal above the tram station will delay this until 2017. It is planned to open to Birkelandssskiftet, two stops before the airport.

Closures

Passenger traffic was withdrawn south of Rakkestad (on the line from Oslo to Sarpsborg via Mysen) on 15 June 2003 and between Mysen and Rakkestad on 14 December 2014. However, this line will be used as the proving ground for ERTMS.

Special notes

NSB carriages do not work outside Norway and Sweden because they are larger than UIC standard loading gauge.

The following lines are listed as temporarily closed to traffic; infrastructure is maintained only enough to allow inspection by a measuring vehicle.

• (Grong -) Skogmo - Namsos
• Notodden - Tinnoset
• Eina - Dokka

The following lines are listed as closed to traffic; they are not part of the National Norwegian Network and are not maintained. However track is in situ.

• Sira - Flekkefjord; the loading gauge is smaller than standard
• (Kongsberg -) Rollag - Rødberg
• Neslandsvatn - Sannidal
• Dokka - Bjørgo
• Ganddal - Figgjo - Ålgård; track cut at Figgjo (9 km)

Additional vowels come at the end of the Norwegian alphabet, with Æ, Ø and Å following Z in that order. Accordingly, Åsen comes last in the index of Norwegian railway stations and Mære is further down the list than Mysen.