Bergensbanen Map

The Bergen Line or the Bergen Railway ( no, Bergensbanen or nn, Bergensbana), is a long scenic standard gauge railway line between Bergen and Hønefoss, Norway. The name is often applied for the entire route from Bergen via Drammen to Oslo, where the passenger trains go, a distance of . It is the highest mainline railway line in Northern Europe, crossing the Hardangervidda plateau at above sea level.

The railway opened from Bergen to Voss in 1883 as the narrow gauge Voss Line. In 1909 the route was continued over the mountain to Oslo and the whole route converted to standard gauge, and the Voss Line became part of the Bergen Line.Jernbaneverket, 2007: 44 The line is single track, and was electrified in 1954–64.Jernbaneverket, 2006: 33 The Bergen Line is owned and maintained by Bane NOR, and served with passenger trains by Vy and freight trains by CargoNet. The Flåm Line remains as the only branch line, after the closure of the Hardanger Line. The western section from Bergen to Voss is also served by the Bergen Commuter Rail, and was shortened following the 1966 opening of the Ulriken Tunnel.

History

The Voss Line

The first documented idea of building a railway between Norway's two largest cities was launched by Hans Gløersen on 24 August 1871 in '' Bergensposten''. The forest supervisor in Voss suggested building the railway via Voss and Hallingdal to connect with the Krøderen Line. Back in 1866 the same person had launched the idea of the Jæren Line. Within days of the launch of the Bergen Line the city council had assimilated support for the suggestion. In 1872 the railway director Carl Abraham Pihl and two engineers went on a survey tour to look at the suggested line. At the time it was common that proposals for railways came from local initiative, and that local municipalities and private investors would then pay about 20% of the investments, the state covering the rest, mostly through foreign debt.

Political processes

On 20 October 1871 two engineers traversed the two possible routes from Bergen to Voss; the one via Fana, Os and Hardangerfjord, the other via Dale and Sørfjord. Though covering a less populated area, the latter would be cheaper to build, and have less elevation. A railway committee was created on 25 January 1872 with a limited mandate, which was increased again 20 December. At the same time there was a dispute between the Ministry of Labour and Pihl about whether to prioritize the Bergen Line, but in July 1872 surveys were performed in person by Pihl and two engineers, and their report was positive. At the same time he launched the idea of a branch line up Valdres to Lærdal.

By 1873 agreement had been reached as to the right-of-way to Voss, but not onwards towards Oslo. On 13 January 1874 Bergen city council started issuing stock for the Voss Line, to begin with 400,000 Norwegian speciedaler (NOK 1.6 million) was issued. In the 1873 parliamentary election the railway supporter Peter Jebsen was elected, spending the next few years furiously defending the railway. Parliament chose to not issue new railway projects in the 1874 session, and instead make a complete plan for all railway construction in the country—to be proposed by a committee. When the report was launched on 20 March 1875, the Voss Line was not included since it could not show a higher profitability than 1%. During the 1875 session there was not a majority for the Voss Line, partially due to the lack of capital available for local investors. This was based on a claim from Johan Jørgen Schwartz, the chairman of the committee, that the investment costs were underestimated. This was countered by Nils Henrik Bruun, a constructor from Bergen, who was willing to construct all tunnels on the railway for less than the budgeted sum. When Jebsen in addition was willing to act as personal guarantee for Bruun in case of his death, the majority in the parliament shifted. On 9 June 1875 parliament voted with 61 against 42 to build Vossebanen.

Construction

Vossebanen was built with narrow gauge, . The first parts of the construction started in December 1875, while the largest part started in March 1876. During the winter the engineers had done the last finesses on the plans. At any given time at least 800 men worked on construction, and at the peak 1,800 men were employed. They worked 12 hours per day, for which they had a daily wage of NOK 2.55, the highest wage for navvies in the country. To a large extent the labor came from Sweden, who had just finished the Norway/Vänern Line and had an excess of skilled labor for construction. This import of labor had the effect of pumping money into the local economy, and several taverns were built along the line. There were some accidents, and several deaths among the workers.

The construction work was finished in 1882 and some test services began, though not scheduled until the spring of 1883. Official opening commenced on 11 July 1883. Many of the navvies settled on Vossebanen after construction, and started working for the Norwegian State Railways (NSB) as part of the operation.

Construction of the Bergen Line

By the time the Voss Line was completed Norway had entered a recession. Parliament was not willing to give more money to railways, and the country had to make do with a transport plan launched in 1886 that did not follow up with any funding. On 1 March 1894 parliament after five days of debate chose, with 60 against 53 votes, to build the Bergen Line. Several different routes had been proposed, including over Krøderen, or down Numedal (which later would get the Numedal Line). In the end Hallingdal was chosen, connecting to Hønefoss and via Sandvika. To save costs a preliminary line would connect Hønefoss to Roa with the branch Roa–Hønefoss Line. The final stage would be along the Gjøvik Line to Oslo. The line would also connect to the system via the Randsfjorden Line at Hønefoss.

Local financing was ready within a year, yet it took six years to survey the line properly, and construction start had to wait until 1901. Construction started with the building of roads to get in supplies to the construction sites, completed in 1902. The construction was exceptionally challenging, at high altitudes in a region without roads and with a climate that saw many meters of snow in the winter and temperatures far below freezing. 113 tunnels, totaling had to be built; the longest being the Gravehalsen Tunnel, alone costing NOK 3 million and the longest tunnel north of the Alps. It took six years to build, and had to be excavated manually through solid gneiss. Laying of track was started in 1906, and in 1907 the two groups, both having started at their own end, met at Ustaoset. A small celebration was made at the spot (see image).

It had been decided that the Bergen Line, unlike the Voss Line, was to be built with standard gauge. So, the newly laid line from Bergen to Voss had to be converted in time for the opening of the Bergen Line. This was especially challenging because of the continuous traffic on the line, with 36 departures per day to Nesttun, six to Garnes and four to Voss. In preparation a few curves had to be straightened, the tunnels widened and the bridges strengthened. On the night of 10/11 August 1904 all the track was changed and in the morning the trains could operate on standard gauge to Voss.

The first services started on 1 July 1907 from Voss to Myrdal. An official opening train attempted to cross part of the line to Gulsvik on 9 December 1907, but got stuck in heavy snow and had to return. It turned out that the railway had to close and it took one and a half months to clear it for snow. Even a rotary snowplow at 750 kW was not powerful enough to get rid of the snow. A new attempt to open the line in 1908 succeeded, and a train went from Gulsvik to Bergen. The line from Roa to Gulsvik was still under construction, so passage was along the Drammen Line via the Krøder Line with ship over Krøderen to Gulsvik. The first scheduled train from Oslo West Station en route to Bergen departed 10 June 1908.

On 25 November 1909 a train en route from Bergen rolled into Oslo Østbanestasjon, and two days later the railway was officially opened at Voss. King Haakon VII stated upon the opening that the line was the Norwegian engineering masterpiece of his generation.

World War Two

In World War II, during the German occupation of Norway, it was a demanding time for the Norwegian State Railways as a whole. This railway line was also very busy. The track was in heavy use for both German military and civilian transportation, and much of the equipment and maintenance was lacking.

On 28 February 1944, a descending eastbound freight train loaded with oil and petrol lost its braking power and became a runaway train, finally ploughing into a westbound passenger train at Breifoss, just east of Geilo. The crash and subsequent fire killed 25 civilians and an unknown number of German soldiers. Poor lubrication oil combined with the cold weather is believed to have caused the accident.

Post-war Electrification

With Norway's abundance of hydroelectricity and the high cost of importing coal to run the steam locomotives, there was considerable economic benefit to be realised by electrifying the line. Plans for the electrification of the line had existed since the line was opened. In 1912 the line from Nesttun to Bergen was proposed electrified and rebuilt to double track, following the opening of the electrified Thamshavn Line in 1908. During the planning of the Hardanger Line and the Flåm Line during the 1930s it was again proposed to electrify the line. However, although both the branch lines were built with electric traction, the main line was not. Counter-suggestions were raised proposing a conversion to the locomotives running on oil or coal dust. In 1939 a plan for national electrification was launched, and the Voss Line was top priority. But the breakout of World War II set the plans back, and not until the 1950s was it again possible to afford such investments. Vossebanen took electric traction into use on 2 July 1954. The electricity is supplied via an overhead line.

In 1952 a new plan was launched by parliament to electrify of railway, with the line from Voss to Hønefoss prioritized fourth. This section of the line was considered "difficult" because of tight curves, difficult track alignment; and also that the Overhead line might be vunerable to bad weather, particularly snow and ice. A test 16.5KV transformer was set up at Finse to see if the catenery could be kept ice-free, and it could.

The following year NSB launched the "away with the steam"-campaign, that would replace all steam locomotives with electric or diesel traction. Since electrification was not imminent, the NSB introduced diesel traction on the Bergen Line in 1958, predominantly using Di 3 stock. Travel time between the two termini was reduced by about one hour. During summer the Class 66 diesel multiple units were put into service, but they were not heavy enough to cope with winter and thus only served during the summer months. The line was electrified in four stages, from Roa to Hønefoss on 1 February 1961, from Hønefoss to Ål on 1 December 1962, from Ål to Ustaoset on 15 December 1963 and finally from Ustaoset to Voss on 7 December 1964. As the point of electrification moved across the mountain, so did the point NSB changed locomotive on the train. The new locomotive El 13 was put into service on the electric parts. The electrification cost NOK 143 million.

The express trains have as one of the main lines always been allocated the newest locomotives by NSB. When the El 14 was delivered in 1968, it was put into service on Bergensbanen, as was the El 16 in 1977, the El 17 in 1981, and finally the El 18 in 1996. The older locomotives have been relegated to freight service. In 2000 electric multiple units were put into service with the Class 73 tilting trains, branded as Signatur and capable of . However, they cannot be used at those speeds on any part of the Bergen Line, and only some parts of the Asker Line and around Finse can they operate quicker than the other rollingstock used. There has also been reason to doubt their winter capability on the very demanding Bergen Line. Occasionally they have been stuck in the snow, and on February 21, 2007, a multiple unit derailed after running into a pack of snow. As refurbished carriages become available, the multiple units will be removed from the line, and replaced by traditional locomotive-hauled trains.

Operator(s)

1883 to 1996

The Norwegian State Railways ( no, Norges Statsbaner or NSB), a government agency / directorate, was the state-owned railway organisation which operated the majority of the railway network in Norway between 1883 and the end of 1996.

1997 to 2017

On 1 December 1996, Norwegian State Railways (NSB) was demerged to create three organisations:(The Norwegian Railway Directorate) , access-date=29 May 2022
*the infrastructure operator Norwegian National Rail Administration;
*the Norwegian Railway Inspectorate;
*and the train operator ( no, Norges Statsbaner BA) (Norwegian State Railways BA or NSB): the BA indicating a limited liability company without shares. The name and logo "NSB" continued to be used by the train operator Norges Statsbaner BA.

2017 onwards

On the 1 January 2017, as part of the railway reforms:
*the Norwegian National Rail Administration was split into Bane NOR, the government agency responsible for railway infrastructure; and the Norwegian Railway Directorate, a government agency having strategic responsibility of the railway network;
* the ( no, Norges Statsbaner BA), (Norwegian State Railways BA), or NSB BA, changed from a limited liability company without shares to one that had shares, so the BA became an AS. The new names were: ( no, Norges Statsbaner AS) or NSB AS: the AS indicating that it was now a limited company with a share holding.
*On 24 April 2019 NSB was renamed Vygruppen and rebranded as Vy.

Infrastructure upgrades

Ulriken Tunnel

The "old" 1960s tunnel

In September 1954, Rieber suggested a package for the politicians, where he would create a company that would borrow money to build both the Ulriken Tunnel, a shortening of the line from Hønefoss to Sandvika (the "proposed" Ringerike Line) and electrify the railway. This would save .Owen, 1996: 82-83 Since NSB based their fares on the route length travelled, financing would be covered by a surcharge equal to the distance saved; ticket price would remain the same and within twenty years the debt would be covered. The government opposed the suggestion — the newspaper editor and Norwegian Labour Party politician Trygve Bratteli commenting that even though the financing was private, it would still have to use the same funding as government debt, and would jeopardize other projects, like the Nordland Line.

Shortly afterwards a revised plan, the "Little Rieberplan" was accepted. The first of the line from Bergen to Takvam represented a very roundabout way, and it was clear that it would be possible to reduce the line by with the construction of three single-track tunnels, Ulriken Tunnel (), Arnanipa Tunnel () and Tunestveit Tunnel (). This plan was approved by parliament in 1956, based on private financing from the businessman Fritz Rieber. Construction started in 1959 with the tunnels being finished in 1963, while track laying was finished on 29 May 1964, when the first train entered the tunnel. As the new tunnel line deviated from the original line near Arna, a new Arna station had to be constructed adjacent to the tunnel mouth. This also opened in May 1964. The opening of this tunnel meant that it replaced part of the original and that part was no longer needed as a main line. It became a heritage line: the Old Voss Line ( no, Gamle Vossebanen).

The Ulriken Tunnel currently represents the largest bottleneck on the Bergen Line, due to the commuter trains between Bergen and Arna. Building a double track on the westernmost part of Bergensbanen would free up capacity not only of that part of the line, but the whole line across the mountains.

The second (new) tunnel

In January 2016, Norwegian National Rail Administration had plans for doubling the Ultriken tunnel, but it was abolished at the end of that year. Bane NOR who took over the responsiblities for the network, authorised its contractors to start building a second single-track tunnel through the mountain adjacent to the 1960s tunnel. It was to be constructed in a number of main contracts: the first was boring the single-bore ) tunnel, which began in January 2016, and was completed on 29 August 2017. The second was the installation of the infrastructure: installing the rails in the form of a cast fixed track; the overhead catenary; a tunnel drainage system; installing a remotely-controlled signalling system both in the tunnel and at Arna station, to replace the manually controlled system at Arna station that has been in use since 1964; and upgrading half of Arna station. The new tunnel opened on 13 December 2020 and the signalling system was linked into the train control centre in Bergen.

Because of space constraints at Arna station, due to the need to move trains between platforms within the station, the new tunnel has a double portal at Arna station and is double-tracked for a short distance, before combining into a single running track.

The resultant double tunnel

Bane NOR awarded a contract to Grupo Azvi to refurbish the old 1960s tunnel, with work due to start in February 2021 and due to finish in June 2023. The requirement is do this refurbishment without lifting the existing rail track. As part of this work it will be fire-proofed; two diagonal tunnels at the Arna end are to be blasted between the old and the new tunnels to allow trains to switch from one to the other; as well as blasting 16 other common interconnections for escape and for installing infrastructure.

Double running will only be achieved when the refurbishment of the old 1960s tunnel is complete; and the second half of Arna station, linked to the old tunnel has been rebuilt. To obtain the full benefit of this work, it is intended to double the track all the way from the tunnel to Bergen.

Oslo Tunnel

In 1980, the Oslo Tunnel was opened, allowing trains along the Drammen Line to go to the new Oslo Central Station, an upgrade of the former Oslo Ø. As a consequence of this, passenger trains were since the late 1980s rerouted via Drammen instead of via Roa, following the Drammen Line and the Randsfjord Line to Hønefoss. This allows the trains to pass through more densely populated areas and on trackage with more capacity. However, the change of route actually increased the length between the two termini by . But the better track standard via Drammen results in about the same travel time. Freight trains still goes via Roa.

Finse Tunnel

During winter NSB had large costs keeping the line snow-free. Large diesel-electric snowploughs were stationed at Finse, and tens of kilometers of snow shed