Blommenholm Station ( no, Blommenholm stasjon) is a
railway station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
of the
Drammen Line
The Drammen Line ( no, Drammenbanen) is a railway line between Oslo and Drammen, Norway, which was opened on 7 October 1872. It serves all trains west of Oslo Central Station and is owned by Bane NOR.
The line opened as a narrow gauge railway, ...
situated at
Blommenholm
Blommenholm is a district in the municipality of Bærum, Norway. Its population (2007) is 2,936.[Bærum
Bærum () is a municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Norway that forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a population of 128,760 (2021). It is part of the electoral ...]
,
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
. Located from
Oslo Central Station
Oslo Central Station ( no, Oslo sentralstasjon, abbreviated ) is the main railway station in Oslo, and the largest railway station within the entire Norwegian railway system. It connects with Jernbanetorget station. It's the terminus of Dramme ...
, it is served by line L1 of the
Oslo Commuter Rail
Oslo Commuter Rail ( no, Lokaltog Østlandet) is a commuter rail centered in Oslo, Norway, connecting the capital to six counties in Eastern Norway. The system is operated by Vy (formerly NSB) and its subsidiary Vy Gjøvikbanen, using Class 69 ...
. It is located in a primarily residential area and has four regular hourly services operated by the
Norwegian State Railways
Vygruppen, branded as Vy, is a government-owned railway company which operates most passenger train services and many bus services in Norway. The company is owned by the Norwegian Ministry of Transport. Its sub-brands include Vy Buss coach se ...
. The station features an
island platform
An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on ...
accessible from the station building on the south side.
The station opened on 10 May 1910, following the construction of housing in the vicinity. It received major upgrade from 1917 to 1922, when an all-new station building and the railway was
doubled,
electrified
Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source.
The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic history ...
and
gauge converted
Gauge conversion is the changing of one railway track gauge (the distance between the running rails) to another.
Sleepers
If tracks are converted to a narrower gauge, the existing sleepers (ties) may be used. However, replacement is required if ...
to
standard gauge
A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...
. This gave a thirty-minuted
headway
Headway is the distance or duration between vehicles in a transit system measured in space or time. The ''minimum headway'' is the shortest such distance or time achievable by a system without a reduction in the speed of vehicles. The precise defi ...
to
Oslo
Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...
and
Sandvika
Sandvika () is the administrative centre of the municipality of Bærum in Norway. It was declared a List of cities in Norway, city by the municipal council (Norway), municipal council in Bærum on 4 June 2003.
Sandvika is situated approximately ...
. Blommenholm was staffed until 1969 and previously featured a post office.
History
The Drammen Line past the site of Blommenholm Station opened as a
narrow gauge
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...
railway on 7 October 1872.
[Bjerke & Holom: 189] During the planning of the Drammen Line there was a disagreement of the route through Blommenholm. The owner of the eponymous farm wanted the tracks to run on the north side of his farm, but this demand was not met.
[Lindemann: 66]
Demands for a station were put forward by Christian Homan. He had bought the farm of Blommenholm with the intent of selling the land for residential development. The new residents at first used
Sandvika Station
Sandvika Station ( no, Sandvika stasjon) is a railway station located at Sandvika in Bærum, Norway. Situated on the Drammen Line, from Oslo S, it also an intermediate station of the Asker Line. Vy (transport operator), Vy serves the station with ...
and
Høvik Station
Høvik Station ( no, Høvik stasjon) is a railway station of the Drammen Line situated at Høvik in Bærum, Norway. Located from Oslo Central Station, it is served by line L1 of the Oslo Commuter Rail. It is located in a residential area and has ...
. However, the roads were poor and it was not uncommon to ski to the station during the winter. To ensure better means of transport for his new residential area, Homan started working to convince the
Norwegian State Railways
Vygruppen, branded as Vy, is a government-owned railway company which operates most passenger train services and many bus services in Norway. The company is owned by the Norwegian Ministry of Transport. Its sub-brands include Vy Buss coach se ...
that they should build a station to serve Blommenholm. Homan offered free land and 25,000
Norwegian krone
The krone (, abbreviation: kr (also NKr for distinction); code: NOK), plural ''kroner'', is currency of the Kingdom of Norway (including Svalbard). Traditionally known as the Norwegian crown in English. It is nominally subdivided into 100 ''Ã ...
and the railway company agreed to build the station in what became the first major case for the new residents' association.
[Løken: 154]
The original station building opened on 10 May 1910. The station, situated on the north side, only had single track and narrow gauge.
Originally there were only three trains per day per direction which stopped at Blommenholm. However, they would only stop intermediately at Høvik before running directly to
Oslo West Station
Oslo West Station ( no, Oslo Vestbanestasjon) or Oslo V, is a former railway station located in Vika in Oslo, Norway. It was the terminus of the Drammen Line between 1872 and 1980, until the Oslo Tunnel opened. The station remained in use until 1 ...
.
The line from Sandvika to Oslo was substantially upgraded between 1917 and 1922. From 27 February 1917 standard gauge traffic was carried out on the northern track. A southern track was then built, which was used by narrow gauge trains. However, both were
dual gauge
In railway engineering, "gauge" is the transverse distance between the inner surfaces of the heads of two rails, which for the vast majority of railway lines is the number of rails in place. However, it is sometimes necessary for track to c ...
. All–standard gauge operations commenced on 9 February 1920, although the dual gauge was not removed until 1922. Electric traction started operation on 30 August 1922.
[Bjerke & Holom: 196] From 1922 a half-hour
headway
Headway is the distance or duration between vehicles in a transit system measured in space or time. The ''minimum headway'' is the shortest such distance or time achievable by a system without a reduction in the speed of vehicles. The precise defi ...
was introduced on the local trains between Sandvika and
Oslo West Station
Oslo West Station ( no, Oslo Vestbanestasjon) or Oslo V, is a former railway station located in Vika in Oslo, Norway. It was the terminus of the Drammen Line between 1872 and 1980, until the Oslo Tunnel opened. The station remained in use until 1 ...
. An
interlocking
In railway signalling, an interlocking is an arrangement of signal apparatus that prevents conflicting movements through an arrangement of tracks such as junction (rail), junctions or crossings. The signalling appliances and Track (rail transpor ...
system was installed on 18 October 1924.
[Bjerke & Holom: 192]
The upgrades also resulted in new station buildings on the double tracked sections, which were designed by
NSB Arktitektkontor NSB may refer to:
Art, entertainment, and media
* Natural Snow Buildings, a French experimental music duo
* Nihilist Spasm Band, Canadian free improvisation musical collective
*Nu skool breaks, a subgenre of breakbeat music originating during the ...
.
[Hartmann: 85] Architect for the station was Eivind Gleditsch.
These were the first stations in Norway designed for double-track operations and were designed in
Baroque Revival architecture
The Baroque Revival, also known as Neo-Baroque (or Second Empire architecture in France and Wilhelminism in Germany), was an architectural style of the late 19th century. The term is used to describe architecture and architectural sculptur ...
. As the others it featured an
island platform
An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on ...
.
The old station building was demolished and a new and larger station building was built in 1919.
[Bjerke & Holom: 193] It featured a station master's residence, a kiosk and a post office.
[Lindemann: 67] During the late 1920s NSB installed advertisement boards at the station. This caused protests from the residents' association and NSB decided to terminate them in 1929.
Blommenholm was downgraded to a halt on 1 February 1969 and was subsequently no longer staffed.
A major upgrade to the service came in 1973. New
Class 69 trains were put into service. Along with the closing of some stations, it allowed travel time to Oslo to drop from 22 to 12 minutes.
During this period the station was repeatedly subject to vandalism, especially the breaking of the windows. In 1983 NSB went to the step of rebuilding the platform building so it became a shed without windows.
[Lindemann: 67] The line past Blommenholm received
centralized traffic control
Centralized traffic control (CTC) is a form of railway signalling that originated in North America. CTC consolidates train routing decisions that were previously carried out by local signal operators or the train crews themselves. The system con ...
and
automatic train stop
Automatic train stop or ATS is a system on a train that automatically stops a train if certain situations occur (unresponsive train operator, earthquake, disconnected rail, train running over a stop signal, etc.) to prevent accidents. In some scena ...
on 3 December 1992.
The opening of the
Bærum Tunnel
The Bærum Tunnel ( no, Bærumstunnelen) is a long double track railway tunnel in Bærum, Norway. Running between Marstranderveien and Engervannet, it makes up most of the long section of the Asker Line between Lysaker Station and Sandvika S ...
, the second phase of the
Asker Line
The Asker Line ( no, Askerbanen) is a railway line between Asker and Lysaker in Norway. The line runs along the same corridor as the Drammen Line, offering increased capacity, speed and regularity on the rail network west of Oslo. The first p ...
, 26 August 2011, meant that express and regional trains bypassed Høvik Station altogether and run directly from Lysaker to Sandvika. Subsequently, the Drammen Line between Lysaker and Sandvika was upgraded.
While this involved a full replacement of the superstructure and renovations of
Høvik Station
Høvik Station ( no, Høvik stasjon) is a railway station of the Drammen Line situated at Høvik in Bærum, Norway. Located from Oslo Central Station, it is served by line L1 of the Oslo Commuter Rail. It is located in a residential area and has ...
and
Stabekk Station, there was not sufficient funding to complete Blommenholm. Therefore, unlike the other two stations, Blommenholm did not receive
universally accessible platforms. However, the underpass was modernized. To carry out efficient construction work, the segment of track was closed and all trains diverted via the Bærum Tunnel from 7 April 2013 to 13 December 2014.
The upgrades freed up track capacity allowing the number of trains to increase from two to four per direction per hour.
Facilities
Høvik Station is situated on the Drammen Line, from
Oslo Central Station
Oslo Central Station ( no, Oslo sentralstasjon, abbreviated ) is the main railway station in Oslo, and the largest railway station within the entire Norwegian railway system. It connects with Jernbanetorget station. It's the terminus of Dramme ...
at an elevation of .
The station features a station building on the south side of the tracks. Trains are served from an island platform, which is connected so Stasjonsveien via an underpass through the station building. Neither access to the station building nor the platform is in accordance with the principles of
universal accessibility. The platform is about tall and slightly curved. There is parking in conjunction with the station building, with capacity for 83 vehicles.
Service
The
Norwegian State Railways
Vygruppen, branded as Vy, is a government-owned railway company which operates most passenger train services and many bus services in Norway. The company is owned by the Norwegian Ministry of Transport. Its sub-brands include Vy Buss coach se ...
serves Høvik with line L1 of the
Oslo Commuter Rail
Oslo Commuter Rail ( no, Lokaltog Østlandet) is a commuter rail centered in Oslo, Norway, connecting the capital to six counties in Eastern Norway. The system is operated by Vy (formerly NSB) and its subsidiary Vy Gjøvikbanen, using Class 69 ...
. L1 calls at all stations, running from
Spikkestad Station
Spikkestad Station ( no, Spikkestad stasjon) is a railway station located at Spikkestad in Røyken, Norway, and is the terminus of the Spikkestad Line. It was opened as part of the Drammen Line on 3 February 1885, but in 1973 the new Lieråsen Tu ...
along the
Spikkestad Line
The Spikkestad Line () is a 14 kilometre long railway line between Asker and Spikkestad in Norway. It was originally part of the Drammen Line between Oslo and Drammen which was built in 1872. In 1973, Lieråsen Tunnel was built to shorten the Dr ...
to
Asker Station and past Blommenholm to Oslo Central Station. It then continues along the
Trunk Line
In telecommunications, trunking is a technology for providing network access to multiple clients simultaneously by sharing a set of circuits, carriers, channels, or frequencies, instead of providing individual circuits or channels for each clie ...
to
Lillestrøm Station
Lillestrøm Station ( no, Lillestrøm stasjon) is a railway station serving the town of Lillestrøm in Skedsmo, Norway. Located on the Gardermoen Line and the Trunk Line as well as being the western terminus of the Kongsvinger Line, it is the mai ...
. Blommenholm has four trains per direction per hour.
Blommenholm is situated in what is mostly a residential area. However, there is one major working place in the vicinity:
Det Norske Veritas
DNV (formerly DNV GL) is an international accredited registrar and classification society headquartered in Høvik, Norway. The company currently has about 12,000 employees and 350 offices operating in more than 100 countries, and provides ser ...
. There is provided a shuttle bus service from Blommenholm Station to this facility.
The station had about 600 passengers per day in 2008.
References
Bibliography
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{{Drammen Line
Railway stations in Bærum
Railway stations on the Drammen Line
Railway stations opened in 1910
1910 establishments in Norway