Breland Station ( no, Breland 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 prep ...
on the
Sørlandet Line
The Sørlandet Line ( no, Sørlandsbanen) is a railway line between Drammen (though this is connected to Oslo by means of the Drammen Line) via Kristiansand to Stavanger. The line is long between Oslo and Stavanger.
History
The railway was con ...
situated in the village of
Breland
Breland is a village in Lindesnes municipality in Agder county, Norway. The village is located just over the border from the neighboring Kristiansand municipality. The village of Øyslebø lies about to the southwest of Breland. There are about ...
in
Lindesnes
Lindesnes ( en, the Naze) is a municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sørlandet. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Mandal. Other villages in Lindesnes include Åvik, Hølle ...
municipality in
Agder
Agder is a county (''fylke'') and traditional region in the southern part of Norway. The county was established on 1 January 2020, when the old Vest-Agder and Aust-Agder counties were merged. Since the early 1900s, the term Sørlandet ("south ...
county,
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 the ...
. Located from
Oslo Central Station, it is served by a single long-distance train in each direction, operated by
Go-Ahead Norge
Go-Ahead Norge is a railway operator in Norway that commenced operations in December 2019. It is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group. The branding used is Go-Ahead Nordic.
History
In October 2018, Go-Ahead Norge was awarded an eight-year contract ...
, to serve commuter traffic to and from the town of
Kristiansand
Kristiansand is a seaside resort city and municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 112,000 as of January 2020, following the incorporati ...
. The station has two platforms and a
passing loop
A passing loop (UK usage) or passing siding (North America) (also called a crossing loop, crossing place, refuge loop or, colloquially, a hole) is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at or near a station, where trains or ...
, although the main platform is only long.
The station was opened on 17 December 1943 as part of the segment of the Sørlandet Line between Kristiansand and
Sira. The line past the station was electrified in 1946 and the station automated in 1969. The following year the station became unmanned and the station building was demolished in 1987. The
Norwegian National Rail Administration
The Norwegian National Rail Administration ( no, Jernbaneverket) was a government agency responsible for owning, maintaining, operating and developing the Norwegian railway network, including the track, stations, classification yards, traffic ...
has decided to close the station in 2019, as it only served 2,200 annual passengers in 2008.
History
Breland Station was built during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
under the German-administrated expansion of the Sørlandet Line west of Kristiansand. The station building was completed in 1942 after designs by
NSB Arkitektkontor 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 ...
. It was originally proposed to be named Bredland, but this was changed to Breland. Irregular revenue traffic commenced on the line on 17 December 1943 and the station became operative from the same day. Ordinary traffic commenced on 1 March 1944. Electric traction was not introduced until 16 May 1946, as part of the electrification from
Marnardal Station to
Kristiansand Station.
An
interlocking
In railway signalling, an interlocking is an arrangement of signal apparatus that prevents conflicting movements through an arrangement of tracks such as junctions or crossings. The signalling appliances and tracks are sometimes collectively re ...
system became operational on 10 September 1969, allowing the station to become remotely controlled from 19 November 1969. The station became unmanned from 1 June 1970, and the station building was demolished in 1987.
Facilities
Breland Station is a station on the Sørlandet Line, located from Oslo Central Station at an elevation of
above mean sea level
Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance ( height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as '' orthometric heights''.
Th ...
.
The station features a passing loop.
There is a main
side platform
A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platform ...
serving track 1, which is long, and a
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 ...
serving track 2. Both are tall.
There is a waiting shed.
Like the other stations along the Sørlandet Line, the now demolished station building at Breland received a standardized design. It was built in the overall
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...
style adapted in the 1920s. By the 1940s the designs had been altered to include elements of
functionalism. It has siding of
weatherboard
Clapboard (), also called bevel siding, lap siding, and weatherboard, with regional variation in the definition of these terms, is wooden siding of a building in the form of horizontal boards, often overlapping.
''Clapboard'' in modern Americ ...
.
Breland Station features free parking for eight cars.
The station serves the village of Breland in Marnardal, which has about 70 residents within of the station. The train is the sole form of public transport from the community. It had 2,200 annual passengers in 2008.
Service
The station is served by long-distance trains operated by the Norwegian State Railways. Because of the limit
catchment
A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...
, only a single train in each direction serves the station each day. This is aimed at commuting to
Kristiansand
Kristiansand is a seaside resort city and municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 112,000 as of January 2020, following the incorporati ...
—a morning train to town and an afternoon train from town. These trains continue onwards 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 ...
and
Stavanger, respectively.
Travel time to Kristiansand is 18 minutes.
Future
The short platforms have caused the
Norwegian Railway Authority
The Norwegian Railway Authority ( no, Statens jernbanetilsyn) is a Norwegian government agency responsible for practical control and supervision of rail transport in Norway, including railways, tramways, rapid transits, heritage railways and s ...
to demand that they be lengthened by 2019, or the station will be closed. The National Rail Administration has decided that an investment in the station was not worthwhile.
The closing was announced in 2010, along with the closing of five other stations on the line.
Passengers from Breland can drive to
Nodeland Station
Nodeland Station ( no, Nodeland stasjon) is a railway station of the Sørlandet Line situated in the village of Nodeland in Kristiansand municipality in Agder county, Norway. Located from Oslo Central Station, it is served by long-distance train ...
and take the train from there. Not stopping at Breland will allow the trains to save about two minutes. As the schedule is tied to passing loops, this will probably not save time overall for the line, but it will allow for more robustness.
References
{{end
Railway stations in Agder
Railway stations on the Sørlandet Line
Railway stations opened in 1943
Marnardal