The Northern Norway Line ( no, Nord-Norgebanen) is a proposed

railway 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 ...

which would be built through

Northern Norway Northern Norway ( nb, Nord-Norge, , nn, Nord-Noreg; se, Davvi-Norga) is a geographical Regions of Norway, region of Norway, consisting of the two northernmost counties Nordland and Troms og Finnmark, in total about 35% of the Norwegian mainlan ...

. Several proposals have been launched; one is to connect from the Nordland Line at

Fauske or is a municipality located in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Salten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Fauske. Some of the villages in Fauske include Nystad, Venset, Straumsn ...

and continue onwards to

Narvik ( se, Áhkanjárga) is the third-largest municipality in Nordland county, Norway, by population. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Narvik. Some of the notable villages in the municipality include Ankenesstranda, Ball ...

Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Tromsø (city), city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies ...

and

Harstad ( se, Hárstták) is the second-most populated municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It is mostly located on the large island of Hinnøya. The municipal center is the Harstad (town), town of Harstad, the most populous town in Centra ...

. The Troms Line ( no, Tromsbanen) is a more limited proposal, which calls for a line between Narvik and Tromsø, but which would not connect to the rest of the railway network in Norway and instead the Swedish railway network via the

Ofoten Line The Ofoten Line ( no, Ofotbanen) is a rail transport, railway line in Narvik, Norway. It runs from the Port of Narvik to Riksgränsen on the Norway–Sweden border, where the line continues as the Malmbanan, Ore Line via Kiruna and Gällivare to ...

. 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 opposin ...

, the German occupation forces started building the

Polar Line The Polar Line ( no, Polarbanen, german: Polarbahn) is an incomplete and abandoned railway line in Norway, from Fauske to Narvik and, if finished, ultimately would have run to Kirkenes. The railway was constructed by the ''Wehrmacht'' in occup ...

between Fauske and Narvik, but that was abandoned after the war.

2019 study

In 2019 the Norwegian Railway Directorate signed an agreement with Asplan Viak to study the development of a line from Fauske via Narvik to Tromsø. The Fauske – Tromsø Line would be around 375km long, while the Bjerkvik – Harstad line would be just over 80km long. The study has two suggested routes, one with a lot of tunnels, and one with fewer tunnels. The former has a tunnel and the latter 9 bridges over length. Both have

suspension bridge A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck (bridge), deck is hung below suspension wire rope, cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridg ...

s of over 1000 m span, near world record for railway bridges. The analyses found the full scheme development would cost NKr 113bn, while the line to Harstad would cost around NKr 20bn. The analysis showed that it would cost more than NKr 100bn ($US 11.6bn). However, the Norwegian Railway Directorate says the line will not be economically viable, as calculations show a net loss for the state of between NKr 46bn and NKr 109bn.

References

{{Railways in Norway Proposed railway lines in Norway Rail transport in Nordland Transport in Troms