Torp Station ( no, Torp stasjon), also known as Sandefjord Airport Station (), is on the

Vestfold Line The Vestfold Line ( no, Vestfoldbanen) is a railway line which runs between Drammen and Eidanger in Norway. The line connects to the Drammen Line at the northern terminus at Drammen Station and continues as the Bratsberg Line past Skien Station ...

Sandefjord Sandefjord () is a city and the most populous municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The municipality of Sandefjord was established on 1 January 1838. The municipality of Sandar was merged into Sandefjord on 1 January 1969. On 1 ...

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 ...

. It is served with regional trains operated by Vy. Located close to

Sandefjord Airport, Torp Sandefjord Airport, Torp ( no, Sandefjord lufthavn, Torp; ) is an international airport located northeast of Sandefjord, Norway and south of Oslo. The airport features a runway aligned 18/36. Torp partially serves as a regional airport for Ve ...

, the station is served by a free four-minute shuttle bus service from the station to the airport. The trains operate northwards via towns in

Vestfold Vestfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in Eastern Norway. In 2020 the county became part of the much larger county of Vestfold og Telemark. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it bordered t ...

Drammen Drammen () is a city and municipality in Viken, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the south-eastern and most populated part of Norway. Drammen municipality also includes smaller towns and villages such as Konne ...

and

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 onwards via

Oslo Airport, Gardermoen Oslo Airport ( no, Oslo lufthavn; ), alternatively referred to as Oslo Gardermoen Airport or simply Gardermoen, is the international airport serving Oslo, Norway, the capital and most populous city in the country. A hub for Flyr, Norse Atl ...

to towns in

Hedmark Hedmark () was a county in Norway before 1 January 2020, bordering Trøndelag to the north, Oppland to the west, Akershus to the south, and Sweden to the east. The county administration is in Hamar. Hedmark and Oppland counties were merged int ...

and

Oppland Oppland is a former county in Norway which existed from 1781 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020. The old Oppland county bordered the counties of Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The c ...

. Southwards, the trains serve Sandefjord, Larvik and

Grenland Grenland is a traditional district in the county of Vestfold og Telemark, in the south-east of Norway. Located in the southeastern part of the county, Grenland is composed of the municipalities Skien, Porsgrunn, Bamble, and Siljan. Sometimes the ...

. The station opened as Raastad, later Råstad, in 1881. It had a single building, designed by

Balthazar Lange Balthazar Conrad Lange (25 March 1854 - 13 September 1937) was a Norwegian architect. Personal life He was born in Asker as a son of customs treasurer and lieutenant colonel Christopher Andreas Lange (1808–1888) and Anne Birgithe Falsen. He ...

. It was upgraded with 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 ...

in 1910, but this was removed in 1971, and the station was closed in 1978. In 2008, the station reopened to serve the airport. The station is owned by 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 ...

Service

Torp Station's primary function is to serve as an

airport rail link An airport rail link is a service providing passenger rail transport from an airport to a nearby city by mainline or commuter trains, rapid transit, people mover, or light rail. Direct links operate straight to the airport terminal, while ...

for Sandefjord Airport. The station is served by regional trains that operate northwards via towns such as

Tønsberg Tønsberg , historically Tunsberg, is a city and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, eastern Norway, located around south-southwest of Oslo on the western coast of the Oslofjord near its mouth onto the Skagerrak. The administrative c ...

Holmestrand is a town and municipality in Vestfold in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Holmestrand. The town was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). T ...

and Drammen to Oslo Central Station and onwards via Oslo Airport to

Hamar Hamar is a town in Hamar Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. Hamar is the administrative centre of Hamar Municipality. It is located in the traditional region of Hedmarken. The town is located on the shores of Mjøsa, Norway's largest lake ...

and Lillehammer, calling at several other smaller stations. Southwards, the trains serve Sandefjord, Larvik,

Porsgrunn is a city and municipality in Telemark in the county of Vestfold og Telemark in Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Porsgrunn. The municipality of Porsgrunn w ...

and

Skien Skien () is a city and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county in Norway. In modern times it is regarded as part of the traditional region of Grenland, although historically it belonged to Grenmar/Skiensfjorden, while Grenland referred the ...

. Travel time to Oslo is 1 hour and 48 minutes, and to Oslo Airport it is 2 hours 23 minutes. Sandefjord Airport, Torp

The station is equipped with a shed, but no other amenities, and also lacks a ticket machine. The platform (but not necessarily the train) is wheelchair accessible. There are about ten parking spaces at the station. A shuttle bus corresponds to all trains during the opening hours of the airport, and a bus trip takes four minutes to the airport terminal. The shuttle bus leaves the airport ten minutes before each train's scheduled departure. The bus is operated by NSB, and is included in the price of the train ticket. There are 42 bus departures each day. The train supplements a coach service, Torp-Ekspressen operated by Unibuss Ekspress, to Oslo, and a local bus service to Sandefjord, operated by

Tide Buss Tide ASA is a public transport company in Vestland, Norway which resulted from the merger of Gaia Trafikk and Hardanger Sunnhordlandske Dampskipsselskap (HSD). The company provides the public transit network in the city of Bergen, and most of th ...

for Vestfold Kollektivtrafikk.

History

The station was originally named ''Raastad'', and opened as part of the Vestfold Line on 7 December 1881. It was located in the former municipality of Sandar, that was also served by Jåstad Station. Raastad was equipped with a wooden station building designed by

, and cargo expedition. There was initially only one track, but on 1 July 1910, a passing loop was installed at the station, allowing trains to pass. The station was renamed Råstad in April 1921. In 1969–70 the passing loop was extended, but already on 15 September 1971 it was disabled, and subsequently removed, with the automation of the signaling. The station became unmanned on 1 October 1971 and was closed on 28 May 1978. The following day, the new "InterCity" services started on the Vestfold Line. TorpStasjonRåstad

Sandefjord Airport experienced a rapid growth as an airport for low-cost carriers serving Eastern Norway since the late 1990s. Along with the success of the

Airport Express Train An airport rail link is a service providing passenger rail transport from an airport to a nearby city by mainline or commuter trains, rapid transit, people mover, or light rail. Direct links operate straight to the airport terminal, while o ...

that connects Oslo with

, and the decision to provide a shuttle service to the competing

Moss Airport, Rygge Moss Airport, Rygge ( no, Moss lufthavn, Rygge; ) was an international airport serving Moss, Oslo and Eastern Norway. It is located in Rygge, outside Moss and outside Oslo. It also served as a regional airport for Østfold county and owned ...

from Rygge Station, local politicians took initiative to open a dedicated stop for the airport. During the planning of high-speed upgrade of the line, plans called to move the line to create a station integrated in the airport terminal, as had been done with Oslo Airport Station and

Trondheim Airport Station Trondheim Airport Station ( IATA code: TRD), also known as Værnes Station ( no, Værnes holdeplass), is a railway station located within the terminal complex of Trondheim Airport, Værnes in Stjørdal municipality in Trøndelag county, Norw ...

. However, as the construction of a new Vestfold Line was put on hold, an intermediate solution was found to reopen Råstad Station, and offer a shuttle bus to the airport. On 16 May 2007, Vestfold County Municipality announced that they would forward the investment costs of for the new station, with a payback from the National Rail Administration by 2012. The latter would build, own and operate the station. The station opened on 21 January 2008, and the new platform is located on the east side of the tracks. The old station building, location in the west side, has been converted into a museum. During the first year, 80,000 passengers used the station, sufficient to make the NOK 4.5 million used by NSB on the shuttle bus profitable.

References

{{Good article Railway stations in Vestfold og Telemark Railway stations on the Vestfold Line Railway stations opened in 1881 Railway stations closed in 1978 Railway stations opened in 2008 Airport railway stations in Norway Sandefjord Airport, Torp 1881 establishments in Norway