Forskningsparken is a

rapid transit station A metro station or subway station is a station for a rapid transit system, which as a whole is usually called a "metro" or "subway". A station provides a means for passengers to purchase tickets, board trains, and evacuate the system in the ...

on the Sognsvann Line of the

Oslo Metro The Oslo Metro ( no, Oslo T-bane or or simply ) is the rapid transit system of Oslo, Norway, operated by Sporveien T-banen on contract from the transit authority Ruter. The network consists of five lines that all run through the city centre, w ...

. It also serves as a

light rail station A tram stop, tram station, streetcar stop, or light rail station is a place designated for a tram, streetcar, or light rail vehicle to stop so passengers can board or alight it. Generally, tram stops share most characteristics of bus stops, b ...

for the

Ullevål Hageby Line The Ullevål Hageby Line ( no, Ullevål Hageby-linjen) is a light rail section of the Oslo Tramway. It runs from Stortorvet in the city center of Oslo, Norway to Rikshospitalet. It passes through the areas of St. Hanshaugen, Ullevål Hageby and ...

of the

Oslo Tramway The Oslo tram network ( no, Trikken i Oslo, short from ', 'electric') is the tram system in Oslo, Norway. It consists of six lines with 99 stops and has a daily ridership of 132,000. It is operated by , a subsidiary of the municipally-owned who ...

. It is located at the north of the

Blindern Blindern is the main campus of the University of Oslo, located in Nordre Aker in Oslo, Norway. Campus Most of the departments of the University of Oslo are located at Blindern; other, smaller campuses include Sentrum (law), Gaustad (medicine) ...

campus of the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

in the

Nordre Aker Nordre Aker (Northern Aker) is a borough of the city of Oslo, Norway. History This area became part of the city of Oslo in 1948. Before that it was a part of Aker municipality in the former Akershus county. Demographics and housing With a popula ...

borough of

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 ...

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 ...

. The decision to build the station was made in 1998, and it opened in 1999, replacing the former station Vestgrensa, and allowed interchange between the metro and the tramway. The Ullevål Hageby Line was at the same time extended to serve the new

Rikshospitalet Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet is one of the four main campuses of Oslo University Hospital in Oslo, Norway. It was an independent hospital, ''Rigshospitalet'', later spelled ''Rikshospitalet'' ("The National Hospital"), from 1826 to 200 ...

. Forskningsparken is served by lines 4 and 5 of the metro, each operating every 15 minutes and providing services along both the Sognsvann Line and the Ring Line. Lines 17 and 18 of the tramway serve Forskningsparken, operating to Rikshospitalet and the city center.

History

Vestgrensa had served the area now served by Forskingsparken since the opening of the Sognsvann Line on 10 October 1934. In 1991, the

Norwegian Parliament The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years bas ...

decided to build a new facility for

Gaustad Gaustad is a neighborhood in Nordre Aker borough of Oslo, Norway. It is located between Vinderen and Kringsjå. At Gaustad are The National Hospital and Gaustad Hospital, as well as residential areas that border to Nordmarka. The area is serve ...

, and to serve the hospital by an extension of the Ullevål Hageby Line. Gaustad Station on the

Holmenkoll Line The Holmenkollen Line ( no, Holmenkollbanen) is an Oslo Metro line which runs between Majorstuen and Nordmarka in Oslo, Norway. Operating as Metro Line 1, it is the route with the fewest passengers and the only one still to have level crossi ...

of the rapid transit is located within a few hundred meters of the hospital. Vestgrensa was deemed too far away by planners, and a transfer station would need to be established between the light rail and the Sognsvann Line. At first,

was considered, but instead it was later decided that there should be an all-new station. By 1994, the tram route to the new hospital appeared to have political support, but by 1996 local politicians instead wanted to use Gaustad Station and buses to serve the hospital. There also arose a disagreement between the city and the state as to who should be paying for the light rail line, should it should be built. Not until 1998 were the necessary political agreements in place to allow construction to start. The new light rail started services on 1 June 1999, and the rapid transit station opened on 22 August. With the opening, line 4 was extended from Blindern, via Forskningsarken, to Ullevål stadion. There were complaints from local residents that the increased traffic on the line was causing too much noise, and neighbors demanded that noise shields be built. On 20 August 2003, the Ring Line of the metro opened, and line 4 started to also serve

Nydalen Nydalen is a neighbourhood in the Nordre Aker borough in northern Oslo, Norway. History In the late 19th century, the banks of the Akerselva River were dotted with various industrial buildings, Nydalen included. However, a transformation soon ...

and

Storo Storo (''Stòr'' in local dialect) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about southwest of Trento. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 4,554 and an area of .A ...

Facilities

The station is named after the

Oslo Innovation Center Oslo Science Park (''Forskningsparken i Oslo'') is a science park located in Oslo, Norway. It is operated by Oslotech; its two main shareholders are the University of Oslo and Industrial Development Corporation of Norway (Siva). Its smaller shareh ...

( no, Forskningsparken). It serves the northern side of the

campus at Blindern. The campus is also served by the light rail station Universitetet Blindern and the rapid transit station Blindern. To the north of the station is Rikshospitalet. The light rail offers transfer service to the hospital, but it is still within walking distance from Forskningsparken. The rapid transit line runs on an elevated section. The light rail station is located directly below the station, on Problemveien. Designed by the architect firm Arkitektskap, both stations are open to the air and have sheds in both directions.

Service

The rapid transit station is served by lines 4 and 5 of the Oslo Metro. Each line has a 15-minute headway during the day, with reduced frequency in the late evenings. Heading north, line 5 Sognsvann serves the Sognsvann Line, that includes many student housing areas. Line 4 serves Vestli and line 5 Ringen serves the Ring Line, with line 5 Ringen making a full loop. All three lines head south into the

Common Tunnel The Common Tunnel ( no, Fellestunnelen), sometimes called the Common Line (), is a long tunnel of the Oslo Metro which runs through the city center of Oslo, Norway. The name derives from the fact that all five lines of the metro use the tunnel, ...

that serves the city center. Travel time to Stortinget is 8 minutes, while it is 5 minutes to Nydalen and 9 minutes to

Sognsvann Sognsvann (or ''Sognsvannet'') is a 3.3 km circumference lake just north of Oslo, Norway. Lying just within the greenbelt around Oslo, the lake is a popular recreational area, used as a camping, picnicking and bathing destination for the re ...

. Forskningsparken is from Stortinget. The metro is operated by

Oslo T-banedrift Sporveien T-banen AS is a limited company that is responsible for operating Oslo Metro ( no, Oslo T-bane), the rapid transit in Oslo, Norway. The company is owned by Sporveien, which is owned by the city council. Sporveien operates on a contract w ...

on contract with

Ruter Ruter AS is the public transport authority for Oslo and Akershus counties in Norway. Formally a limited company – 60% of its shares are owned by the Oslo county municipality and 40% by that of Akershus – it is responsible for the administra ...

. The light rail station is served by lines 17 and 18 of the Oslo Tramway. Each line has a ten-minute headway during the day, with half the frequency during evenings and in the weekends. Travel time to Rikshospitalet is 2 minutes, while it is 14 minutes to Stortorvet. The service is provided using

SL95 SL95 is a series of 32 low-floor, articulated trams operated on the Oslo Tramway. The series was built by Italian rail manufacturer Ansaldo/ Firema, later known as AnsaldoBreda (now Hitachi Rail Italy), and delivered between 1999 and 2004. Capaci ...

(& SL18) trams operated by

Oslo Sporvognsdrift Sporveien Trikken AS, formerly Oslo Sporvognsdrift AS and Oslotrikken AS, is the company that operates the Oslo Tramway in Oslo, Norway. Sporveien Trikken is owned by Sporveien, which is again owned by the city council and has an operating contrac ...

on contract with Ruter. Forskningsparken is one of eight transfer points between the tramway and rapid transit systems.

References

External links

{{good article Oslo Metro stations in Oslo Oslo Tramway stations in Oslo Railway stations opened in 1999 1999 establishments in Norway