Roa–Hønefoss Line
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The Roa–Hønefoss Line ( no, Roa–Hønefossbanen, formerly ) is a long,
single track Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...
railway line Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United Sta ...
between Roa and
Hønefoss __NOTOC__ Hønefoss is a town and the administrative center of the municipality of Ringerike in Buskerud county, Norway. Hønefoss is an industrial center of inner Østlandet, containing several factories and other industry. As of 1 January 2008, ...
in
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 ...
. At
Roa Station Roa Station ( no, Roa stasjon) is a railway station in Roa, Norway on the Gjøvik Line. It is served by Oslo Commuter Rail line trains operated by Vy Gjøvikbanen. The station was opened in 1909 as part of the new Roa–Hønefoss Line that conn ...
, the line connects to the
Gjøvik Line The Gjøvik Line ( no, Gjøvikbanen) is a Norwegian railway line between Oslo and Gjøvik. It was originally named the North Line (''Nordbanen'') and ran between Grefsen and Røykenvik. The line was completed to Gjøvik in 1902. The Gjøvik ...
, while at
Hønefoss Station Hønefoss Station ( no, Hønefoss stasjon) is a railway station located at Hønefoss in Ringerike, Norway. The station is located at the intersection between the Bergen Line, the Randsfjord Line and the Roa–Hønefoss Line. Hønefoss is served ...
, it connects to the
Randsfjorden Line The Randsfjorden Line ( no, Randsfjordbanen) is an railway located in Viken county in Norway connecting Drammen to Hønefoss and Hadeland in Innlandet county. The railway is primarily used for passenger trains, and the only scheduled trains on th ...
and the
Bergen Line The Bergen Line or the Bergen Railway ( no, Bergensbanen or nn, Bergensbana), is a long scenic standard gauge railway line between Bergen and Hønefoss, Norway. The name is often applied for the entire route from Bergen via Drammen to Oslo, ...
. The line runs through
Innlandet Innlandet is a county in Norway. It was created on 1 January 2020 with the merger of the old counties of Oppland and Hedmark (the municipalities of Jevnaker and Lunner were transferred to the neighboring county of Viken on the same date). The ...
and
Viken Viken may refer to: *Viken, Scandinavia, a historical region *Viken (county), a Norwegian county established in 2020 *Viken, Sweden, a bimunicipal locality in Skåne County, Sweden *Viken (lake), a lake in Sweden, part of the part of the Göta cana ...
counties and allowed the Bergen Line access 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 ...
at
Oslo East 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 Dramm ...
. The Line was built 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 s ...
(NSB) and opened on 1 December 1909, along with the last part of the Bergen Line. The line was electrified in 1961. Until 1989, nearly all Oslo–
Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...
trains used the line to terminate at Oslo East Station. It was also possible to reach Oslo from Hønefoss via the Randsfjord Line, albeit terminating at
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 ...
. NSB also ran a local service between Hønefoss and Oslo along the Roa–Hønefoss Line. Oslo–Bergen trains ran via the Randsfjord Line after 1989 and local train services have been terminated. However, the line remains in use for freight trains along the Oslo–Bergen route.


Route

The line starts at Roa Station, which is also located on the Gjøvik Line and is 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 ...
(Oslo S).Aspenberg (1999): 70 Located at
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''. The comb ...
, Roa has the highest elevation on the whole line. The line runs first west, then south to Jevnaker Station, passing Kalvsjø Station, Grindvoll Station, Gunstad Station, Bjellum Tunnel and Kvellsrud Station, before reaching Jevnaker, which is from Roa.Bjerke (1994): 123 For a long time, Jevnaker had two separate stations located at each end of the town, with the other station serving as the terminus of the Randsfjord Line.Aspenberg (1999): 74 The line then runs south-west, past Bergerfoss and Kistefoss, before reaching Viul. There, there is a branch to a lumber mill. After Viul, the line runs through two tunnels, long. At Hval, located from Roa, there was formerly a spur to a military camp. The line then runs over a bridge over Randselva before passing Hønen and a spur at Hønen and to a Goman bakery. Just before reaching Hønefoss Station, the line runs on a bridge over Begna. At Hønefoss, the Roa–Hønefoss Line and the Randsfjord Line come in from the east while the Randsfjord Line and the Bergen Line continue to the west. Hønefoss is from Oslo via Roa and via Drammen.


History

Hønefoss Station opened on 13 October 1868 as an intermediate station on the Randsfjord Line which connects
Randsfjorden Randsfjorden is Norway's fourth-largest lake with an area of . Its volume is estimated at just over , and its greatest depth is . The lake is located at an elevation of above sea level. It is located in Innlandet and Viken counties in the munic ...
to
Drammen Drammen () is a city and municipality in Viken (county), 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 village ...
. The initial proposals for the Bergen Line route went from Hønefoss via
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 ...
to Oslo West Station (Oslo V). However, this was met with a combination of political opposition and technical restrictions. During the 1880s and 1890s, all lines that did not connect to Sweden were to be built with
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 ...
. 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, ...
, which connected Sandvika to Oslo, was narrow gauge, as were the rest of the lines west of Oslo.Bergh (2004): 191–95, 256–57 During the planning of the Gjøvik Line (at the time known as the North Line), military considerations eventually led to the decision to build it with
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 ...
. Eventually it was decided that the Bergen Line would also be built with standard gauge. However, to reach Oslo from Hønefoss, a longer route to connect to the Gjøvik Line would have to be built, allowing the line to connect to the more important Oslo East Station. The construction of the Roa–Hønefoss Line and the Bergen Line from Hønefoss to
Taugevatn Taugevatn (also called Tågavatni) is a lake on the south side of the Bergen Line in Ulvik municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It sits at above sea level. The railway had its summit here, at above sea level,Bjerke, T. & Holom, F.S. (2004). ...
was passed by the
Parliament of Norway 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 ...
on 2 June 1898.Aspenberg (1999): 19 The line was built by NSB as part of the Bergen Line project, for which construction across the mountain had commenced in 1895. Construction of the Roa–Hønefoss Line started in 1903. This section is relatively flat and was the easiest part of the project to build. The line was officially opened along with the section of the Bergen Line from
Gulsvik Gulsvik is a village in the municipality of Flå in Buskerud, Norway. It is located in Hallingdal at the north end of Lake Krøderen. The center of the village lies at Gulsvik Rail Station. Bergensbanen railway terminated at Gulsvik Station fr ...
to Hønefoss, by
King Haakon VII Haakon VII (; born Prince Carl of Denmark; 3 August 187221 September 1957) was the King of Norway from November 1905 until his death in September 1957. Originally a Danish prince, he was born in Copenhagen as the son of the future Frederick VI ...
on 27 November 1909. It was taken into ordinary use on 1 December. At the time the line opened, there were stations at Roa, Grindvoll, Jevnaker, Hval and Hønefoss. To begin with, the line had a single through train from Oslo to Bergen, with an additional summer express—with a limited number of stops. In addition, there were two additional trains from Hønefoss to Oslo. From 1 May 1912, a night train was also introduced and the same year mixed passenger and freight trains were introduced from
Ål Ål is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in the traditional and electoral district Buskerud in Viken (county), Viken Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Hallingdal. The administ ...
on the Bergen Line to Oslo. A station was opened at Viul on 16 August 1915, and another at Kistefoss on 1 October. Because of economic impact of
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, the night train services was reduced to only twice a week from 20 May 1917 until 7 June 1919. In 1930, new stations were established at Kalvsjø, Gunstad, Bergerfoss and Hønen. During
World War II 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 ...
from 1940 to 1945, the frequency was reduced to no more than one train per day. During parts of 1940, the Oslo–Bergen line was instead run via the Drammen and Randsfjord Lines. However, two local trains were kept on the route from Hønefoss to Roa. From 18 November 1945, the daily Oslo–Bergen trains again ran via Roa, while the local trains from Oslo to Hønefoss increased to three daily round trips. Three weekly night trains were introduced from 1946. From 2 January to 1 May 1947, there was four weekly express services from Oslo to
Geilo is a centre in the municipality of Hol in Viken county, Norway. Geilo is primarily a ski resort town, with around 2,500 inhabitants. It is situated in the valley of Hallingdal, 250 km from Oslo and 260 km from Bergen. The Bergen Line ...
on the Bergen Line. By 1950, the situation had normalized and there were daily day and night trains and three weekly express trains—the latter with no stops between Hønefoss and Oslo. Kvellsrud Station opened on 18 August 1952. In the 1930s, it was decided that the Bergen Line was to be electrified. After the first section, from Bergen to Voss, was completed in 1954, the Gjøvik Line and the Roa–Hønefoss Line were the next to be electrified. The sections Oslo–
Jaren Jaren is the administrative centre of Gran Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The village is located about to the northwest of the capital city of Oslo. The lake Randsfjorden (Norway's fourth largest lake) lies about west of Jaren. The ...
and Roa–Hønefoss opened with electric traction on 1 February 1961. Automatic signaling was put into service on 10 December 1973 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 ...
was put into operation on 27 October 1987. From 3 June 1984, the day train was moved to run via Drammen. Until 1989, the Roa–Hønefoss Line had four daily round trips with a local train from Hønefoss via Roa to Oslo, normally a Class 65 or Class 67 unit. From 1989, this was reduced to a single round trip, with a morning train from Hønefoss to Oslo and a return in the afternoon. Eventually this was taken over by a Class 69 unit and by the late 1990s taken out of service. The Roa–Hønefoss Line remains a pure freight track for long-haul freight trains on the Bergen Line. After the opening of the
Oslo Tunnel The Oslo Tunnel ( no, Oslotunnelen) is a , double-track, railway tunnel which runs between Olav Kyrres plass and Oslo Central Station (Oslo S) in Oslo, Norway. The tunnel constitutes the easternmost section of the Drammen Line and runs bel ...
and Oslo Central Station in 1989, passenger trains run via Drammen; however, the Roa–Hønefoss Line is used as a reserve line for passenger trains when the Drammen Line or Randsfjord Line is out of service.


References


Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Roa-Honefoss Line Railway lines in Innlandet Railway lines in Viken Bergen Line Railway lines opened in 1909 Electric railways in Norway 1909 establishments in Norway Standard gauge railways in Norway