Åndalsnes Station () is a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

in the town of

Åndalsnes is a town in Rauma Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. Åndalsnes is also the administrative center of Rauma Municipality. It is located along the Isfjorden, at the mouth of the river Rauma, at the north end of the Romsdalen valle ...

, the

administrative centre An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located. In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgi ...

Rauma Municipality Rauma is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Møre og Romsdal Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Romsdal. The administrative centre is the town of Åndalsnes. Other s ...

Møre og Romsdal Møre og Romsdal (; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in the northernmost part of Western Norway, Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the Molde (town), town of M ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. It has served as the terminal station of the Rauma Line since the line was extended to Åndalsnes on November 30, 1924. The station was designed by

Gudmund Hoel Gudmund Hoel (25 September 1877 – 7 September 1956) was a Norwegian architect. He is regarded as the second-most influential railway architect in Norway, after Paul Due (architect), Paul Due. Biography He was born in Kragerø, Norway. Hoel gra ...

and is located on

reclaimed land Land reclamation, often known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamatio ...

along Isfjorden. To get the line to the station, a

cutting Cutting is the separation or opening of a physical object, into two or more portions, through the application of an acutely directed force. Implements commonly used for wikt:cut, cutting are the knife and saw, or in medicine and science the sca ...

had to be built. In addition to a

station building A station building, also known as a head house, is the main building of a passenger railway station. It is typically used principally to provide services to passengers. A station building is a component of a station, which can include tracks, ...

, the station has an

engine shed A motive power depot (MPD) or locomotive depot, or traction maintenance depot (TMD), is where locomotives are usually housed, repaired and maintained. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine sheds" or just "sheds". Facilit ...

and a bus station; the station building is next to a

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports of call, where passengers may go on Tourism, tours k ...

port. It serves four passenger trains per day, and has correspondence by bus onwards to the nearby towns of

Molde Molde () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town and the seat of Molde Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Pen ...

and

Ålesund Ålesund () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The town is the administrative centre of Ålesund Municipality. The centre of the town of Ålesund lies on the islands of Hessa, Aspøya, Ålesund, Asp� ...

. The station is staffed and features a chapel within a retired train carriage.

History

The area where the station is located is built on reclaimed land, as the Åndalsnes side of Isfjorden is sufficiently shallow. The earthwork for the reclaiming was taken from a cutting built to allow the line access to Åndalsnes. The earthwork was transported using temporary

gauge Gauge ( ) may refer to: Measurement * Gauge (instrument), any of a variety of measuring instruments * Gauge (firearms) * Wire gauge, a measure of the size of a wire ** American wire gauge, a common measure of nonferrous wire diameter, especia ...

railways. In 1912, tests were done in the area of the cutting to establish if it should be a cutting or a tunnel. Work with excavation started in 1915, with the cutting up to deep. It was necessary to move one house to make room for the line through Åndalsnes.Rauma kulturstyre (1994): 39 The station building was built in 1923 and 1924, and had an area of . It cost to build.Rauma kulturstyre (1994): 41 Both the main station building and the auxiliary buildings were designed by Gudmund Hoel of

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 ...

, the in-house architecture firm for the

Norwegian State Railways Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *Norwegian language, including the two ...

, who were responsible for construction. The station also received an engine shed in

natural stone This is a geographical list of natural stone used for decorative purposes in construction and monumental sculpture produced in various countries. The dimension-stone industry classifies stone based on appearance and hardness as either "granit ...

brick. Built from mid to late 1924, it cost . The

classic A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style; something of Masterpiece, lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or Literary merit, highest quality, class, or rank – something that Exemplification, exemplifies its ...

style brick buildings on the station stuck out from the other station buildings on the Rauma Line. To secure a sufficient water supply for the

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

s, a new water pool needed to be built at Bjørmosen. By damming up a pool, it was possible to supply of water per day to the station. This was built by NSB, but was then given free of charge to the municipality who operated it, in exchange for the railway receiving the allocated amount of water free for all eternity. Because of delayed delivery of parts from Germany, the water system was not opened until 10 February 1925. On 29 November 1924,

Norsk Spisevognselskap Norsk Spisevognselskap A/S, often abbreviated NSS or shortened to Spisevognselskapet (Norwegian language, Norwegian for "The Dining Car Company"), was a Norway, Norwegian government-owned corporation, state enterprise which operated restaurant c ...

established a restaurant in the station. As one of the larger railway station restaurants in the country, it included an outdoor patio. Åndalsnes Station was opened on 30 November 1924, when the Rauma Line was extended from

Verma Station Verma, Verma are surnames found in India and Southeast Asia. These surnames are commonly used by people of different castes and ethnic groups across the region. The surname is used in North India by and some of the groups among cluster of castes ...

. The train chapel was opened on 10 June 2003. On 8 June 2011, a renovation project for the station was completed. This included better transfer between trains and buses and cruise ships, a new park, and raising of the platforms. Including upgrades to the track, the upgrades cost . The station building has received an elevator and a renovation of the lobby. The station is considered worthy of preservation and the renovation was done in cooperation with the preservation authorities.

Facilities

Åndalsnes Station is located in downtown Åndalsnes at

above mean sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

and is from

Oslo Central Station Oslo Central Station (, abbreviated ) is the main railway station in Oslo, and the largest railway station within the entire Norwegian railway system. It connects with Jernbanetorget station, which is served by trams and the Oslo Metro. It's ...

. The station building is owned by

Rom Eiendom Bane NOR Eiendom (''Rail NOR Property'') is a subsidiary of Bane NOR responsible for managing the commercial sections of the company's real estate. With headquarters in Oslo, the company manages of space. The vast majority of this is in or in c ...

, a subsidiary of NSB, while the infrastructure is owned by the

Norwegian National Rail Administration Jernbaneverket () was a government agency responsible for owning, maintaining, operating and developing the Norwegian railway network, including the track, stations, classification yards, traffic management and timetables. Safety oversight ...

. Åndalsnes Station has a staffed ticket booth and has a waiting room, lockers, a kiosk, a bicycle rack and parking for 15 cars. It is located next to the cruise ship terminal. The part of the station building not used for train operations is rented out to businesses. At the station is a train chapel, a retired B3 carriage which has been converted to a chapel. It has kept the original seating of the train, but there is incorporated an altar. It is run as a cooperation between the

Church of Norway The Church of Norway (, , , ) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established a ...

, the

Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide m ...

and the

Pentecostal Church Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...

Service

SJ Norge SJ is the primary passenger train operator in Sweden. A wholly state-owned company operated for-profit under market conditions, SJ operates various services across Sweden. SJ's operations include high-speed trains, intercity trains, night trains ...

operates passenger train services on the line. Using Class 93 trains, they operate four services in each direction per day. From the station, there is correspondence with buses to the nearby towns of

and

. During the summer, from June through August, NSB operates the trains as tourists trains, limiting the service from Åndalsnes to Bjorli.

References

Bibliography

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Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aandalsnes Station Railway stations in Møre og Romsdal Railway stations on the Rauma Line Rauma, Norway Railway stations in Norway opened in 1924