Hønefoss 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 ...
located at
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 2022 ...
in
Ringerike, Norway. The station is located at the intersection between the
Bergen Line
The Bergen Line, or the Bergen Railway ( or ), is a long scenic overlook, scenic standard gauge railway line between Bergen and Hønefoss, Norway. The name is often applied to the entire route from Bergen to Oslo, including the Randsfjord Line ...
, the
Randsfjorden Line and the
Roa–Hønefoss Line. Hønefoss is served by express trains to
Oslo
Oslo ( or ; ) 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 1,064,235 in 2022 ...
and
Bergen
Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo.
By May 20 ...
, but all local train traffic has been terminated. The station is designed as a V-shape
keilbahnhof.
Norsk Museumstog has its operation base at Hønefoss station, where it maintains all its locomotives. Norwegian Museumstog, cooperating with the
Norwegian Railway Club
The Norwegian Railway Club () is an association which is involved in the preservation of Norwegian museum railways. NMT has its operating base at Hønefoss Station in Ringerike, Norway. The society was founded on 22 May 1969, and is based at ...
, works on the restoration, maintenance and operation of railway equipment. All revenues go to the maintenance of trains and locomotives with cultural value.
Begna Railway Bridge is a bridge that runs over the Ådal River (lower part of Begna) at Hønefoss Station, directly above the Hønefoss water falls. The bridge was built in 1898, adopted at the same time that it was decided that the Bergen Line would go to Hønefoss.
History

During the second half of the 19th century, Hønefoss and the surrounding areas saw significant technological development. From being a small village with commerce related to the waterfall and the sawmills, the railway connection to
Drammen
Drammen () is a city and municipality in Buskerud county, 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 ...
in 1868 was vital for the city's industry and trade into the 20th century.
The idea of a railway from Drammen to Hønefoss was launched in 1846, before any other railways were constructed in Norway. The
Land
Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of Earth not submerged by the ocean or another body of water. It makes up 29.2% of Earth's surface and includes all continents and islands. Earth's land sur ...
municipal council had contacted the
Ministry of the Interior
An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement.
In some states, the ...
granting a wish to better communication between Drammen and the lakes of
Tyrifjorden
Tyrifjorden (Lake Tyri) is a lake in Norway. It lies northwest of Oslo and is the nation's fifth largest lake with an area of 138.56 km2. It has a volume of 13 km3, is 295 meters deep at its deepest, and lies 63 meters above sea level ...
and
Randsfjorden. But nothing happened at the time. In 1853, one year before the first railway line in Norway,
Trunk Line, opened, the city council in Drammen created a committee to consider possible connections to Opplandede. At the time a
canal
Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface ...
was considered, but since it only could be used half the year the concept was dropped. In 1857 the civil engineer
Carl Abraham Pihl was given the responsibility from the Ministry of Inner Affairs to consider whether it was possible to construct a railway between Drammen and Randsfjorden, and his report was concluded on 31 May 1858. It concluded with that it was possible to build the Randsfjord Line, and he had also estimated the costs of the project to 1,150,000
Norwegian speciedaler. Drammen city council conducted a meeting on the topic in Hønefoss on 12 September 1859 where it was decided to start construction.
On 11 June 1863, the
Parliament of Norway
The Storting ( ; ) 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 based on party-list proportional represe ...
voted with 65 against 44 mandates in favor of the line. The first part of the Randsfjord Line was opened on 31 October 1866, connecting Vikersund to Drammen. On 1 December 1867 the line was extended to
Skjærdalen in
Tyristrand. Eventually the railway station at Hønefoss was concluded and on 12 October 1868 the train could arrive at
Randsfjord Station on Randsfjorden, just outside the village of
Jevnaker. The Randsfjorden Line was the
fifth railway line in Norway.
The next large project to reach Hønefoss was the Bergen Line, which was opened on 27 November 1909. Until then the original station had consisted of low buildings in wood, located in front of the west side of the building, along the platform to the Drammen trains. The new station built in 1909 for the opening of the Bergen Line also included a café—which was taken over by
Norsk Spisevognselskap on 20 November 1923
—though this was closed in 1972. At the other end of the station area was the depot, where there among others a
roundhouse and
turntable
A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration waveforms are recorded as corresponding phys ...
. On the upper side of the platform there was formerly a short side track towards the area where Ringerike Dairy was located. This was also the spot used to fill
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 with coal and water. There was a
water tower
A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system, distribution system for potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. Water towe ...
and a coal depot.
On 31 July 1926
Sperillen Line opened, connecting
Finsand in
Ã…dal
Ã…dal is a valley in the municipality of Ringerike (municipality), Ringerike and was a former municipality in Buskerud County, Norway.
The municipality was created in 1857 by a split from Norderhov. At that time Ã…dal had a population of 2,382. ...
to the Randsfjorden and Bergen Line, though passenger traffic was terminated on 1 July 1933. The bus had competed away all profits. Since 1 August 1957 freight traffic was also terminated. At the end of the 1950s
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 ...
was using large resources getting rid of steam power, with the motto "away with the steam!". For Hønefoss Station, the first
electrification
Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. In the context of history of technology and economic development, electrification refe ...
was the Randsfjorden Line in 1959, while the Bergen Line was electrified (till
Ã…l Station
Ã…l Station () is a railway station located at Ã…l, Norway. The station is served by up to six daily express trains operated by Vy Tog. The station was opened as part of the Bergen Line between Bergen
Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalitie ...
) in 1962, and eventually the water and steam depot was removed.
Passenger traffic on the Randsfjorden Line north of Hønefoss was terminated on 26 May 1968, after 100 years of operation and thus removing the last diesel trains in scheduled traffic. In 1979, the old Lloyd Warehouses in wood, on the southwest side of the tracks were razed. The rest of the old station was razed in 1987. Local trains stopped running from Hønefoss to Drammen on 7 January 2001. 31 May 2005 was the last day Hønefoss Station was staffed.
Ringerike Line
Since the original plans for the Bergen Line there have existed plans to extend the Bergen Line to
Sandvika Station. At the time the Roa–Hønefoss Line was built, to utilize
Gjøvik Line. This allowed the trains from Bergen to operate to the larger
Oslo East Station instead of the smaller
Oslo West Station. The line also allowed for a connection between the eastern and western networks. There are currently plans to build a new, single track
high-speed rail
High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail transport network utilising trains that run significantly faster than those of traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated railway track, tracks. While there is ...
way between Hønefoss and Sandvika that will shorten travel time from Hønefoss to Oslo Central Station by about 50 minutes.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Honefoss Station
Railway stations in Buskerud
Railway stations on the Randsfjorden Line
Railway stations on Bergensbanen
Railway stations on the Roa–Hønefoss Line
Railway stations in Norway opened in 1868