Tønsberg Station
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Tønsberg Station on the Vestfold Line, is the main
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
Tønsberg Tønsberg (), historically Tunsberg, is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tønsberg Municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located about south-southwest of the capital city of Oslo on the western coast of the Oslofjord near ...
in Tønsberg Municipality in
Vestfold Vestfold () is a county and a current electoral district in Norway. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it borders Buskerud and Telemark counties. The county administration is located in Tønsberg, Norway's oldest city, and the larg ...
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 ...
. The station is located in the downtown area, to the east of the hill Slottsfjellet. It is located at an altitude of
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 current station is from 1915.


History

The first station at Knapløkken was a railway station built by the private Tønsberg–Eidsfoss Line. It received a station building of the smallest type used on the line, with only two rooms, and consisted further of a passing loop and an outhouse. The station had an extensive track arrangement with seven tracks and place for 203 freight cars. The station opened on 18 October 1901. During the planning of TEB there was discussion about changing the state railway's line through town and building a new station. This would have allowed NSB trains avoid having to back from Jarlsberg Points. TEB therefore chose to build their station at Knapløkken. Thus Tønsberg was served by four stations. NSB therefore decided that it would build the Vestfold Line through Tønsberg in a loop, build a new, common station for TEB and NSB, and align the Vestfold Line out of Tønsberg next to TEB.Aspenberg (1994): 148 As TEB's station was far too small to handle NSB's traffic, an all-new station was built at Knapløkken.Jakobsen (1996): 38 The new line was taken into use on 1 October 1915 and the new station was completed in 1916.Aspenberg (1994): 150 At the time of the opening the station had of land, which was rented for 1
øre Øre (plural ''øre'', , ) is the centesimal subdivision of the Danish and Norwegian krone. The Faroese division is called the ''oyra'', but is equal in value to the Danish coin. Before their discontinuation, the corresponding divisions of the ...
per square meter to the station employees. At the time of the opening the station had a station master, three clerks, six telegraphists, two foremen, a switcher, nine servicemen and an apprentice. On 11 May 1934, Norsk Spisevognselskap took over operation of the station restaurant. In 1948, a separate building for the restaurant was opened. When the Vestfold Line first opened in 1881, Tønsberg was accessed to by means of a branch line running in a long tunnel through Slottsfjell. At that time the Tønsberg station was a terminal station and trains had to reverse direction in Tønsberg, usually the cars were pushed into the station. This was a cumbersome operation, and in 1915 the current layout was opened. Now trains from the east run in a loop around Tønsberg city before entering the station and no reversing is necessary. The loop does take up space however, and in 2002 the Tønsberg city council passed a resolution to replace the loop with a single line, reintroducing the simple cul-de-sac station. The Norwegian National Rail Administration, who owns the railway, protested, pointing out that turning trains around would hold it up for ten minutes. There have been calls to continue the discussion.Vil ha omkamp om jernbane
(Wants a rematch over the railway) Tønsbergs Blad, November 17, 2005


Facilities

Tønsberg was built as a first-class station, the station's upper story originally serving as a residence for the station master and offices which hosted TEB's administration. The ground floor consisted of a waiting room, ticket sales, office for the station master, a telegraphy room, a cargo handling room, all with
central heating A central heating system provides warmth to a number of spaces within a building from one main source of heat. A central heating system has a Furnace (central heating), furnace that converts fuel or electricity to heat through processes. The he ...
. The station building was originally supplemented with a cargo building. The station had four main tracks, three spurs and a branch to the port, which was part of TEB.


References


Bibliography

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External links


Entry on Tønsberg Station
from the Norwegian National Rail Administration {{DEFAULTSORT:Tonsberg Station Railway stations in Vestfold Railway stations on the Vestfold Line Railway stations in Norway opened in 1915 Tønsberg