Hønefoss Station is a railway station

Train station

A train station, also called a railroad station or railway station and often shortened to just station,"Station" is commonly understood to mean "train station" unless otherwise qualified. This is evident from dictionary entries e.g...

 located at Hønefoss

Hønefoss

Hønefoss is a city in Buskerud county, Norway, and the center of the municipality of Ringerike.In 1852, Hønefoss received town status and was separated from Norderhov. Hønefoss celebrated its 150th year of township in 2002...

 in Ringerike

Ringerike

oskar er kjempe kulRingerike is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Ringerike...

, Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

. The station is located at the intersection between the Bergen Line, the Randsfjord Line and the Roa–Hønefoss Line. Hønefoss is served by express trains to Oslo

Oslo

Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

 and Bergen

Bergen

Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , ....

, but all local trains traffic has been terminated.

Norsk Museumstog has its operation base at Hønefoss station, where it maintains all its locomotives. Norwegian Museumstog, cooperating with the Norwegian Railway Club is working on 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 216 meter long bridge that runs over 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 going to Hønefoss.

History

During the second half of the 19th century Hønefoss and the areas around were witness to a massive technological development. From being a small village with commerce related to the waterfall and the sawmills, the railway connection to Drammen

Drammen

Drammen is a city in Buskerud County, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the eastern and most populated part of Norway.-Location:...

 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, Norway

Land is a traditional district in Oppland, Norway consisting of the municipalities Nordre Land and Søndre Land. Land was a formannskapsdistrikt from 1837, and split into Nordre- and Søndre Land in 1847. By the time of partition Land had a population of 9,199....

 municipal council had contacted the Ministry of the Interior granting a wish to better communication between Drammen and the lakes of Tyrifjorden

Tyrifjorden

Tyrifjorden is Norway's fifth largest lake with an area of 137 km2. It has a volume of 13 km3, is 295 meters deep at its deepest, and lies 63 meters above sea level...

 and Randsfjorden

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 above sea level....

. But nothing happened at the time. In 1853, one year before the first railway line in Norway, Hovedbanen, opened, the city council in Drammen created a committee to consider possible connections to Opplandede. At the time a canal

Canal

Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...

 was considered, but since it only could be used half the year the concept was dropped. In 1857 the civil engineer Carl Abraham Pihl

Carl Abraham Pihl

Carl Abraham Pihl was a Norwegian civil engineer and director of the Norwegian State Railways from 1865 until his death...

 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

Norwegian speciedaler

The speciedaler was the currency of Norway between 1816 and 1875. It replaced the rigsdaler specie at par and was subdivided into 120 skilling . It was replaced by the Norwegian krone when Norway joined the Scandinavian Monetary Union...

. 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 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

Tyristrand

Tyristrand is a former municipality in Buskerud county, Norway.-Background:Tyristrand was created by a split from Hole on 1 July 1916. On 1 January 1964 Tyristrand was merged with the municipalities Hole, Hønefoss, Norderhov and Ådal to form the new municipality of Ringerike. Before the merger...

. Eventually the railway station at Hønefoss was concluded and on 12 October 1868 the train could arrive at Randsfjord Station

Randsfjord Station

Randsfjord Station was a railway station at located on the west bank of the south of the lake Randsfjorden in Jevnaker, Norway. Passengers could transfer to steam ship for transport on Randsfjorden.-History:...

 on Randsfjorden, just outside the village of Jevnaker

Jevnaker

Jevnaker is a municipality in Oppland county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Jevnaker with a population of 4,302.The parish of Jævnaker was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838...

. The Randsfjord Line was the fifth railway line in Norway

Rail transport in Norway

The Norwegian railway system comprises 4,087 km of track of which 2,622 km is electrified and 242 km double track. There are 696 tunnels and 2760 bridges....

.

The next large project to reach Hønefoss was the Bergen Line, which was opened on 27 November 1909. Until then the original station had been consisting 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

Norsk Spisevognselskap

Norsk Spisevognselskap A/S, often abbreviated NSS or shortened to Spisevognselskapet, was a Norwegian state enterprise which operated restaurant carriages on Norwegian trains and restaurants at train stations and railway hotels. The company was established in December 1918, and started a catering...

 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

Roundhouse

A roundhouse is a building used by railroads for servicing locomotives. Roundhouses are large, circular or semicircular structures that were traditionally located surrounding or adjacent to turntables...

 and turntable

Turntable

A turntable is generally a rotating platform, and may refer to:-Music:* Turntable, a motor-driven platform that normally rotates a gramophone record at a constant rotational velocity as part of a phonograph....

. 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

Steam locomotive

A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...

s with coal and water. There was a water tower

Water tower

A water tower or elevated water tower is a large elevated drinking water storage container constructed to hold a water supply at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system....

 and a coal depot.

On 31 July1926 Sperill Line opened, connecting Finsand in Ådal

Ådal

Ådal is a valley in the municipality of Ringerike and was a former municipality in Buskerud County, Norway.The municipality was created in 1857 by a split from Norderhov. At that time Ådal had a population of 2,382. On 1 January 1964 Ådal was merged with Hønefoss, Tyristrand, Hole and Norderhov to...

 to the Randsfjord 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 then end of the 1950s Norwegian State Railways

Norwegian State Railways (1883–1996)

The Norwegian State Railways was a state-owned railway company that operated most of the railway network in Norway. The government agency was created in 1883 to oversee the construction and operation of all state-owned railways in Norway...

 was using large resources getting rid of steam power, with the motto "away with the steam!". For Hønefoss station the first electrification

Railway electrification system

A railway electrification system supplies electrical energy to railway locomotives and multiple units as well as trams so that they can operate without having an on-board prime mover. There are several different electrification systems in use throughout the world...

 was the Randsfjord Line in 1959, while the Bergen Line was electrified (till Ål Station

Ål Station

Ål Station is a railway station located at Ål, Norway. The station is served by up to six daily express trains operated by Norwegian State Railways. The station was opened as part of the Bergen Line between Bergen and Gulsvik in 1907....

) in 1962, and eventually the water and steam depot was removed.

Passenger traffic on the Randsfjord 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 manned.

Ringerike Line

All since the original plans for the Bergen Line there have existed plans to extend the Bergen Line to Sandvika Station

Sandvika Station

Sandvika Station is a railway station located in downtown Sandvika in Bærum, Akershus, Norway. The station serves as a local public transport hub and is located on the Asker Line and the Drammen Line. The station was opened with the Drammen Line in 1872. In 2005 the Asker Line opened allowing...

. 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

Oslo Vestbanestasjon

Oslo West Station 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 1989, when all traffic was moved to the new Oslo Central 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

High-speed rail is a type of passenger rail transport that operates significantly faster than the normal speed of rail traffic. Specific definitions by the European Union include for upgraded track and or faster for new track, whilst in the United States, the U.S...

way between Hønefoss and Sandvika that will shorten travel time from Hønefoss to Oslo Central Station by about 50 minutes.