Ringeriksbanen
Encyclopedia
Ringerike Line is a proposed 40 kilometres (24.9 mi) extension of the Bergen Line railway
from Hønefoss
to Sandvika
, Norway; reducing rail travel from Oslo
to Bergen
by 60 kilometres (37.3 mi) and 50 minutes. Currently trains from the Bergen Line to Oslo must traverse via Drammen
on the Randsfjord Line and the Drammen Line, or via Roa
on the Roa–Hønefoss Line and the Gjøvik Line.
The project was presented as part of the original proposal of the Bergen Line when approved by the Norwegian Parliament in 1894, but due to the narrow gauge on the Drammen Line at the time, a temporary solution via Roa was chosen instead. Later proposals have been launched, and parliament has voted over it in 1954, 1978, 1984 and 1992; only the last being passed, but not followed up by funding, and the Norwegian National Rail Administration has not allocated any date to start construction; detailed plans have however been produced.
, and continue mostly in tunnel to Hønefoss Station
, with an intermediate station at Sundvollen
. While only single track
, sufficient passing loop
s every six to eight kilometers, each at 750 metres (2,460.6 ft), would be built allowing 600 metres (1,968.5 ft) long freight trains. Capacity would be eight trains per hour operating at 200 kilometres per hour (124.3 mph) permitting both freight and passenger trains through 22.5 tonne axle load and maximum 1.2% gradient; electrification would be at the Norwegian standard . In 2002 a route over Åsa was preferred to a route over Kroksund
by parliament; despite less passenger potential for local traffic and NOK 700 million more expensive, this would give a smaller environmental impact. Travel time for the quickest trains from Hønefoss to Oslo would be 30 minutes, compared to 60 minutes by bus or 95 minutes by current trains.
The Norwegian National Rail Administration has proposed a number of upgrades to the Bergen Line that would allow total travel time between the termini to reduce to four and a half hours. The Ringerike Line is seen as the hallmark of this attempt, that was first launched by the director of NSB in 1954; sixty years later travel time remains at six and a half hours. The project is estimated to cost NOK
7 billion, of which 4 billion would be for Ringeriksbanen.
Prior to 1989 there were four local trains in each direction from Oslo to Hønefoss; followed by on rush hour service each, but this single service has since been terminated; mainly due to quicker travel times by coaches
. The Ringerike Line would allow the Oslo Commuter Rail
once again to serve Ringerike; other places served usually have one hourly service, with additional services in rush hour. Reducing travel time from Hønefoss to Oslo to 30 minutes would probably cause larger population growth in Ringerike.
(Oslo V), but the proposal met technical and political restrictions. At the time Norway had two rail gauge
s; standard gauge
and narrow gauge . The former was taking predominance over the latter, with among others the Voss Line
, the initial stage of the Bergen Line from Bergen to Voss, being converted from narrow to standard gauge. Drammenbanen, that connected Sandvika to Oslo, was narrow gauge, as was most of the rest of the western network, including the Vestfold Line; hundreds of kilometers of railway would have to be converted.
On the other side of Oslo, the North Line (now named the Gjøvik Line) was being built as standard gauge; it was considered the new mainline northwards, and was to be connected to the mainline through Gudbrandsdal
. By building a branch line from Roa to Hønefoss, the Bergens Line could be connected to Nordbanen, allowing standard gauge trackage all the way to Oslo Østbanestasjon (Oslo Ø). This also gave another advantage, as Oslo Ø was seen as superior to Oslo V; the latter only served limited commuter routes west of town while Oslo Ø was the main station for long-distance trains to Trondheim, as well as Gothenburg
and Stockholm
in Sweden, with whom Norway was in a union with
at the time. Only by terminating at Oslo Ø would direct transfer to trains to other parts of the country be possible.
When parliament passed the building of the Bergen Line in 1894, the Roa–Hønefoss branch line was made part of the plans; but the line was given a separate name indicating that Bergensbanen would continue from Hønefoss to Oslo in a more direct route. But after the finish of Bergensbanen other important mainline routes, in particular the Dovre Line, Sørland Line and Nordland Line, combined with the effort to convert narrow gauge line, took precedence. Ideas for the additional construction of Ringeriksbanen were pressed by commercial interests in Ringerike in both 1890 and 1906, but failed both times.
In 1955 the Bergen businessperson Fritz Rieber launched an idea for the shortening of Bergensbanen; the Ulriken Tunnel
through the Bergen mountains, electrification from Voss to Bergen, and the construction of the Ringerike Line. Private financing would be provided through a dedicated limited company taking a surcharge on tickets, equal to the reduction in fare induced by the shorter line; within twenty years the debt would be covered. Passed by parliament in 1955, a year later they had changed their minds and only the investments around Bergen were supported; removing the support for Ringerike. Prime Minister Trygve Bratteli
commented that private debt financing would have to compete with the debt taken up by the government on other railway projects, since politicians had to see the national economy as a whole, and that private financing would not allow more lines to be built. The cost was estimated at NOK 100 million.
New proposals were debated in parliament in 1978, and again in 1984, but failing to be passed. The final decision to build the line was taken in 1992 as part of a political swap between the Labour Party
and the Socialist Left Party
; the Labour Party would support the line if the Socialist Left Party would support building European route E16
via the Lærdal Tunnel and Valdres
, instead of via Hol
or Eidfjord
. Initially the agreement involved the completion of the Ringerike Line in 1997, but as of 2008 no date or funding has been set. Director of the Rail Administration, Steinar Killi
, has indicated that the period 2010-19 would be a natural time for completion, but only if more overall funding for railway infrastructure is provided.
As either an alternative or supplement to the line, expansion of European route E16
from Sandvika to Hønefoss has been proposed; increasing from two to four lanes on the first 17 kilometres (10.6 mi) from Bjørum to Hvervenmoen, estimating to cost NOK 3.5 billion; local politicians have suggested toll road
financing.
Rail transport
Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail tracks. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on a prepared surface, rail vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks they run on...
from 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...
to Sandvika
Sandvika
is the administrative centre of the municipality of Bærum in Norway. It was declared a city by the municipal council in Bærum on 4 June 2003.Sandvika is situated approximately west of Oslo. It is the main transportation hub for Western Bærum, and has a combined bus and railway station. Sandvika is...
, Norway; reducing rail travel from 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...
to 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 , ....
by 60 kilometres (37.3 mi) and 50 minutes. Currently trains from the Bergen Line to Oslo must traverse via 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:...
on the Randsfjord Line and the Drammen Line, or via Roa
Roa, Norway
Roa is the administrative centre of Lunner municipality, Norway. Together with the village Lunner it forms an urban area with a population of 1,576. The railway Gjøvikbanen goes through Roa, with trains stopping at Roa Station.-References:...
on the Roa–Hønefoss Line and the Gjøvik Line.
The project was presented as part of the original proposal of the Bergen Line when approved by the Norwegian Parliament in 1894, but due to the narrow gauge on the Drammen Line at the time, a temporary solution via Roa was chosen instead. Later proposals have been launched, and parliament has voted over it in 1954, 1978, 1984 and 1992; only the last being passed, but not followed up by funding, and the Norwegian National Rail Administration has not allocated any date to start construction; detailed plans have however been produced.
Line
The line would branch off from the Asker Line just west of Sandvika StationSandvika 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...
, and continue mostly in tunnel to Hønefoss Station
Hønefoss Station
Hønefoss Station 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...
, with an intermediate station at Sundvollen
Sundvollen
Sundvollen is a village in the municipality of Hole, in the county of Buskerud, Norway. Sundvollen is located along the east side of Tyrifjorden where the E16 crosses west over Steinsfjorden, the northeastern arm of Tyrifjorden, to Kroksund. The village had 801 inhabitants as of January...
. While only single track
Single track (rail)
A single track railway is where trains in both directions share the same track. Single track is normally used on lesser used rail lines, often branch lines, where the traffic density is not high enough to justify the cost of building double tracks....
, sufficient passing loop
Passing loop
A passing loop is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at a station, where trains or trams in opposing directions can pass each other. Trains/trams in the same direction can also overtake, providing that the signalling arrangement allows it...
s every six to eight kilometers, each at 750 metres (2,460.6 ft), would be built allowing 600 metres (1,968.5 ft) long freight trains. Capacity would be eight trains per hour operating at 200 kilometres per hour (124.3 mph) permitting both freight and passenger trains through 22.5 tonne axle load and maximum 1.2% gradient; electrification would be at the Norwegian standard . In 2002 a route over Åsa was preferred to a route over Kroksund
Kroksund
Kroksund is a village in the municipality of Hole, Norway. Its population is 286 ....
by parliament; despite less passenger potential for local traffic and NOK 700 million more expensive, this would give a smaller environmental impact. Travel time for the quickest trains from Hønefoss to Oslo would be 30 minutes, compared to 60 minutes by bus or 95 minutes by current trains.
The Norwegian National Rail Administration has proposed a number of upgrades to the Bergen Line that would allow total travel time between the termini to reduce to four and a half hours. The Ringerike Line is seen as the hallmark of this attempt, that was first launched by the director of NSB in 1954; sixty years later travel time remains at six and a half hours. The project is estimated to cost NOK
Norwegian krone
The krone is the currency of Norway and its dependent territories. The plural form is kroner . It is subdivided into 100 øre. The ISO 4217 code is NOK, although the common local abbreviation is kr. The name translates into English as "crown"...
7 billion, of which 4 billion would be for Ringeriksbanen.
Prior to 1989 there were four local trains in each direction from Oslo to Hønefoss; followed by on rush hour service each, but this single service has since been terminated; mainly due to quicker travel times by coaches
Coach (vehicle)
A coach is a large motor vehicle, a type of bus, used for conveying passengers on excursions and on longer distance express coach scheduled transport between cities - or even between countries...
. The Ringerike Line would allow the Oslo Commuter Rail
Oslo Commuter Rail
Oslo Commuter Rail is a commuter rail centered in Oslo, Norway, connecting the capital to six counties in Eastern Norway. The system is operated by the Norwegian State Railways and its subsidiary NSB Gjøvikbanen, using Class 69 and Class 72 electric multiple units . The network spans eight routes...
once again to serve Ringerike; other places served usually have one hourly service, with additional services in rush hour. Reducing travel time from Hønefoss to Oslo to 30 minutes would probably cause larger population growth in Ringerike.
History
Initial proposals for the Bergens Line route went from Hønefoss via Sandvika to Oslo VestbanestasjonOslo 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...
(Oslo V), but the proposal met technical and political restrictions. At the time Norway had two rail gauge
Rail gauge
Track gauge or rail gauge is the distance between the inner sides of the heads of the two load bearing rails that make up a single railway line. Sixty percent of the world's railways use a standard gauge of . Wider gauges are called broad gauge; smaller gauges, narrow gauge. Break-of-gauge refers...
s; standard gauge
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
and narrow gauge . The former was taking predominance over the latter, with among others the Voss Line
Voss Line
The Voss Line is a railway line from Bergen to Voss in Hordaland, Norway. The line was opened on 11 July 1883 and became part of the Bergen Line when the latter opened on 27 November 1909, making the Voss Line the first step from Bergen to Oslo. The Voss Line was built in narrow gauge, but...
, the initial stage of the Bergen Line from Bergen to Voss, being converted from narrow to standard gauge. Drammenbanen, that connected Sandvika to Oslo, was narrow gauge, as was most of the rest of the western network, including the Vestfold Line; hundreds of kilometers of railway would have to be converted.
On the other side of Oslo, the North Line (now named the Gjøvik Line) was being built as standard gauge; it was considered the new mainline northwards, and was to be connected to the mainline through Gudbrandsdal
Gudbrandsdal
The Gudbrandsdalen is a valley and traditional district in the Norwegian county of Oppland. The valley is oriented in a north-westerly direction from Lillehammer at Mjøsa, extending 230 km toward Romsdal...
. By building a branch line from Roa to Hønefoss, the Bergens Line could be connected to Nordbanen, allowing standard gauge trackage all the way to Oslo Østbanestasjon (Oslo Ø). This also gave another advantage, as Oslo Ø was seen as superior to Oslo V; the latter only served limited commuter routes west of town while Oslo Ø was the main station for long-distance trains to Trondheim, as well as Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
and Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
in Sweden, with whom Norway was in a union with
Union between Sweden and Norway
The Union between Sweden and Norway , officially the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway, consisted of present-day Sweden and Norway between 1814 and 1905, when they were united under one monarch in a personal union....
at the time. Only by terminating at Oslo Ø would direct transfer to trains to other parts of the country be possible.
When parliament passed the building of the Bergen Line in 1894, the Roa–Hønefoss branch line was made part of the plans; but the line was given a separate name indicating that Bergensbanen would continue from Hønefoss to Oslo in a more direct route. But after the finish of Bergensbanen other important mainline routes, in particular the Dovre Line, Sørland Line and Nordland Line, combined with the effort to convert narrow gauge line, took precedence. Ideas for the additional construction of Ringeriksbanen were pressed by commercial interests in Ringerike in both 1890 and 1906, but failed both times.
In 1955 the Bergen businessperson Fritz Rieber launched an idea for the shortening of Bergensbanen; the Ulriken Tunnel
Ulriken Tunnel
Ulriken Tunnel is a railway tunnel on the Bergen Line between Bergen Station and Arna Station in Norway. The long tunnel runs under the northern part of the mountain Ulriken in Bergen. Before the tunnel was opened in 1964, the Bergen Line ran via Nesttun. This stretch is now a heritage railway,...
through the Bergen mountains, electrification from Voss to Bergen, and the construction of the Ringerike Line. Private financing would be provided through a dedicated limited company taking a surcharge on tickets, equal to the reduction in fare induced by the shorter line; within twenty years the debt would be covered. Passed by parliament in 1955, a year later they had changed their minds and only the investments around Bergen were supported; removing the support for Ringerike. Prime Minister Trygve Bratteli
Trygve Bratteli
was a Norwegian politician from the Labour Party and Prime Minister of Norway in 1971–1972 and 1973–1976.-Early life and career:...
commented that private debt financing would have to compete with the debt taken up by the government on other railway projects, since politicians had to see the national economy as a whole, and that private financing would not allow more lines to be built. The cost was estimated at NOK 100 million.
New proposals were debated in parliament in 1978, and again in 1984, but failing to be passed. The final decision to build the line was taken in 1992 as part of a political swap between the Labour Party
Norwegian Labour Party
The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in Norway. It is the senior partner in the current Norwegian government as part of the Red-Green Coalition, and its leader, Jens Stoltenberg, is the current Prime Minister of Norway....
and the Socialist Left Party
Socialist Left Party (Norway)
The Socialist Left Party or SV, is a Norwegian left-wing political party. At one point one of the smallest parties in Parliament, it became the fourth-largest political party in Norway for the first time in the 2001 parliamentary election, and has been so ever since...
; the Labour Party would support the line if the Socialist Left Party would support building European route E16
European route E16
European route E 16 is the designation of a main west-east road through Northern Ireland, Scotland and Norway, from Derry to Oslo, via Glasgow, Edinburgh, previously by ferry to Bergen, Voss, through the Gudvanga Tunnel, Lærdal, through the Lærdal Tunnel, over Filefjell to Fagernes, Hønefoss,...
via the Lærdal Tunnel and Valdres
Valdres
Valdres is a traditional district in central, southern Norway, situated between Gudbrandsdal and Hallingdal.Administratively, Valdres belongs to Oppland. It consists of the municipalities Nord-Aurdal, Sør-Aurdal, Øystre Slidre, Vestre Slidre, Vang and Etnedal. The main town in the region is...
, instead of via Hol
Hol
Hol is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway.-Administrative history:The area of Hol was separated from the municipality of Ål in 1877 to become a separate municipality. In 1937 a part of neighboring Uvdal with 220 inhabitants was moved to Hol municipality. The area of Dagali was transferred...
or Eidfjord
Eidfjord
Eidfjord is a municipality in the county of Hordaland, Norway. Eidfjord was separated from Ulvik May 1, 1891....
. Initially the agreement involved the completion of the Ringerike Line in 1997, but as of 2008 no date or funding has been set. Director of the Rail Administration, Steinar Killi
Steinar Killi
Steinar Killi is a Norwegian civil servant who has had various leading positions within transportation in government agencies and is presently director of the Norwegian National Rail Administration....
, has indicated that the period 2010-19 would be a natural time for completion, but only if more overall funding for railway infrastructure is provided.
As either an alternative or supplement to the line, expansion of European route E16
European route E16
European route E 16 is the designation of a main west-east road through Northern Ireland, Scotland and Norway, from Derry to Oslo, via Glasgow, Edinburgh, previously by ferry to Bergen, Voss, through the Gudvanga Tunnel, Lærdal, through the Lærdal Tunnel, over Filefjell to Fagernes, Hønefoss,...
from Sandvika to Hønefoss has been proposed; increasing from two to four lanes on the first 17 kilometres (10.6 mi) from Bjørum to Hvervenmoen, estimating to cost NOK 3.5 billion; local politicians have suggested toll road
Toll road
A toll road is a privately or publicly built road for which a driver pays a toll for use. Structures for which tolls are charged include toll bridges and toll tunnels. Non-toll roads are financed using other sources of revenue, most typically fuel tax or general tax funds...
financing.