Railroading in Norway

Prepared fredag 17. februar 1995.
This page was made by Hans Schaefer of the Norwegian Railway Club. Comments and additions may be posted to Hascha@bbb.no. I will provide more info as soon as I have time.

General information

The Norwegian rail network consists of the following lines:

On the long distance lines starting from Oslo, the general traffic pattern is this:
Trains start from every end of the lines at about the same time. There are in principle four trains per day:

At Oslo, the arriving morning express trains connect to the leaving afternoon express trains, the arriving afternoon express trains connect to the leaving night trains, and the arriving night trains to the leaving morning expresses.
At Trondheim, there is connection in such a way as to allow through travel from Oslo to Northern Norway (Bodoe) and the opposite direction.
In general, train and bus routes are well connected.
The lines near Oslo, Bergen, Stavanger and Trondheim are served by local trains running hourly schedules or even more often during daytime.

Which railway lines to see

Most of the countryside in Norway is quite scenic, as the country is sparsely populated and mountainous. Because of the difficult geography, train speeds are restricted. The traveling speed including all stops is between 70 and 80 km/h.

The line from Oslo to Bergen runs up to 1222 meters altitude. The mountain part of that line, located between Voss and Geilo, is equipped with lots of snow tunnels. Good mountain scenery is, however, visible on the eastern slope (east of Finse), and on the western slope (west of Upsete). A branch line starts at Myrdal (855 meters above sea level) and runs to Flaam at zero level. The gradient is 55 %o. This branch line runs down a valley everyone would consider impossible for a railway. During July and August, this line carries heavy tourist traffic. If you have time, you may leave the Oslo to Bergen train at Haugastoel, rent a bicycle, and cycle along the highest part of the railroad and then down to Flaam. Bicycle packages including the back transport for the bike are available. The bike road is the old construction road built about 1900 for transporting material to the railway construction camps. It is closed for cars. The bike trip can be done in 1 to 3 days. Accommodation is provided by hotels and mountain club cottages on the way.

Another scenic line is Dombaas to Aandalsnes. The line descends from about 600 meters to zero, and passes some of the steepest mountains in the country. During weekends in July, the Norwegian Railway Club usually operates a steam train on this route.

The line from Trondheim to Bodoe passes through mountainous areas at the Polar Circle. Otherwise if passes long stretches of forest and mountains without any population. It also winds along some fjords.

When you go north, place reservation is compulsory. If you dont have a reservation, the conductor will sell you a place.

On night trains, sleeping cars are available with one, two and three beds per compartment. On trains from Oslo to Stockholm and Oslo to Copenhagen, sleeping cars with in-built showers are available. When starting from a big city, you may check in starting at 21, ending when the train leaves, end you may sleep at the end station until 8. Breakfast can be ordered from the conductor and is served at the station restaurant or a hotel opposite the station.

Locomotives

Most lines south of Trondheim are electrified. There exist the following locomotive types:

Tickets

The Interrail and Eurail passes are valid in Norway.
Another offer is the Nordic Rail Pass (Nordturist med Tog), a three week ticket costing about US $ 250, valid in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland, as well as some ferry boats in between the countries. No restrictions apply to the age of the holder.
If you stay in Norway for a longer time, buy the customer card (Kundekort), which gives you 50% reduction on most trains, 30% for the most popular trains and days. The customer card costs about US $ 55.
Bed tickets for night trains start at 100 Norwegian kroner for a bed in a three bed compartment, and end at 500 for a single. Second class travel ticket comes in addition.
Special offers include a kind of APEX ticket (Joker) for unlimited one way travel on special days and trains.

Museum Trains

Steam trains are operated during the following times at the following lines: This list is not yet complete.
NORWEGIAN RAILWAY CLUB:
NJK
Boks 1492 Vika
0116 Oslo
phone 22 270010 fax 22 271600