Rail transport in Norway
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The Norwegian railway system comprises 4,058 km of standard gauge (1.435m) track of which 2,513 km is electrified and 201 km double track. There are 696 tunnels and 2760 bridges.
Jernbaneverket is a state owned company which builds and maintains all railway tracks, while other companies operate them. These companies include: NSB, CargoNet AS, Flytoget, Ofotbanen
Formerly there have also been private railways, but all of these were either abandoned or overtaken by NSB/Jernbaneverket.
The line from Kirkenes to Bjørnevatn used to be the northernmost railway in the world, however it was closed down in 1997. Still, Narvik is one of the northernmost towns in the world to have a railway connection (Ofotbanen). It connects to Kiruna, Sweden, but not to Bodø, the northern terminus of the Norwegian railway network. Kiruna is, however, connected to the Swedish railway network, which again is connected to the Norwegian network at the Swedish station of Charlottenberg.
There are also several operational museum railways in Norway, including Krøderbanen, Setesdalsbanen, Urskog-Hølandsbanen, Thamshavnbanen, Rjukanbanen, Valdresbanen, Nesttun-Osbanen and Gamle Vossebanen. The Norwegian Railroad Museum is located in Hamar and includes exhibits of train hardware, related objects, as well as document and photography archives.
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Gauge
Norway was a pioneer of narrow gauge 3' 6" railways, including the Rørosbanen. This line however was upgraded to standard gauge (1435 mm) between 1917 and 1941.
Operational railways
- Hovedbanen (Oslo-Eidsvoll-Hamar) (opened 1854, to Hamar 1880)
- Kongsvingerbanen (Lillestrøm-Kongsvinger) (1862)
- Randsfjordbanen (Drammen-Hokksund-Hønefoss) (1868)
- Drammenbanen (Oslo-Drammen) (1872)
- Spikkestadbanen (Asker-Spikkestad) (1872, originally part of Drammensbanen)
- Rørosbanen (Hamar-Røros-Trondheim) (1877)
- Jærbanen (Stavanger-Egersund) (1878)
- Østfoldbanen
- Vestfoldbanen (Drammen-Larvik-Skien) (1882)
- Meråkerbanen (Trondheim-Storlien) (1882)
- Gjøvikbanen (Oslo-Gjøvik) (1900)
- Ofotbanen (Narvik-Riksgränsen-(Kiruna, Sweden)) (1902)
- Bergensbanen (Bergen-Voss-Hønefoss) (to Voss 1883, Hønefoss 1908)
- Arendalsbanen (Nelaug-Arendal) (1910)
- Bratsbergbanen (Skien-Notodden) (1917)
- Dovrebanen (Hamar-Lillehammer-Dombås-Trondheim) (1921)
- Raumabanen (Dombås-Åndalsnes) (1924)
- Sørlandsbanen (Hokksund-Kongsberg-Kristiansand-Stavanger) (to Kongsberg 1871, Kristiansand 1938, Stavanger 1944)
- Flåmsbana (Myrdal-Flåm) (1944)
- Nordlandsbanen (Trondheim-Bodø) (1962)
- Oslotunnelen (Skøyen-Oslo) (1980)
- Gardermobanen (Oslo-Gardermoen-Eidsvoll) (1998)
Abandoned railways
- Sulitjelmabanen (Finneid-Sulitjelma) (1892-1972)
- Nesttun-Osbanen (Nesttun-Os) (1894-1935)
- Setesdalsbanen (Kristiansand-Byglandsfjord) (1896-1962)
- Urskog-Hølandsbanen (Sørumsand-Skulerud) (1896-1960)
- Lillesand-Flaksvandbanen (Lillesand-Flaksvann) (1896-1953)
- Kirkenes-Bjørnevatnbanen (Kirkenes-Bjørnevatn) (1910-1997)
- Tønsberg-Eidsfossbanen (Tønsberg-Eidsfoss) (1901-1938)
- Holmestrand-Vittingfossbanen (Holmestrand-Vittingfoss) (1902-1938)
- Lierbanen (Lier-Svangstrand) (1904)
- Grimstadbanen (Grimstad-Rise) (1907-1961)
- Thamshavnbanen (Løkken-Thamshavn) (1908-1974)
- Flekkefjordbanen (Sira (Norway)-Flekkefjord) (1904-1990)
- Valdresbanen (Eina-Fagernes) (1906-1988)
- Rjukanbanen (Rjukan-Mæl) (1908-1991)
- Tinnosbanen (Tinnoset-Notodden) (1908-1990)
- Treungenbanen (Nelaug-Treungen) (1913-1967)
- Ålgårdbanen (Ganddal-Ålgård) (1924-1988)
- Sperillbanen (Hen-Sperillen) (1926-1957)
- Numedalsbanen (Kongsberg-Rødberg) (1927-1988)
- Kragerøbanen Neslandsvatn-Kragerø (1927-1988)
- Namsosbanen (Grong-Namsos) (1933)
- Hardangerbana (Voss-Granvin) (1935)