The railway to Bergen

Hallingskeid station in 1909 (Anders Beer Wilse, Wikimedia Commons)

The railway journey between Oslo and Bergen can absolutely be recommended to all rail enthusiasts. In this article I will give a brief history about the Oslo-Bergen Line.

Rotative snowplough fighting its way across Hardangervidda on April 21st 1908. (Anders Beer Wilse, Wikimedia Commons)

Already in 1871, before Norway had a continuous rail network, the idea of a railway line between Oslo and Bergen was published. Plans to build a railway line across the mountains were proposed, but the plans had to go through a long and difficult political process.

A Swiss-built electric locomotive class El 18 with a passenger train at Finse. The hotel at Finse is very popular. It is possible to rent bicycles at Finse.

In 1875 the construction of a 106,7 km long narrow gauge railway between Bergen and Voss started. The railway was difficult to construct, and many accidents happende during the construction works. Many railway workers, also known as “rallare”, were killed or severely injuried in these accidents. The railway had 52 tunnels, and had 13 intermediate stations between Bergen and Voss. The gauge was 3 ft 6 in (1067 mm). There was no official opening of the railway, but the trains ran on July 11^th 1883. In 1883 the journey from Bergen to Voss took 4 ½ hours. The passenger trains had 2^nd and 3^rd class compartments, and the 2^nd class fares were the double of the 3^rd class fares. 

Trengereid station 1892. (Aksel Theodor Lindahl, Wikimedia Commons)

On March 1^st 1894, after a long political process, the Norwegian Parliament decided to build a railway line from Voss to Kristiania (Oslo from 1925). Several routes had been proposed, but finally the route across the mountains via Finse to Geilo and through the valley Hallingdal to Hønefoss and Roa was chosen. At Roa the Bergen line should meet the railway line between Oslo and Gjøvik. The construction of the line was difficult, specially the section across the mountains. Several tunnels had to be constructed. The Gravhals Tunnel between Myrdal and Upsete is 5311 metres long, and until 1964 this was the longest tunnel on the line.  The railway line between Bergen and Voss had to be converted to standard gauge. The convertion was expensive and difficult, but the convertion to standard gauge was carried out without interruption of the traffic on the line.

A journey on the Norwegian-sibirian Railway. Charicature from the magazine "Vikingen" 1894, after the decition of building the Bergen line.

On the Norwegian mountains there are lots of snow in the winter. Because of this, the construction work carried out by “rallare”, the railway workers, had to be done during the summers. At Finse there was built a large depot for the rotative snowploughs used to keep the railway line open during the winter. At Finse, 1222 metres above Sea level, there was built a hotel for the tourists. In June 1908 the line was completed across the mountains. The section between Gulsvik and Hønefoss, including the Haversting Tunnel, was not ready yet. On November 27^th the railway line was officially opened by HM King Haakon VII, and the trains could run directly between Oslo and Bergen. The day train from Oslo and Bergen got No. 601, and the day train in the opposite direction got No. 602. After some years night trains started to run between the two cities.

Mjølfjell station in 1909. (Anders Beer Wilse, Wikimedia Commons)

Until 1980 Oslo had two mainline termini, Oslo East and Oslo West. Oslo East was located where Oslo Central Station is today. All trains to and from Bergen departed and terminated at Oslo East. The trains running between Oslo and Bergen were very popular, and these trains were the first Norwegian trains with dining cars. during the summer of 1920 the night trains had direct coaches between Bergen and Stockholm once a week. New locomotives were ordered for the passenger trains. The locomotives, class 31b, pulled the passenger trains day and night on the Bergen line until diesel locomotives took over in the late 1950’s. In 1934 the railway branch line between Voss and Granvin opened. This branch line was electrified. At the same time work was started to construct the famous Flåm line between Myrdal and Flåm. This line opened in 1941.

A train leaves Haugastøl in 1909. (Anders Beer Wilse, Wikimedia Commons)

Between Bergen and Voss there were suburban trains running and serving intermediate stations. Some of these trains continued to Arna and Garnes. Some of these trains were operated by steam, but some railcars fitted with petrol engines were set into service between Bergen and Nesttun. 

Bergen station 1913-1917. (Knud Knudsen, Wikimedia Commons)

Second World War

On April 9^th 1940 Norway was invaded by Hitler’s armed forces. There were several battles along the railway line between Bergen and Voss, and the traffic on the line was interrupted for more than a month. The railway line across Roa to Hønefoss was not electrified yet, and because of the war there was lack of coal. When the line was re-opened, the trains ran from Oslo West via Drammen and Hokksund to Hønefoss. The trains could be hauled by electric locomotives between Oslo West and Hokksund, and a huge amount of coal could be saved. From 1942 all people traveling more than 30 km needed a travel permit from the police to buy tickets. During the war the travel permits became more difficult to obtain. Norwegian rail staff were very helpful bringing messages for the resistance and illegal newspapers by the trains. In some cases they could help refugees to get to the Swedish Border so they could flee to non-occupied Sweden. Other people were helped to get westwards to join fishing boats to sail to Shetland or the Orkney Islands.

On February 28th 1944 a tragic disaster occured at Breifoss west of Geilo. An eastbound freight train with tank cars containing petrol collided with the westbound night train. 25 Norwegians were killed. There were several German soldiers on board the night train, but the number of the German soldiers killed is unknown. The reason for the disaster was brake failure on the freight train due to lack of maintenance on the brake system.

Steam locomotive class 31b, specially built for the passenger trains on the Bergen line, preserved at the Norwegian Railway Museum at Hamar.

In 1941 the electrification of the famous Flåm railway between Myrdal and Flåm was completed. During the winter 1944-45 the travel permits became very difficult to obtain. There was not even possible to obtain travel permits for traveling to weddings or funerals. On May 8^th 1945 Norway was liberated, but it took several years for the Norwegian railways to recover. Several of Norwegian railwaymen were sent to Nazi consentration camps like Sachsenhausen, were some of them died.  After the war the trains to and from Bergen ran to and from Oslo East station again. 

The first Norwegian mainline diesel locomotive was tested on the Bergen line in 1942. It was no success. (Anders Beer Wilse, Wikimedia Commons)

Electrification

In 1954 the line between Bergen and Voss was electrified. A couple of years later the steam locomotive hauling the mainline trains were replaced with diesel locomotives class Di3. Some diesel railcar sets class 88 were also used on the Bergen line. The electrification of the line was completed in 1964. At the same year the tunnel between Bergen and Arna was opened. There was a discussion about the future of the line via Nesttun. There were suburban trains running between Bergen and Nesttun, and this rail service continued until the closure of the line in 1965. The railway line between Garnes and Midttun is now a heritage railway. 

Steam-driven rotative snowplough No. 4 is preserved at the Rallar Museum at Finse.

On May 16th 1993 the 10,3 km long Finse Tunnel westwards from Finse was officially opened by HM King Harald V. Today Finse has no longer a depot for the rotative snowploughs. The shed is now a museum dedicated to rallare, the railway workers who built the line. The word “rallare” was originally a Swedish word, because many Swedes came over from Sweden to get work on Norwegian railways. The word “rallare” was also adopted by the Norwegian language. The labuor was hard, and this formed a solidarity amongst the workers. They lent each other money, clothes or tobacco, and they always expected to get it back. Many rallare made songs about the work and the hard life, and many of these songs still exist today. Some of them have even been recorded. At the museum two of the rotative snowploughs can be seen. One of them is steam operated. The museum also has a great collection of tools and equipment used for the construction and the maintenance work on the line. There is no road connection to Finse, so the only way to get there is by train or bicycle. 

Myrdal station July 19th 1942. (Anders Beer Wilse, Wikimedia Commons)

Today the railway journey takes approximately 6 ½ to 7 ½ hours. The day trains no. 601 and no. 602 still run between Oslo and Bergen as they have done for more than 100 years.