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The Finse Tunnel () is a
railway tunnel Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
west of the village of Finse in
Eidfjord Municipality Eidfjord is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The municipality is located in the traditional district of Hardanger. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Eidfjord, where the majority of the municipal populatio ...
in
Vestland Vestland is a Counties of Norway, county in Norway. The county is located in Western Norway, and its administrative centre is Bergen, where the executive and political leadership is based. The County governor (Norway), County Governor is based in ...
county,
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
. The tunnel is part of the
Bergen Line The Bergen Line, or the Bergen Railway ( or ), is a long scenic overlook, scenic standard gauge railway line between Bergen and Hønefoss, Norway. The name is often applied to the entire route from Bergen to Oslo, including the Randsfjord Line ...
between the cities of
Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...
and
Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...
. It is the longest tunnel on the line, and the third longest railway tunnel in the kingdom. Inside the tunnel, at elevation, is the highest point on the Norwegian railway network. The tunnel was constructed to increase the regularity of the line past the Finse peak which was often blocked by snow. Planning started during the 1980s to remove this section that was regularly snowed down, and at the same time reduce the length and increase the speed of the railway. Construction started in 1990, and it was opened by
King Harald V Harald V (, ; born 21 February 1937) has been King of Norway since 1991. A member of the House of Glücksburg, Harald was the third child and only son of King Olav V of Norway and Princess Märtha of Sweden. He was second in the line of succ ...
on 16 May 1993. Following the construction of the tunnel, of railway around this area was also rebuilt to achieve higher train speeds, a shorter overall distance, and to maximize the natural protection from the weather. This was built in five stages, opening between 1995 and 1998.


History

When the Bergen Line opened in 1909, it was the first railway to connect Eastern and Western Norway. The railway had faced many engineering challenges during construction, and after it opened, winter proved to be a fierce enemy to holding the railway open. Especially the parts around Finse proved extremely difficult to manage. Despite the use of single-locomotive
rotary snowplow A rotary snowplow (American English) or rotary snowplough is a piece of Rail transport, railroad snow removal equipment with a large circular set of blades on its front end that rotate to cut through the snow on the track ahead of it. It was devel ...
s running continually through the day, the track was snowed out frequently, and on a few occasions days passed before the track could be cleared.


Launch of an idea

To solve this challenge, the
Norwegian State Railways Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *Norwegian language, including the two ...
(NSB) had built snow sheds along the track, especially on the section between Finse Station and Hallingskeid Station. Of the line between the two stations, was under snow sheds and was in tunnel. Along this part of the line was the highest point of the railways, at a point named Taugevatn. During the 1980s, the repeated operational breaks and high costs related to the Bergen Line past Finse was a constant problem for NSB and in 1983 the director, Robert Nordén launched the idea of a tunnel through the mountain. He was backed by the engineering staff in NSB, who felt that a tunnel would be a simple way of solving many of the challenges relating to the railway operations. Estimates calculated the cost of the investment at , including the upgrade of part of the line east of Finse Station. In addition to the argument for better regularity on the Bergen Line, NSB pointed out that the cost structure of railway operations had changed, making it relatively more expensive to operate snow sheds, that required rebuilding about every twenty years, than to build a tunnel, that would be excavated using heavy and automated machinery. NSB launched the idea to start construction after
Oslo Central Station Oslo Central Station (, abbreviated ) is the main railway station in Oslo, and the largest railway station within the entire Norwegian railway system. It connects with Jernbanetorget station, which is served by trams and the Oslo Metro. It's ...
was scheduled for completion in 1989. It was decided to build the new line on the east side of Finse that would both permit higher speeds—allowing through speeds of —and at the same time move the line to a more protected right-of-way, to take advantage of natural protection against the weather. In total the two proposals would mean that of railway would be rebuilt. The higher speed limit was seen as part of a long-term plan to shorten down travel time on the Bergen Line—a plan that would include shortening the line with Ringerike Line from
Hønefoss __NOTOC__ Hønefoss is a town and the administrative center of the municipality of Ringerike in Buskerud county, Norway. Hønefoss is an industrial center of inner Østlandet, containing several factories and other industry. As of 1 January 2022 ...
to
Sandvika Sandvika () is the administrative centre of the municipality of Bærum in Norway. It was declared a List of cities in Norway, city by the municipal council (Norway), municipal council in Bærum on 4 June 2003. Sandvika is situated approximately ...
, as well as gradual upgrades of the line. The plans were taken up to political level in 1987, when they were launched by the
Standing Committee on Transport and Communications The Standing Committee on Transport and Communications () is a standing committee of the Parliament of Norway. It is responsible for policies relating to transport, postal services, telecommunications, electronic communication Telecommunicat ...
of the
Norwegian Parliament The Storting ( ; ) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years based on party-list proportional represe ...
. Due to the possibility of covering the investment costs through savings on operations, the committee asked the Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications to prioritize the tunnel on their budget proposals. At the political level, the Finse Tunnel had to compete with upgrades in
Eastern Norway Eastern Norway (, ) is the geographical region of the south-eastern part of Norway. It consists of the counties Oslo, Akershus, Vestfold, Østfold, Buskerud, Telemark, and Innlandet. Eastern Norway is by far the most populous region of Norw ...
, where NSB was planning to launch the
InterCity Express Intercity Express (commonly known as ICE () and running under this category) is a high-speed rail system in Germany. It also serves destinations in Austria, France, Belgium, Switzerland and the Netherlands as part of cross-border services. It ...
service. The government chose to try to delay the decision to build the Finse Tunnel until after 1990 so it could be considered along with other railway projects in a central plan. Calculations showed a benefit-cost ratio of 1.93, making it a highly profitable venture for the government. The Minister of Transport and Communications,
Kjell Borgen Kjell Borgen (21 October 1939 – 22 August 1996) was a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. He served as Minister of Transport and Communications from 1986 to 1988, Minister of Local Government from 1988 to 1989 and again from 1990 to 1 ...
, wanted to give priority to the new line from Ski to
Moss Mosses are small, non-vascular plant, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic phylum, division Bryophyta (, ) ''sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Wilhelm Philippe Schimper, Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryo ...
. It was not until after the 1989 election that Parliament managed to pass the necessary priorities to start construction, which started in 1990.


Construction

The Finse Tunnel was built along with two kilometres of extra line at-grade. Total costs were estimated at , and reduce the line length by and the time by 8–10 minutes. Construction started in 1990, and the tunnel was completed in 1992. The tunnel was not electrified before it was too late to continue construction for the winter. This, in addition to the lack of connection of the tunnel rail tracks to the main railway prior to winter made it impossible to use the tunnel in the 1992–93 winter season. In the tunnel there had to be a
passing loop A passing loop (UK usage) or passing siding (North America) (also called a crossing loop, crossing place, refuge loop or, colloquially, a hole) is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at or near a station, where trains o ...
, named Fagernut, to ensure even distances between passing loops along the line. There is also a short side track ending at a turntable, used when snowplows were unidirectional. On 16 May 1993 the tunnel was opened, costing in total . The snow clearance base at Finse Station was closed down after the tunnel was constructed. The second part of the construction project consisted of the line from Tunga to Finse, and was with the exception of one tunnel all at grade. The old line was built for speeds of , with the new line allowing speeds of . These sections were built in five stages, with the first completed in 1995, and the last in 1998. The total cost for this part of the line were .


Safety

A report from 2004 warned that the tunnel might be a potential fire hazard because of the difficulty in accessing the tunnel with rescue equipment. The Finse Tunnel, unlike most other tunnels on the line, does have some safety equipment such as communications systems, lighting, and emergency areas, but the report was critical of the ability to evacuate the tunnel. There is only of clearance on each side of the trains, and it would take between two and three hours to get fire fighters to the scene, since the tunnel is located in an area without roads. However, the probability of a fire occurring in the tunnel was considered very small.


References

{{Authority control Railway tunnels in Vestland Tunnels on the Bergen Line 1993 establishments in Norway Tunnels completed in 1993 Eidfjord