Lysaker Station () is a

railway station 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 ...

on the

Drammen Line The Drammen Line () is a railway line between Oslo and Drammen, Norway, which was opened on 7 October 1872. It serves all trains west of Oslo Central Station and is owned by Bane NOR. The line opened as a narrow gauge railway, and rebuilt to s ...

and

Asker Line The Asker Line () is a railway line between Asker and Lysaker in Norway. The line runs along the same corridor as the Drammen Line, offering increased capacity, speed and regularity on the rail network west of Oslo. The first part opened in ...

situated at

Lysaker Lysaker is an area in Bærum Municipality, Akershus County, Norway. Lysaker is the easternmost part of Bærum and borders Oslo proper. Lysaker was initially a farming community, later becoming a residential area. Today it is primarily known as ...

Bærum Bærum () is a list of municipalities of Norway, municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Akershus County, Norway. It forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a populatio ...

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 ...

. Located from

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 ...

, Lysaker is served by a mix of Vy express, regional and

Oslo Commuter Rail Oslo Commuter Rail () is a commuter rail centered in Oslo, Norway, connecting the capital to six counties of Norway, counties in Eastern Norway. The system is operated by Vy (formerly NSB) and its subsidiary Vy Gjøvikbanen, using NSB Class 69, C ...

trains, as well as

Flytoget Flytoget (') is a high-speed rail, high-speed airport rail link, airport railway service connecting Oslo Airport, Gardermoen, Oslo Airport to Oslo Central Station. Run by Flytoget AS (formerly NSB Gardermobanen AS), it operates on the high-speed ...

. The station is elevated and features two

island platform An island platform (also center platform (American English) or centre platform (British English)) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway inte ...

s with four tracks. It's the terminus of the

. Lysaker was one of two original Drammen Line station in Bærum, opening on 7 October 1872. The original station building, designed by

Georg Andreas Bull Georg Andreas Bull (26 March 1829 – 1 February 1917) was a Norwegian architect and chief building inspector in Oslo, Christiania (now Oslo) for forty years. He was among the major architects in the country, and performed surveying studies and ...

, burned down in 1914 and was replaced by a new station Adalbert Kielland. In the following years the elevated and double-track layout was introduced. This station arrangement was demolished in 1987 to make way for a station designed by

Arne Henriksen Arne Henriksen (born 26 February 1944) is a Norwegian architect who has designed many Norwegian railway stations. He worked at NSB Arkitektkontor from 1975 til 1989, and thereafter in private practice. He is a three-time winner of the Houen Fund ...

. Traditionally only served by commuter trains, the station was branded as Lysaker/Fornebu from 1990 to 2000 because of its vicinity to

Oslo Airport, Fornebu Oslo Airport, Fornebu was the primary international airport serving Oslo and Eastern Norway from 1 June 1939 to 7 October 1998. It was then replaced by Oslo Airport, Gardermoen, and the area has since been redeveloped. The airport was located at ...

. The station was rebuilt again from 2006 to 2009 in which it was expanded from two to four tracks. It became connected to the Asker Line in 2011.

History

Bull's station

Proposals for a railway between

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

Drammen Drammen () is a city and municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the south-eastern and most populated part of Norway. Drammen municipality also includes smaller towns and villages such ...

were launched in 1864 and planning commenced two years later. This involved deciding upon the location of the stations. Although the idea of placing one at the municipal centre of

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 ...

was not met with protest, there was not consensus regarding the other and both Østre

Stabekk Stabekk is a suburban centre in the municipality of Bærum, Norway, west of Oslo. It is predominantly a residential area, with many residents commuting to Oslo. As of 2005 the population was 6,261. Bærum has the highest income per capita and the hi ...

and Lysaker were proposed. The latter was selected by the municipal council because of its vicinity to the

Oslofjord The Oslofjord (, ; ) is an inlet in southeastern Norway. The fjord begins at the small village of Bonn in Frogn, Frogn Municipality and stretching northwards to the city of Oslo, and then curving to the east and then south again. It then flows s ...

and being located next to a waterfall. The original station building at Lysaker was designed by

.Hartmann: 29 Lysaker Station and the Drammen Line opened on 7 October 1872.Bjerke & Holom: 192 It had an immediate impact on the surrounding area, stimulating both commerce and construction of private dwellings.

Kielland's station

Bull's station building burned down in 1914 and was replaced two year later by a new.Bjerke & Holom: 193 By then it was decided that the line past Lysaker would be upgraded and Lysaker became the first of many stations on the line to be designed as an elevated station. The tracks were thereby placed elevated with an island platform with the station on the side, as the first station in Norway designed for double-track operation. The new station was designed in

Baroque Revival The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from the early 17th century until the 1750s. It followed Renaissance art and Mannerism and preceded the Rococo (in ...

by Adalbert Kielland at

NSB Arkitektkontor NSB may refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * Natural Snow Buildings, a French experimental music duo * Nihilist Spasm Band, Canadian free improvisation musical collective *Nu skool breaks, a subgenre of breakbeat music originating during the ...

. One year later the wooden bridge over

Lysakerelven Lysakerelven (also known as Lysakerelva, ) is a river in Norway that forms the boundary between the municipalities of the capital city of Oslo and Bærum. The river by this name has its source in Bogstadvannet, though the source is further up, a ...

was replaced by a stone bridge. Lysaker aerial 1937

The line from Sandvika to Oslo was substantially upgraded between 1917 and 1922. From 27 February 1917 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 ...

was built at Lysaker and standard gauge traffic was carried out on the northern track. A southern track was then built, which was used by narrow gauge trains. However, both were

dual gauge Dual gauge railroad track has three or four rails, allowing vehicles of two track gauges to run on it. Signalling and sidings are more expensive to install on dual gauge tracks than on two single gauge tracks. Dual gauge is used when there i ...

. All–standard gauge operations commenced on 9 February 1920, although the dual gauge was not removed until 1922. Electric traction started operation on 30 August 1922.Bjerke & Holom: 196 An

interlocking In railway signalling, an interlocking is an arrangement of signal apparatus that prevents conflicting movements through an arrangement of tracks such as junctions or crossings. In North America, a set of signalling appliances and tracks inte ...

system was installed on 29 July 1924. From 1922 a half-hour

headway Headway is the distance or duration between vehicles in a transit system. The ''minimum headway'' is the shortest such distance or time achievable by a system without a reduction in the speed of vehicles. The precise definition varies depending on ...

was introduced on the local trains between Sandvika and

Oslo West Station 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 ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Lysaker Station was hit by five sabotage missions by the

Norwegian resistance movement The Norwegian resistance (Norwegian language, Norwegian: ''Motstandsbevegelsen'') to the German occupation of Norway, occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany began after Operation Weserübung in 1940 and ended in 1945. It took several forms: *As ...

, in which tanks of gasoline, attached or not attached to railroad cars, were blown up. The sabotages took place on 16 December 1944 and 9, 10, 12 and 13 January 1945. On 13 January a tanker truck was attacked as well. There were three additional attacks on Lysaker in 1944 and 1945, two of them against factories and workshops. Also, the Lysaker Bridge sabotage took place in the immediate vicinity of the station.

Henriksen's station

A full upgrade of the station was carried out in 1987. A main incentive was that the

Norwegian Public Roads Administration The Norwegian Public Roads Administration () is a Norwegian government agency responsible for national and county public roads in Norway. This includes planning, construction and operation of the national and county road networks, driver trainin ...

wanted the station building removed to make room for a new interchange towards

Jar A jar is a rigid, cylindrical or slightly conical container, typically made of glass, ceramic, or plastic, with a wide mouth or opening that can be closed with a lid, screw cap, lug cap, cork stopper, roll-on cap, crimp-on cap, press-on ca ...

. Therefore, Kielland's station building was demolished in 1987. The new station building, designed by NSB Arkitektkontor and Arne Henriksen, was built in glass and concrete with a dominant portal presenting the staircases. On the island platform a new ticket booth was built in steel and glass. The platform was covered by a roof of laminated wood and plywood held up by galvanized steel columns. The roof followed the shape of the curved platform and featured a gable. Lysaker bru IMG 0070 rk 163249

Lysaker Station was the closest railway station to

. From 27 May 1990,

Scandinavian Airlines System The Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS), commonly known as Scandinavian Airlines, is the Flag carrier, national airline of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It is part of SAS Group and is headquartered in Solna Municipality, Solna, Sweden. Including ...

and 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 ...

started a cooperation to better the connection between rail and airline services. The project included the station being branded as Lysaker/Fornebu and dedicated shuttle buses running from the station to the airport terminal. NSB changed their scheduled so all InterCity Express and long-distance trains on the Drammen Line started stopping at Lysaker. Lysaker Station received centralized traffic control on 3 December 1992 and after that it has only been staffed for ticket sales. The Airport Express Train stated calling at Lysaker Station on 8 October 1998, the same day that Oslo Airport, Fornebu was closed. The Lysaker/Fornebu name was in use until 9 January 2000. By then the amount of traffic to Lysaker was so substantial, even without the airport, that NSB continues to stop its express trains at Lysaker.

Snøhetta's station

Proposals for an upgrade of the Drammen Line to accommodate more trains started in 1991. This resulted in the

, which was built in two steps between 2005 and 2011. Ahead of the section stage, consisting of the

Bærum Tunnel The Bærum Tunnel () is a long double track railway tunnel in Bærum, Norway. Running between Marstranderveien and Engervannet, it makes up most of the long section of the Asker Line between Lysaker Station and Sandvika Station, which was tak ...

which would allow trains to run directly from Lysaker to Sandvika, Lysaker Station received a full modernization. The upgrades consisted of demolishing the existing station and building a new station with two island platforms.

Snøhetta Snøhetta is the highest mountain in the Dovrefjell mountain range in Norway. At , it is the highest mountain in Norway outside the Jotunheimen range, making it the 24th highest peak in Norway, based on a topographic prominence cutoff. At , i ...

won the

architecture competition An architectural competition is a type of design competition, in which an entity that intends to build new work, or is just seeking ideas, invites architects to submit design proposals. The winning scheme is usually chosen by an independent panel ...

for the station. The upgrades allowed several advantages: seven minutes shorter travel time west of Oslo combined with better regularity, trains previously turning at

Skøyen Station Skøyen Station () is a railway station located at Skøyen in Oslo, Norway. It is situated on the Drammen Line, from Oslo Central Station. It is served by regional trains and the Oslo Commuter Rail, operated by Vy, as well as by the Airport E ...

could instead turn at Lysaker and a near doubling of the number of trains running through the West Corridor, allowing eleven more trains per hour. The zoning plan for the station was passed in 1998 and demands for accessibility were laid down in 2003, causing a contrast between these goals and the curved platforms. This would particularly be a challenge for the Class 70 trains, which would have a wide gap. Part of the dispute centered on the Vollsveien Bridge, whether or not it had a heritage status and whether or not its demolition would allow for a straight station. Minister of Transport and Communication

Torild Skogsholm Torhild Skogsholm (born 18 October 1959, in Bodø) is a Norwegian politician (Liberal Party).Torild Skogsholm
in

Steinar Killi Steinar Killi (born 1941) is a Norwegian civil servant who has had various leading positions within transportation in government agencies and is director of the Norwegian National Rail Administration. He graduated in economics from the University ...

. Her successor,

Liv Signe Navarsete Liv Signe Navarsete (born 23 October 1958 in Sogndal Municipality) is a Norwegian politician from the Centre Party. She has served as county governor of Vestland county since 2022. She previously served as Minister of Local Government from 2009 ...

, announced in July 2006 that the construction would continue following the curved design, though minor functional changes would be made. During the late 1970s there arose plans to build a branch line from the Drammen Line to Oslo Airport, Fornebu. Initial plans called for it to split from the Drammen Line some east of Lysaker and then pass under Lysaker Station. It would then continue to the airport, but without the possibility for stopping at Lysaker. Later the plans were reformulated and for a while a

people mover A people mover or automated people mover (APM) is a type of small-scale automated guideway transit system. The term is generally used only to describe systems serving relatively small areas such as airports, downtown districts or theme parks ...

was a preferred mode. By 2007

Ruter Ruter AS is the public transport authority for Oslo and Akershus counties in Norway. Formally a limited company – 60% of its shares are owned by the Oslo county municipality and 40% by that of Akershus – it is responsible for the administrat ...

had changed their opinion in the matter and instead wanted to operate a

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

to Fornebu. The Rail Administration therefore decided to remove the station hall for a people mover from the Lysaker Station plans. Because the people mover was canceled after construction of the station had started, the National Rail Administration has claimed the county for NOK 31 million to cover losses incurred. The work stretched over a segment of of line. Construction started in February 2006 with work on expanding Granfoss Bridge, both lengthening it and building one parallel to it to allow four tracks. From May work commenced on the first new platform, which was completed in February 2007 and all traffic moved to the new tracks and platform. Then the old platform was demolished and a second new platform built, which was completed in 2009. The work took 776,000 man-hours and cost NOK 1.2 billion. The station was brought into use on 3 August 2009, being officially opened on 1 September 2009. The Bærum Tunnel opened on 26 August 2011. To allow more trains to terminate at Lysaker, a suitable place to turn trains needed to be built.

Høvik Station Høvik Station () is a railway station of the Drammen Line situated at Høvik in Bærum, Norway. Located from Oslo Central Station, it is served by line L1 of the Oslo Commuter Rail. It is located in a residential area and has four regular hourl ...

was chosen and received three new tracks. With its completion on 14 December 2014 almost all trains previously terminating at Skøyen were extended to Lysaker.

Facilities

Lysaker Station is situated on the Drammen Line, from

at an elevation of

above mean sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

. Lysaker is an elevated station with two island platforms and four tracks. To the east of the station the line runs across a bridge over

before the four tracks merge to two. West of the station the Drammen Line splits, with two tracks becoming the Asker Line and running into the Bærum Tunnel. Lysaker stasjon - 2010-05-02 at 13-36-04

Lysaker stasjon - 2010-05-02 at 13-36-04

The station is unstaffed, but features

ticket machine A ticket machine, also known as a ticket vending machine (TVM), is a vending machine that produces paper or electronic tickets, or recharges a stored-value card or smart card or the user's mobile wallet, typically on a smartphone. For instance, ...

s, a waiting room, kiosk and

taxicab stand A taxicab stand (also called taxi rank, cab stand, taxi stand, cab rank, or hack stand) is a queue area on a street or on private property where taxicabs line up to wait for passengers. Operation Stands are normally located at high-traffic l ...

. There is parking nearby in a parking house. The bus station features two sections, one for local buses and one for regional buses. Between them they have six stops. However, because of the design of European Road E18, the station can only serve buses on the E18 which runs westwards—eastbound buses are served by a bus stop on the other side of the freeway. Ownership and operation of the bus terminal is carried out by

Akershus Kollektivterminaler Akershus Kollektivterminaler FKF is a county agency responsible for owning and operating major bus terminals in Akershus, Norway. It is a subsidiary of Akershus County Municipality, and operates 19 bus terminals, in addition to some adjacent pa ...

. Lysaker is dominated by offices and more than ninety percent of the station's patronage is related to work. As of 2009 there were 25,000 jobs within of the station and the area is among the fastest growing office areas in Greater Oslo. Lysaker remains the train station serving

Fornebu Fornebu (local form ''Fornebo'') is a peninsular area in the suburban municipality of Bærum in Norway, bordering western parts of Oslo. Oslo Airport, Fornebu (FBU) served as the main airport for Oslo and the country since before World War II and ...

, via bus shuttles, where there are another 12,000 jobs.

Service

Vy serves Lysaker station both with

trains as well as regional trains. Up to five daily express trains along the

Sørlandet Line The Sørlandet Line () is a railway line between Drammen (though this is connected to Oslo by means of the Drammen Line) via Kristiansand to Stavanger. The line is long between Oslo and Stavanger. History The railway was constructed in several ...

and the stop at Lysaker. It also serves an hourly headway of the R10 regional trains from the

and

Dovre Line The Dovre Line () is a Norwegian railway line with three slightly different lines which all lead to the historic city of Trondheim (city), Trondheim. Definition *Dovre Line is the main line between Eidsvoll Station and Trondheim Station, used b ...

. There are five hourly trains heading to Asker via the Asker Line, including the L12, L13 and L14. Westwards L12 runs to

Kongsberg Kongsberg () is a historical mining town and municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. The city is located on the river Numedalslågen at the entrance to the valley of Numedal. Kongsberg has been a centre of silver mining, arms production and fo ...

while they eastwards serve the

Gardermoen Line The Gardermoen Line () is a high-speed railway line between Oslo and Eidsvoll, Norway, running past Lillestrøm and Oslo Airport, Gardermoen. The line is long and replaced the older Hoved Line as the main line north-east of Oslo. The older ...

Trunk Line In telecommunications, trunking is a technology for providing network access to multiple clients simultaneously by sharing a set of circuits, carriers, channels, or frequencies, instead of providing individual circuits or channels for each clie ...

and the

Kongsvinger Line The Kongsvinger Line () is a railway line between the towns of Lillestrøm and Kongsvinger in Norway and onwards to Charlottenberg in Sweden. The railway was opened on 3 October 1862 and is Norway's second standard gauge line (after the Hoved ...

. L1, a full-stop service on the Trunk- and Drammen Line, runs every thirty minutes. A rush-hour service line L2x, serving the

Østfold Line The Østfold Line () is a railway line which runs from Oslo through the western parts of Follo, Norway, Follo and Østfold to Kornsjø in Norway. It continues through Sweden as the Norway/Vänern Line. The northern half is double track and the en ...

, also serves Lysaker. The

Airport Express Train An airport rail link is a service providing passenger rail transport between an airport and a nearby city. Direct links operate straight from the airport terminal to the city, while other links require an intermediate use of a people mover or ...

runs five times an hour to

Oslo Airport, Gardermoen Oslo Airport () , alternatively referred to as Oslo Gardermoen Airport or simply Gardermoen, is an international airport serving Oslo, the capital and most populous city of Norway. The airport is the second largest in Scandinavia and the Nord ...

. Ruter uses Lysaker Station as the main bus terminal for Lysaker. Lysaker Station is in fare zone 1 and is served by bus routes 23, 31, 31E, 32, 81, 130, 140, 140E, 150, 150E, 160, 160E, 250, 250E, 255E, 265E. There are about 1,400 daily buses that call at Lysaker. Ruter's B11 ferry to

Nesoddtangen Nesoddtangen is a village and the administrative centre of the municipality of Nesodden in Akershus, Norway. Nesoddtangen is located on the tip of the peninsula between the inner Oslofjord (''Indre Oslofjord'') and its arm Bunnefjorden. It is sit ...

runs from a quay in the vicinity of the station.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * {{Use dmy dates, date=December 2023 Railway stations in Bærum Railway stations on the Drammen Line Railway stations on the Asker Line Railway stations in Norway opened in 1872 Airport railway stations in Norway Flytoget Oslo Airport, Fornebu Bus stations in Norway