Myrdal Station () is a mountain railway station and junction, located in

Aurland Aurland () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in the Counties of Norway, county of Vestland, Norway. It is located on the south side of the Sognefjorden in the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Sogn. The administrativ ...

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 ...

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 ...

. It serves as an important

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 ...

, connecting 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 ...

to the

Flåm Line The Flåm Line () is a long railway line between Myrdal and Flåm in Aurland Municipality, in Vestland county, Norway. A branch line of the Bergen Line, it runs through the valley of Flåmsdalen and connects the mainline with Sognefjord. The li ...

local railway. The Bergen Line connects Norway's two largest cities: Oslo and Bergen. Myrdal Station is the upper terminal of the

local railway, which ascends from the valley floor of the

Sognefjord The Sognefjord or Sognefjorden (, ), nicknamed the King of the Fjords (), is the list of Norwegian fjords, longest and deepest fjord in Norway. Located in Vestland county in Western Norway, it stretches inland from the ocean to the small village ...

to the mountain-top junction, providing a vital public transport link, but deriving a majority of its passengers through tourism. Most passengers using Myrdal station are changing trains between the two lines.

Location

Myrdal station is located about south of the village of

Flåm Flåm () is a village in the Flåmsdalen valley which is located at the inner end of the Aurlandsfjorden, a branch of Sognefjorden. The village is located in Aurland Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. In 2014 its inhabitants numbered 350. ...

and about south of

Aurlandsvangen Aurlandsvangen () is the administrative center of Aurland Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The village is located on the east side of the Aurlandsfjorden (a branch of the main Sognefjorden) where the Aurlandselvi river flows into the fjor ...

. There is no road connection to Myrdal although there are some cottages and hotels in the area, served by Myrdal Station, and the nearby Vatnahalsen Station, about a kilometer before Myrdal, and 50 metres lower towards mean sea level. The station is located between two tunnels on the Bergen Line: the Gravahals Tunnel to the west and the Vatnahalsen Tunnel to the east. Completion of the long Gravahals Tunnel was done in 1905. The station is above mean sea level.

Facilities

The station has three platforms. Platform 1 is the principal platform on the mainline, and platform 2 is the alternative mainline platform located on the

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 ...

. The non-consecutively numbered platform 11 is the platform used by local trains to and from Flåm. As the mainline is single track, the passing loop allows regional trains to cross with freight services, and occasionally with other passenger trains. A large cafeteria and gift shop provides refreshment and shelter, and there are waiting rooms and lavatories. There are freight sidings located at Myrdal.

History

The station opened in 1908. On 17 January 1923, the station restaurant was taken over by

Norsk Spisevognselskap Norsk Spisevognselskap A/S, often abbreviated NSS or shortened to Spisevognselskapet (Norwegian language, Norwegian for "The Dining Car Company"), was a Norway, Norwegian government-owned corporation, state enterprise which operated restaurant c ...

. As the facilities were too small, the restaurant was later moved to another, larger building.

References

{{end Railway stations on Bergensbanen Railway stations on the Flåm Line Railway stations in Aurland Railway stations in Norway opened in 1908