The Opera Tunnel () is a

motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

tunnel A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...

system under

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 ...

city center between

Filipstad Filipstad is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Filipstad Municipality, Värmland County, Sweden, with 10,644 inhabitants in 2019. Filipstad was granted city privileges in 1611 by Charles IX of Sweden, who named it after his son Ch ...

in the west and Ryen in the east. The tunnel consists of four parts built at different times. From west to east are the

Festning Tunnel The Festning Tunnel () is a motorway tunnel on European Route E18 in the city center of Oslo, Norway. The tunnel has two tubes, with three lanes in each. It runs from Bjørvika, under Akershus Fortress, The City Hall Square and Vika to Filipstad ...

and

Bjørvika Tunnel The Bjørvika Tunnel () is a motorway immersed tunnel on European Route E18 in the city center of Oslo, Norway. The tunnel has two bores, with three lanes in each. In the west, it connects to the Festning Tunnel at Akershus Fortress and runs und ...

, which are part of

European route E18 European route E18 runs between Craigavon, County Armagh, Craigavon in Northern Ireland and Saint Petersburg in Russia, passing through Scotland, England, Norway, Sweden and Finland. It is about in length. Although the designation implies the ...

, and the Ekeberg Tunnel and Svartdal Tunnel, which make up a branch of

European Route E6 European route E6 (, , or simply E6) is the main north–south thoroughfare through Norway as well as the west coast of Sweden. It is long and runs from the southern tip of Sweden at Trelleborg, into Norway and through almost all of the countr ...

. Between the Bjørvika Tunnel and Ekeberg Tunnel is a long stretch in the open. The signposted length is and the tunnels have a combined length of .

Opening of the tunnel

The tunnel was opened on 20 September 2010 when the Bjørvika Tunnel was opened and all of the tunnels were combined into the Opera Tunnel complex. *

opened in 1990. * Ekeberg Tunnel opened in 1995. * Svartdal Tunnel opened in 2000. *

/the Opera Tunnel were officially 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 ...

17 September 2010. The name Opera Tunnel was chosen by a poll of the readers of the newspaper ''Aften''.

References

{{Reflist Tunnels completed in 2010 Subsea tunnels in Norway Fjord City Road tunnels in Oslo European route E18 in Norway European route E6 in Norway 2010 establishments in Norway