Bergen Line (Norway) and other Norwegian Railway news

[Metra Electric Rider]

So just came across a news story from Norway that the Bergin Line is closed until tomorrow due to snow (well, ok, an avalanche/drifts)!


https://www.nrk.no/nyheter/vaer-og-trafikk-i-norge-1.16898130

(my improved translation below of item in link from Norwegian Broadcasting story above)

Bergensbanen closed until Wednesday due to snowdrifts​

The Bergen Line is closed between Hallingskeid and Myrdal from Monday evening because of snow drifts. Bane Nor (railway company - Rail North more or less direct translation) says the line will be closed until 4:00 PM Wednesday.
– There will be an update at 4:00 PM on Wednesday. The weather has been bad up there, with heavy winds, which has hindered work, said spokesperson for Bane Nor, Mari Rjaanes.
They thought at first that the slide covered an area of around 20 meters, but it turned out to be about 50 meteres.

Photo of damaged snowshed from Aftenposten, Norway's paper of record:





https://www.aftenposten.no/norge/i/63K1eo/bergensbanen-stengt-etter-snoeras

 

[MARC Rider]

When I saw the subject line, I first thought that the Bergen Hudson NJT light rail in New Jersey had problems from the recent snowstorm, which was weird, because moat of the snow was further south in Virginia.

 

[west point]

Your translation almost perfect. Maybe this winter becomes just one snowstorm after another world wide..

 

[Just-Thinking-51]

Ouch.

Fix shed when it very windy,
Second remove snow from inside a shed, addition bonus is parts of the metal shed buried within the snow.

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

Update: Closed until 9:00 PM Friday - same link as above! Yoikes, that's a big bad snowfall!

And a new photo from NRK (Norsk Rikskringkasting - aka Norwegian Broadcasting), link below with a few more pics - the photos show what I'd call avalanches:

https://www.nrk.no/vestland/bergens...-med-seg-60-meter-av-skredoverbygg-1.17197331

 

[west point]

My translation program worked very well. Evidently an avalanche took out a steel avalanche shed. Was 50 meters wide.

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

I've been up there in winter - it's pretty wild. My dad and I skied up a valley just south/east of the station at Finse on the uphill sides of the tracks back in like '86.

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

So latest update: still not open. Was planned for 2:00 pm today but is now estimated for 20:00, aka 8 PM per NRK.

https://www.nrk.no/vestland/bergensbanen-fortsatt-stengt_-utsetter-apning--1.17202164

That's an estimated reopening time, but they are apparently planning on going with a normal schedule Sunday, so there is that.

 

[George Harris]

My translation program worked very well. Evidently an avalanche took out a steel avalanche shed. Was 50 meters wide.

Translation programs can give you hilarious results at times, particularly for technical documents where one of the languages involved is English. English is probably the most rule-free language on the planet with many times the meaning of a word determined by context.

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

BTW looks like it's still closed - will have to check later, just doing a skim and scan @ lunch hour.

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

Another update/non-update on this: can't quite tell but it looks like it's still closed from the news. I.e. no updates.

 

[Urban Sky]

The line has long been reopened:

Train traffic after the snowstorm​

Published: 10 January 2025 at 14:39

Trains run as normal after snowfall in early January.​

This is how our trains run in Eastern Norway​

In Eastern Norway, trains are running almost as normal. Due to heavy snowfall, we have not had full access to the workshop areas this week. Therefore, we unfortunately have several trains waiting to come in for maintenance and troubleshooting, and we are unfortunately running more departures with fewer carriages and seats than planned. This applies especially to lines L1 and RE11, but it may also apply to some departures on other lines.

The Bergen Line (F4 Bergen–Oslo)​

The Bergen Line has reopened after parts of the route were closed due to avalanches on 6 January 2025.
Read more about the extensive work following the avalanche on Bane NOR’s website (only in Norwegian).

https://www.vy.no/en/news/snow-forecasted-train-traffic

Otherwise, the line would be listed here in the travel advisories of the infrastructure manager:

https://www.banenor.no/reise-og-trafikk/trafikkmeldinger/

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

Interesting: I couldn't find that link on their site when I checked.

 

[cirdan]

Translation programs can give you hilarious results at times, particularly for technical documents where one of the languages involved is English. English is probably the most rule-free language on the planet with many times the meaning of a word determined by context.

It gets even worse when you translate between two languages, neither of which is English. Many translation software systems use English as an intermediate language when translating between other languages, and so you may get ambiguities from English thrown into some other language where they make no sense at all.

 

[Urban Sky]

Not the Bergen Line, but the Dovre (Oslo-Trondheim) Line is currently closed due to a wash-out:

The Dovre railway is partially closed between Dombås and Vinstra due to a damaged bridge at Otta as a result of a flood. Bane NOR announce that it is currently difficult to estimate how long the repair work will take.

SJ Norge is canceling the night trains between Oslo and Trondheim, as well as two daytime departures. Customers will be offered the possibility to re-book tickets to our daytime departures, or get a refund.

During the day, buses will replace trains between Dombås and Vinstra/Ringebu, and trains will run
for the rest of the route. Please notice that train departure times between Trondheim and Dombås have changed during this time.

https://www.sj.no/en/2025/01/21/dovre-railway-closed-at-otta-due-to-a-damaged-bridge/

 

[MccfamschoolMom]

For the longest time, my Norwegian cousins' only access to the outside world was via the Sognefjord ferries. It was a big deal when a road was built over the mountains between Vik i Sogn (my cousins' hometown) and Voss on the Bergen-Oslo railroad. (They even made up a song about it!) Even so, the Vik-Voss road is closed for about half of each year. I remember going cross-country skiing with my cousins just off the Vik-Voss road when I visited them as a college student (back in the 1970s) at the end of May, and they told me that the road south of town had only opened in mid-May, 2 weeks earlier.

 

[Urban Sky]

I struggle to find the separate thread about the disruptions north of Trondheim, so I’m posting here that service will finally resume again between Trondheim and Bodø:

From Monday, February 17, 2025, SJ Norge will once again be able to operate the daytime trains all the way between Bodø and Trondheim without bus replacements between Bodø and Mo i Rana.​

After more than two months of bus replacements between Bodø and Mo i Rana, SJ Norge is getting a locomotive back from the workshop and can once again run the daytime trains without the need for bus replacements

Additionally, both night trains between Trondheim and Bodø are canceled without alternative transportation until new locomotives are in place. We hope to have this resolved during the first half of 2025.

https://www.sj.no/en/2025/01/09/train-traffic-on-the-nordland-railway/

 

[west point]

Lack of locomotives? Why? Other types not useable for some reason?

 

[jis]

Lack of locomotives? Why? Other types not useable for some reason?

Diesel engine shortage I presume. I have actually ridden that Bodo - Trondheim route.

 

[Urban Sky]

Diesel engine shortage I presume. I have actually ridden that Bodo - Trondheim route.

Correct, only very few lines in Norway (or elsewhere in Scandinavia) operate with diesel.

In the meanwhile, the Dovre line (Oslo-Trondheim) will remain interrupted near Otta until at least mid-April:

https://www.sj.no/en/2025/01/21/dovre-railway-closed-at-otta-due-to-a-damaged-bridge/

 

[MccfamschoolMom]

Correct, only very few lines in Norway (or elsewhere in Scandinavia) operate with diesel.

In the meanwhile, the Dovre line will remain interrupted near Otta until at least mid-April:
View attachment 39147
https://www.sj.no/en/2025/01/21/dovre-railway-closed-at-otta-due-to-a-damaged-bridge/

Looks like the engine in that image is configured so that either end can be the "front" of the train. (I tend to call that a "pushme-pullyu" configuration, after a critter from the Doctor Doolittle book and movies which had heads at both ends of its body.)

 

[Urban Sky]

Looks like the engine in that image is configured so that either end can be the "front" of the train. (I tend to call that a "pushme-pullyu" configuration, after a critter from the Doctor Doolittle book and movies which had heads at both ends of its body.)

This is how 99% of locomotives outside North America look like: two cabs, one at each (identical) end…

 

[cirdan]

This is how 99% of locomotives outside North America look like: two cabs, one at each (identical) end…

or on the NEC even ....

 

[jis]

Correct, only very few lines in Norway (or elsewhere in Scandinavia) operate with diesel.

In the meanwhile, the Dovre line (Oslo-Trondheim) will remain interrupted near Otta until at least mid-April:
View attachment 39147
https://www.sj.no/en/2025/01/21/dovre-railway-closed-at-otta-due-to-a-damaged-bridge/

I have traveled Trondheim - Oslo too. Also did a daytime side trip to Andalsnes from Trondheim.

 

[Just-Thinking-51]

This is how 99% of locomotives outside North America look like: two cabs, one at each (identical) end…

Well technically there a number posted on each cab end, 1 and 2. This is more to identify where any defects are located. The motor works just fine in either direction. Unlike the steam engine in the past that had a noticeable difference in power apply to the wheels. Never mind the visibility issues.

(Cab 1 window wipers drivers side broken or ineffective.) So the mechanics can resolve the issues.