Kragerøbanen
Encyclopedia
The Kragerø Line was a 27 kilometres (16.8 mi) long railway line between Neslandsvatn
and Kragerø
in Telemark
, Norway
. It was opened on 2 December 1927 as part of the Sørland Line. From 10 November 1935, the Sørland Line was extended from Neslandsvatn to Arendal, and the Kragerø Line became a branch. It was mostly served with feeder trains, although a though train to Oslo
was kept until the 1970s. Falling ridership caused the line to become closed from 1 December 1989, along with many other branch lines. Part of the line remains, although other parts have been demolished.
The decision to build the Kragerø Line was made by the Parliament of Norway on 9 July 1908. The decision was part of a larger plan to build the Sørland Line from Kongsberg
to Kristiansand
. It included new lines from Kongsberg to Hjuksebø
, where the line would share tracks with the Bratsberg Line. From Nordagutu
to Neslandsvatn, the line was planned as part of the Sørland Line, while the section from Neslandsvatn to Kragerø was to be temporary part of the line, until it would later be extended from Neslandsvatn to Arendal
.
The section from Kongsberg to Neslandsvatn was built with a minimum curve radius of 300 metres (984.3 ft), while the Kragerø Line was built with 180 metres (590.6 ft). It was given a maximum gradient of 1.8 percent, and a track weight of 35 kilograms per meter (37 lb/ft). Eight people were killed during construction. The Kragerø Line opened on 2 December 1927, when the Sørland Line was extended from Lunde
.
. Kragerø had steam ship correspondence with towns further along the coast. There was also a bus service to Flekkefjord
; from there, a train service was offered along the Flekkefjord Line
and Jæren Line to Stavanger
. Passengers taking the night train to Kragerø, could be in Stavanger the following afternoon.
Kragerø remained the terminus of the Sørland Line until 10 November 1935, when the line was extended from Neslandsvatn to Arendal. Ridership fell on the line, although it retained four daily trains per day per direction. These operated between Kragerø and Neslandsvatn, where there was correspondence with the express trains on the Sørland Line. However, one through day train was retained until the early 1970s. The line used onbly steam locomotive
s until the late 1940s, when diesel multiple unit
s were taken into use. At first Cmb 13 railcar
s and Class 87 were used, but as they were unpopular with the travelers, they were replaced by Class 86
in 1956.
The last steam trains to run on the line was Class 30
, which remained until 1969. The Kragerø Line was the last to retire steam locomotives from passengers service in Norway. From June, the line received a Di2 locomotive which took over the duties of Class 30. Di2 remained in use until 1984. Kragerø Station had an Skd 202 shunter, which was replaced by Skd 206 and then Skd 220c, but in the last years there was no need for shunting, and the shunters withdrawn.
, the line represented both longer distance and longer travel time. Traffic patterns for buses went along the coast, and towards Oslo ran via Grenland
rather than inner Telemark.
On 19 February 1987, NSB's board recommended that the Kragerø Line be closed. They cited that the line needed major renovations, the rolling stock needed replacement and the lack of profitability, with the ticket revenue only covering about a quarter of operating expenses. This was part of a major decision which would also see the closing of the Numedal, Valdres, Hardanger, Flekkefjord and Skreia Lines. However, on 25 March the Railway Council voted against closing the line, stating local opposition against the proposals. On 20 April 1988, Minister of Transport
Kjell Borgen
presented a plan which would approve the closing of the lines. A majority for the closure was secured in parliament by Borgen's Labour Party with support from the Conservative Party and the Progress Party
. The decision was made in parliament on 2 June, however some local parliamentarians from the Labour and Conservative Parties voted to keep the line Service on the line was last run on 31 December, and from 1 January 1989 the line was closed.
The southern-most part of the line was planned used for the right-of-way for a new road. Nature and Youth had been working against the closing of the line during the 1970s, and in 1988 a local chapter was again established and started working to keep the line. They were met both with support and opposition locally. On 30 October 1989, 70 to 80 demonstrators from Nature and Youth, about half of which were locals, blocked the entrance to Tangenheim Tunnel in civil disobedience
to hinder demolish of the track. The second day of the demonstration, the Norwegian Public Roads Administration
reported the demonstrators to the police. Sheriff Gisle Johnson arrested five of the demonstrators, all male and from out-of-town, and four with long hair, and were fined NOK 10,000 each. During the evening, a mob of locals started attacking the remaining demonstrators with Molotov cocktail
s. This caused the demonstration to be moved to Sannidal.
The demonstrators remained at Sannidal for a week, and had among other things meetings with Minister of Transport Lars Gunnar Lie
. The group was successful at creating large media attention around the issue, with it becoming the group's most written about environmental demonstration in Norway during the late 1980s. On 3 November, NSB announced that they would cease demolishing the upper part of the line, although by then on the lower section demolishment had started. In September 1992, NSB's director-general Kristian Rambjør stated that closing the line had been a mistake.
In 1997, Osmund Ueland
, director-general of the Norwegian National Rail Administration stated that he wanted to demolish the Kragerø Line and other closed branch lines. In 1997, the camping ground at Sannidal started renting out 15 draisine
s on the line, but the operations stopped in 2005. In the late 2000s, local forest owners started campaigning to remove the remaining tracks. In particular, they wanted to remove the underpass as Merkebekk in Drangedal, which has too low clearing for lumber trucks and causes the forest owners to drive the trucks an extra 3 kilometres (1.9 mi). In a decision from the Land Consolidation Court in September 2008, the land owners were giver permission to remove five underpasses between Sannidal and Neslandsvatn, located at Tveitereidvegen, one 240 metres (787.4 ft) north of it, at Tveitereidsbukta, at Saga and at Øygardsmyra. The removal would be at the cost of the forest owners. This permanently terminated any possibilities of running draisines on the line. In 2009, Syklistenes Landsforening stated that they wanted the line to be converted to a bicycle path
.
approved plans for a new line to be built between the Vestfold Line at Porsgrunn
and the Sørland Line at Skorstøl. The Grenland Line would be 59 kilometres (36.7 mi) long and have a station at Sannidal. It is estimated to cost NOK 3.8 billion and would allow the travel time from Kragerø to Oslo of 2 hours. To serve villages along the Sørland Line eastwards, the Norwegian National Rail Administration has proposed creating a regional train service between Kongsberg and Kragerø, which would allow transfer to the Grenland Line at Sannidal. In 2010, the Southwest Line was proposed by the county municipalities of Aust-Agder and Vest-Agder. The line would follow close to the same route as the Grenland Line, but would extend further south and connect to major towns along the coast. In this proposal, Kragerø is planned served by a station at Brokelandsheia.
Neslandsvatn
Neslandsvatn is a small village in Drangedal with a population of 262. It is also a station on Sørlandsbanen. It is a popular skiing and snowboarding area....
and Kragerø
Kragerø
is a town and municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Vestmar. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Kragerø....
in Telemark
Telemark
is a county in Norway, bordering Vestfold, Buskerud, Hordaland, Rogaland and Aust-Agder. The county administration is in Skien. Until 1919 the county was known as Bratsberg amt.-Location:...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. It was opened on 2 December 1927 as part of the Sørland Line. From 10 November 1935, the Sørland Line was extended from Neslandsvatn to Arendal, and the Kragerø Line became a branch. It was mostly served with feeder trains, although a though train to Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
was kept until the 1970s. Falling ridership caused the line to become closed from 1 December 1989, along with many other branch lines. Part of the line remains, although other parts have been demolished.
Route
After the line was closed, the section from Sannidal to Kragerø, roughly 7 kilometres (4.3 mi), was demolished to make way for a road. The Tangenheim Tunnel was widened and also used. The track remains from Sannidal to Neslandsvatn, although a bridge close to Sannidal has been moved to allow better height for the road. In addition, the track across five underpasses have been removed. The track area at Kragerø Station has been converted to a parking lot, and the engine shed has been demolished. The station building has been preserved.History
The decision to build the Kragerø Line was made by the Parliament of Norway on 9 July 1908. The decision was part of a larger plan to build the Sørland Line from Kongsberg
Kongsberg
is a town and municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is located at the southern end of the traditional region of Numedal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Kongsberg....
to Kristiansand
Kristiansand
-History:As indicated by archeological findings in the city, the Kristiansand area has been settled at least since 400 AD. A royal farm is known to have been situated on Oddernes as early as 800, and the first church was built around 1040...
. It included new lines from Kongsberg to Hjuksebø
Hjuksebø
Hjuksebø is a village in Sauherad municipality, Norway. It is located between Notodden and Nordagutu, just south of Hjuksevelta.Hjuksebø used to have a train station on the Sørlandsbanen railway...
, where the line would share tracks with the Bratsberg Line. From Nordagutu
Nordagutu
Nordagutu is a village in the municipality of Sauherad, Norway. Its population is 367.Nordagutu train station is a part of Bratsbergbanen, and it serves as a junction between Vestfoldbanen and Sørlandsbanen....
to Neslandsvatn, the line was planned as part of the Sørland Line, while the section from Neslandsvatn to Kragerø was to be temporary part of the line, until it would later be extended from Neslandsvatn to Arendal
Arendal
is a town and municipality in the county of Aust-Agder, Norway. Arendal belongs to the traditional region of Sørlandet.The town of Arendal is the administrative center the municipality and also of Aust-Agder county...
.
The section from Kongsberg to Neslandsvatn was built with a minimum curve radius of 300 metres (984.3 ft), while the Kragerø Line was built with 180 metres (590.6 ft). It was given a maximum gradient of 1.8 percent, and a track weight of 35 kilograms per meter (37 lb/ft). Eight people were killed during construction. The Kragerø Line opened on 2 December 1927, when the Sørland Line was extended from Lunde
Lunde, Telemark
Lunde is a former municipality in Telemark county, Norway. The municipality centre was Bjervamoen.It was created by a split from Bø on 1 January 1867. At that time Lunde had a population of 2,257....
.
Operation
While a terminus, there was a day and a night train to Oslo West StationOslo Vestbanestasjon
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 was moved to the new Oslo Central Station...
. Kragerø had steam ship correspondence with towns further along the coast. There was also a bus service to Flekkefjord
Flekkefjord
is a town and municipality in the county of Vest-Agder, Norway.The town of Flekkefjord was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 . The rural municipalities of Bakke, Gyland, Hidra, and Nes were merged with Flekkefjord on 1 January 1965.Flekkefjord is the westernmost town of the...
; from there, a train service was offered along the Flekkefjord Line
Flekkefjord Line
The Flekkefjord Line is a abandoned branch line to the Sørland Line. It ran between Sira and Flekkefjord in Vest-Agder, Norway. The only current activity on the line is tourist draisines. The station buildings along the line were designed by the architect Paul Armin Due—these have all been...
and Jæren Line to Stavanger
Stavanger
Stavanger is a city and municipality in the county of Rogaland, Norway.Stavanger municipality has a population of 126,469. There are 197,852 people living in the Stavanger conurbation, making Stavanger the fourth largest city, but the third largest urban area, in Norway...
. Passengers taking the night train to Kragerø, could be in Stavanger the following afternoon.
Kragerø remained the terminus of the Sørland Line until 10 November 1935, when the line was extended from Neslandsvatn to Arendal. Ridership fell on the line, although it retained four daily trains per day per direction. These operated between Kragerø and Neslandsvatn, where there was correspondence with the express trains on the Sørland Line. However, one through day train was retained until the early 1970s. The line used onbly steam locomotive
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
s until the late 1940s, when diesel multiple unit
Diesel multiple unit
A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple unit train consisting of multiple carriages powered by one or more on-board diesel engines. They may also be referred to as a railcar or railmotor, depending on country.-Design:...
s were taken into use. At first Cmb 13 railcar
Railcar
A railcar, in British English and Australian English, is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach , with a driver's cab at one or both ends. Some railways, e.g., the Great Western...
s and Class 87 were used, but as they were unpopular with the travelers, they were replaced by Class 86
NSB Class 86
NSB Class 86 is a class of diesel-hydraulic multiple units built by Strømmens Værksted for the Norwegian State Railways . Thirty-eight motor cars and thirty-one trailers were built between 1937 and 1954, split between six subtypes designated a through f. Class 91 was a further delivery of ten...
in 1956.
The last steam trains to run on the line was Class 30
NSB Class 30
The NSB class 30 was a 4-6-0 tender steam locomotive formerly used in Norway by Norges Statsbaner. The class 30 engines were an upsized version of the NSB Class 45 engines. Class 30 locomotives were originally intended for use on Dovrebanen, but they were employed throughout the Norwegian rail...
, which remained until 1969. The Kragerø Line was the last to retire steam locomotives from passengers service in Norway. From June, the line received a Di2 locomotive which took over the duties of Class 30. Di2 remained in use until 1984. Kragerø Station had an Skd 202 shunter, which was replaced by Skd 206 and then Skd 220c, but in the last years there was no need for shunting, and the shunters withdrawn.
Closing
Traffic along the line dropped significantly during the 1960s and 1970. Eventually freight trains were taken out of service on the line, and freight cars were instead hooked to the DMUs. In the last years, only the one car of the DMUs were used except on Fridays and Sundays. A large part of the decrease could be allocated to the line's inferior route; for both passengers heading towards Oslo or to AgderAgder
Agder is a historical district of Norway in the southernmost region of Norway, corresponding to the two counties Vest-Agder and Aust-Agder. Today, the term Sørlandet is more commonly used.-Name:...
, the line represented both longer distance and longer travel time. Traffic patterns for buses went along the coast, and towards Oslo ran via Grenland
Grenland
Grenland is a traditional district in the county of Telemark, in the south of Norway. It is composed of the municipalities Skien, Porsgrunn, Bamble, Nome, and Siljan. Sometimes the municipalities Kragerø, and Drangedal are considered being part of the area...
rather than inner Telemark.
On 19 February 1987, NSB's board recommended that the Kragerø Line be closed. They cited that the line needed major renovations, the rolling stock needed replacement and the lack of profitability, with the ticket revenue only covering about a quarter of operating expenses. This was part of a major decision which would also see the closing of the Numedal, Valdres, Hardanger, Flekkefjord and Skreia Lines. However, on 25 March the Railway Council voted against closing the line, stating local opposition against the proposals. On 20 April 1988, Minister of Transport
Minister of Transport and Communications (Norway)
The Minister of Transport and Communications is a Councillor of State and Chief of the Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications. Since 20 October 2009, the position has been held by Magnhild Meltveit Kleppa of the Centre Party...
Kjell Borgen
Kjell Borgen
Kjell Borgen was a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. He served as Minister of Transport and Communications from 1986 to 1988, Minister of Local Government 1988 to 1989 and 1990 to 1992. He served as County Governor of Hedmark from 1993 to his death.-Early life and career:He was born in...
presented a plan which would approve the closing of the lines. A majority for the closure was secured in parliament by Borgen's Labour Party with support from the Conservative Party and the Progress Party
Progress Party (Norway)
The Progress Party is a political party in Norway which identifies as conservative liberal and libertarian. The media has described it as conservative and right-wing populist...
. The decision was made in parliament on 2 June, however some local parliamentarians from the Labour and Conservative Parties voted to keep the line Service on the line was last run on 31 December, and from 1 January 1989 the line was closed.
The southern-most part of the line was planned used for the right-of-way for a new road. Nature and Youth had been working against the closing of the line during the 1970s, and in 1988 a local chapter was again established and started working to keep the line. They were met both with support and opposition locally. On 30 October 1989, 70 to 80 demonstrators from Nature and Youth, about half of which were locals, blocked the entrance to Tangenheim Tunnel in civil disobedience
Civil disobedience
Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government, or of an occupying international power. Civil disobedience is commonly, though not always, defined as being nonviolent resistance. It is one form of civil resistance...
to hinder demolish of the track. The second day of the demonstration, the Norwegian Public Roads Administration
Norwegian Public Roads Administration
The Norwegian Public Roads Administration is a Norwegian government agency responsible for the state and county public roads in the country. This includes planning, construction and operation of the state and county road networks, driver training and licensing, vehicle inspection and subsidies to...
reported the demonstrators to the police. Sheriff Gisle Johnson arrested five of the demonstrators, all male and from out-of-town, and four with long hair, and were fined NOK 10,000 each. During the evening, a mob of locals started attacking the remaining demonstrators with Molotov cocktail
Molotov cocktail
The Molotov cocktail, also known as the petrol bomb, gasoline bomb, Molotov bomb, fire bottle, fire bomb, or simply Molotov, is a generic name used for a variety of improvised incendiary weapons...
s. This caused the demonstration to be moved to Sannidal.
The demonstrators remained at Sannidal for a week, and had among other things meetings with Minister of Transport Lars Gunnar Lie
Lars Gunnar Lie
Lars Gunnar Lie is a Norwegian politician from the Christian People's Party and was the Minister of Transport and Communications 1989-1990.-References:...
. The group was successful at creating large media attention around the issue, with it becoming the group's most written about environmental demonstration in Norway during the late 1980s. On 3 November, NSB announced that they would cease demolishing the upper part of the line, although by then on the lower section demolishment had started. In September 1992, NSB's director-general Kristian Rambjør stated that closing the line had been a mistake.
In 1997, Osmund Ueland
Osmund Ueland
Osmund Ueland is a Norwegian civil servant and former CEO of Norges Statsbaner .An engineer by education, he worked for Aker from 1975 to 1990. From 1990 to 1994 he headed the Lillehammer Olympic Organising Committee . In 1994 he was hired as CEO for NSB Gardermobanen; the next year he was...
, director-general of the Norwegian National Rail Administration stated that he wanted to demolish the Kragerø Line and other closed branch lines. In 1997, the camping ground at Sannidal started renting out 15 draisine
Draisine
A draisine primarily refers to a light auxiliary rail vehicle, driven by service personnel, equipped to transport crew and material necessary for the maintenance of railway infrastructure....
s on the line, but the operations stopped in 2005. In the late 2000s, local forest owners started campaigning to remove the remaining tracks. In particular, they wanted to remove the underpass as Merkebekk in Drangedal, which has too low clearing for lumber trucks and causes the forest owners to drive the trucks an extra 3 kilometres (1.9 mi). In a decision from the Land Consolidation Court in September 2008, the land owners were giver permission to remove five underpasses between Sannidal and Neslandsvatn, located at Tveitereidvegen, one 240 metres (787.4 ft) north of it, at Tveitereidsbukta, at Saga and at Øygardsmyra. The removal would be at the cost of the forest owners. This permanently terminated any possibilities of running draisines on the line. In 2009, Syklistenes Landsforening stated that they wanted the line to be converted to a bicycle path
Bicycle Path
Bicycle Path is a historic road in Central Suffolk County on Long Island, New York, built in the late 19th Century in order to capitalize on the bicycle craze of that period...
.
Future
In 2001, Telemark County MunicipalityTelemark County Municipality
Telemark County Municipality is the regional governing administration of Telemark, Norway. The main responsibilities of the county municipality includes the running of 29 upper secondary schools. It administrates the county roadways, public transport, dental care, culture and cultural heritage.The...
approved plans for a new line to be built between the Vestfold Line at Porsgrunn
Porsgrunn
is a town and municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Porsgrunn....
and the Sørland Line at Skorstøl. The Grenland Line would be 59 kilometres (36.7 mi) long and have a station at Sannidal. It is estimated to cost NOK 3.8 billion and would allow the travel time from Kragerø to Oslo of 2 hours. To serve villages along the Sørland Line eastwards, the Norwegian National Rail Administration has proposed creating a regional train service between Kongsberg and Kragerø, which would allow transfer to the Grenland Line at Sannidal. In 2010, the Southwest Line was proposed by the county municipalities of Aust-Agder and Vest-Agder. The line would follow close to the same route as the Grenland Line, but would extend further south and connect to major towns along the coast. In this proposal, Kragerø is planned served by a station at Brokelandsheia.