Kristiansand Station is a railway station located in downtown 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...

 in Vest-Agder

Vest-Agder

In the 16th century, Dutch merchant vessels began to visit ports in southern Norway to purchase salmon and other goods. Soon thereafter the export of timber began, as oak from southern Norway was exceptionally well suited for shipbuilding...

, 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...

 on the Sørland Line. The station is served by regional trains 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...

 and 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...

. Kristiansand Station is a cul-de-sac

Cul-de-sac

A cul-de-sac is a word of French origin referring to a dead end, close, no through road or court meaning dead-end street with only one inlet/outlet...

 station, requiring all trains to change direction at the station.

History

The station was opened in 1895 as part of the now abandoned Setesdal Line from Kristiansand to Byglandsfjord

Byglandsfjord

Byglandsfjord is a village in the southern part of the municipality of Bygland in the Aust-Agder county, Norway. The village is in the valley of Setesdal and located at the end of the lake Byglandsfjorden. Its population is 351....

. The station was the only station on the line to be built with brick

Brick

A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...

s, due to local regulations after the city fire in 1892. Like all other stations on the line, the station was designed by Paul Due

Paul Due

Paul Due was a Norwegian architect and significant contributor to the stations built by the Norwegian State Railways.-Biography:...

.

In 1937, Norsk Spisevognselskap

Norsk Spisevognselskap

Norsk Spisevognselskap A/S, often abbreviated NSS or shortened to Spisevognselskapet, was a Norwegian state enterprise which operated restaurant carriages on Norwegian trains and restaurants at train stations and railway hotels. The company was established in December 1918, and started a catering...

agreed to take over operations of the restaurant when the Sørland Line was competed to Kristiansand. Operations started on 16 June 1938, a week before the line opened. On 9 December 1940, the company decided to invest NOK 100,000 in a new restaurant building at the station. It was taken into use on 28 November 1942.