History of the Norwegian Railway Companies

NSB Type 7a , built in the years 1875–92 and 1896–98

Basically, the history of the Norwegian railway companies began with the merger of the individual railway companies under state control to form the central administration Hovedstyret for De norske Statsbaner , the forerunner of the Norges Statsbaner (NSB). Det store jernbanekompromisset , a decision by Storting , increased centralization from 1894 onwards.

As a result, there were relatively few Norwegian railway companies in earlier years . Due to the fact that Norway is not a member of the European Union , the rules of free market access and European competition conditions do not apply to the same extent as in the EU countries. Therefore Norges Statsbaner had a monopoly until the turn of the millennium. Only then were other railway companies formed, some of which are wholly or partly subsidiaries of the Norges Statsbaner , which is subordinate to the Ministry of Transport .

history

Until 1883, individual state-built railways were operated in Norway. They were administratively separate railway companies, but under full state control.

A number of these railway companies worked closely together. From 1863, Hovedbanen and Kongsvingerbanen had a joint manager. The three narrow-gauge railways, which radiate out from Drammen ( Randsfjordbanen , Drammenbanen and Vestfoldbanen , which was also called Grevskapsbanen), had a joint management under the name Vestbanerne since 1873 .

Rørosbanen was the first company to be split between two directorates in Hamar and Trondheim. The border was in Røros until 1878 , then in Tynset until 1880 . In 1880, the entire route Eidsvoll - Hamar - Røros - Støren - Trondheim was placed under a common administration. The north railroad was directed from Trondheim.

In 1883 a central administration was set up - Hovedstyret for De norske Statsbaner - and an administration system was set up that divides the state railway lines into five districts. These were later supplemented by another four districts:

1. Kristiania ( Smaalensbanen and Kongsvingerbanen). In 1921, the formally private Hovedbane signed an agreement and formed an administrative partnership with the 1st District. In 1926 Hovedbanen finally became a state railway.
2. Drammen (Drammenbanen, Randsfjordbanen, Vestfoldbanen)
3. Hamar ( Hedmarksbanen , Hamar – Tynset section of the Rørosbane)
4. Trondheim ( Meråkerbanen and the Tynset – Støren – Trondheim section of the Rørosbane)
5. Stavanger ( Jærbanen )
6. Bergen ( Vossebanen and the later Bergensbane , Hardangerbana and Flåmsbana )
7. Kristiansand ( Setesdalsbanen and later parts of the Sørlandsbane )
8. Narvik ( Ofotbanen )
9. Arendal ( Arendal – Åmlibanen and later Grimstadbanen and the extension of the Treungenbane )

In 1913 the district numbers were replaced by names. In 1938 the Arendal district was incorporated into the Kristiansand district in connection with the opening of the Sørlandsbane.

Since at the end of the 1890s there were only very small private railways apart from the semi-private Hovedbane and no other companies were established, NSB had a monopoly in Norway until the end of the 20th century.

→ Main article : Norges Statsbaner (1883–1996)

Private railways in Norway

The few private railways from the early days of Norwegian railway construction were:

• Sulitjelmabanen , 1892–1972
• Nesttun – Osbanen , 1894–1935
• Lillesand – Flaksvandbanen , 1896–1953
• Urskog – Hølandsbanen , 1896–1960, taken over by NSB in 1945
• Tønsberg – Eidsfossbanen , 1901–1938
• Holmestrand – Vittingfossbanen , 1902–1938
• Valdresbanen , 1902–1937, then taken over by NSB
• Lierbanen , 1904-1937
• Grimstad – Frolandbanen , 1907–1912, then taken over by NSB, closed in 1961
• Thamshavnbanen , 1908-1974
• Rjukanbanen , 1908-1991
• Kirkenes – Bjørnevatnbanen , 1910–1996, 2009–2016, only ore traffic
• Bruksbanen Askim – Solbergfoss , 1918–1965

State controlled companies

An El 18 from NSB

In 1996 NSB underwent a major change. The company was split into the limited company Norges Statsbaner BA and Jernbaneverket . Jernbaneverket was responsible for the infrastructure and NSB BA continued to be responsible for the traffic.

On July 1, 2002, NSB BA was converted into a joint stock company, Norges Statsbaner AS , which remained in the hands of the state. Two subsidiaries of the NSB Group that operate rail traffic are NSB Anbud (since 2008 NSB Gjøvikbanen ) and CargoNet . On January 1, 2002, the Mantena company was founded. The company is wholly owned by NSB AS and operates the maintenance and workshop service.

The goods traffic of NSB was spun off under the name NSB Gods in 1996 , the stock company CargoNet was founded in 2002, 55% of CargoNet belonging to NSB and the rest to the Swedish Green Cargo .

NSB Gjøvikbanen AS is a company wholly owned by NSB. The seat is in Gjøvik . In 2005 the company won the tender for passenger transport on Gjøvikbanen in competition with the Danish Danske Statsbaner and Connex . NSB Gjøvikbanen took over the business on June 11, 2006 for ten years. The company changed its name to NSB Anbud AS in 2008 .

The owner of Flytoget was initially called NSB Gardermobanen AS , until Flytoget AS was formed as an independent company directly under the Norwegian Ministry of Commerce and Economy in 2004.

→ Main article : "Organization of NSB" in the article Norges Statsbaner (1996–)

Private companies

Locomotives El 13 and Di 3a with Ofotbanen paint

Ofotbanen A / S was a public limited company independent of the NSB group. In March 2001 it was the first private company in Norway to operate trains on a commercial basis. Ofotbanen belonged to a consortium of investors and their companies Rail Management AS and Autolink Group AS . The company went bankrupt in 2008.

Unionexpressen was a private company owned by Nordic Haulage , which was partly owned by Ofotbanen . As of June 15, 2008 (trial operation from April 11, 2008), the company ran two pairs of passenger trains between Oslo and Stockholm in competition with Statens Järnvägar (SJ). The traffic already ended on October 7th when the Norwegian Railway Authority ( Norwegian Statens jernbanetilsyn ) prohibited the operation. The reason was that Ofotbanen had not submitted any documents that could prove that the company could operate economically. Operations ceased because Subis AB , the former Unionsexpressen Scandinavian Railway AB , filed for bankruptcy in Stockholm on April 6, 2009, followed by Nordic Haulage on April 27, 2009.

A private initiative is Norsk Bane AS . This is a company that specializes in the development of high-speed lines on the Norwegian rail network. The company, headed by German railway engineer Jørg Westermann, has pioneered the construction of a Norwegian high-speed network since 1991. The company operates as a trading investment company, interest group and consulting firm. It has planned an extensive route network, including Haukelibanen and Dovrenettet .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ T. Bjerke: Banedata 2013 . Ed .: Norsk Jernbane Museum & Norsk Jernbaneklubb. Hamar / Oslo 2013, p. 356, 357, 376 (Norwegian).

Web links

• Norges Statsbaner AS. Jernbaneselskaper and organization. In: Store norske leksikon . Retrieved February 21, 2014 (Norwegian). 
• Svein Sando: District ved NSB, Banemerker ved Statsbanene, Privatbanene. sando.co, accessed March 31, 2017 (Norwegian).