Bergen Commuter Rail

Bergen Commuter Rail

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Overview
Owner	Norwegian National Rail Administration
Locale	Hordaland, Norway
Transit type	Commuter rail
Number of lines	2
Number of stations	28
Operation
Operator(s)	Norwegian State Railways
Technical
System length	135 km
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)

Bergen Commuter Rail, sometimes called Vossebanen, is a commuter rail service between Bergen and Arna, Voss and Myrdal, Norway. It is operated by Norwegian State Railways using Class 69 electric multiple units. It runs on the mainline Bergen Line and all services terminate at Bergen Station.

Service

NSB operates on half-hour headways from Bergen to Arna, through the Ulriken Tunnel, the only way under the Ulriken mountain. There are further 16 departures each way to Voss, of which six stop only at Arna and Dale before Voss, not allowing trips Bergen-Arna/Bergen-Dale, while ten stop at all stations, giving three services per direction and hour between Bergen and Arna. Three services continue from Voss to Myrdal.

The operational deficits are financed by the Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications. Tickets are sold by NSB. Fares are not integrated with Skyss, the county transit authority, or Tide, the bus company in Hordaland.

Future expansion

• Plans to double track Ulriken Tunnel are under consideration. This would allow NSB to increase headway to 15 minutes to Arna, and increase services on the Bergensbanen.
• An alternative to this is to build the Bergen Light Rail as a parallel tunnel to Arna, replacing shuttle trains to Arna.

External links

• Norges Statsbaner (Norwegian)