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You are here: Frontpage / Gausta LineHistory

Gausta Line

Length: Starts: Ends: Status:
2 km Nedre Station Øvre Station In service
The Gausta Line is an 1-kilometre long funicular railway built inside the mountain Gaustatoppen. It was built in order to access the military radio relay station on the mountain top. Today the railway has become a tourist attraction.
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Construction of the Gausta Line. Photo: Gaustabanen AS
Construction of the Gausta Line. Photo: Gaustabanen ASPublic domain
The idea about a railway was launched in 1953. In June two local newspapers published several articles about the line whose purpose was to transport tourists to the mountain top. In the autumn same year, it was decided that a radio relay station should be built on the top of Gaustatoppen for military purposes. Since the project was mainly financed ny NATO, the line should not be open for the public due to the Cold War. The construction work started in February 1954.

The opening
The construction of the line was delayed due to a huge rockslide in the tunnel, but in 1958 it was finally opened. The Swiss company 'von Roll' was the manufacturer of the cable railway equipment, the same company that constructed the Fløibanen in Bergen. Hence those railways are equally constructed, except that the Gausta Line is built inside the mountain instead. The gradient is 39.9 per cent and the line is 1.03 kilometres long. A 860 meter long narrow-gauged railway connects the funicular from the outside. The track of this line is of 800 millimeter gauge.

Less important
The railway system became less important for the military after the radio relay station was digitalised. Gaustabanen AS was founded in April 1992 whose purpose was to transport tourists with the line. The military decided to give away the railway for tourist purposes, but the municipal board was skeptical about its profitability. The local tourist organisation was also afraid that the established trekking tourism to the mountain top could be threatened.

Tourism
Ten years later the opinions on both sides were totally changed. The municipal board now wanted to open the railway system for the public, but the military was skeptical since they had plans to expand the radio transmitter on the mountain top. 29 July 2003 the military agreed to temporarily open the line for tourism — 17 days in 2004 and 17 days in 2005. The first test trip was organised on 1 April 2004. 15 May 2008 the military and Gaustabanen AS made an agreement about the line valid for ten years. On 31 July the Gausta Line was officially opened for public service.