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Horten Line

Length:	Starts:	Ends:	Status:
7 km	Skoppum Station	Horten Station	Abandoned

The Horten Line was a 7-kilometre long branch line of the Vestfold Line which ran between Skoppum and Horten. Passenger services terminated in 1967 and freight services in 2002. In 2008 the line was abolished.

Skoppum Station. Photo: Anders Beer Wilse/Norsk Folkemuseum

It was decided during the 1870s that Horten should be served by a railway line. An intense debate started about where the railway link should go. One alternative was to build the line along the coast where all the cities were located. Another alternative was to build it longer away from the coast and serve the rural areas. The cities had already a transport network consisting of steamship services. To place the railway line further away from the seaside would improve and develop the agriculture and the forest industry. On 9 June 1875, the Parliament approved the Vestfold Line. It was decided to build the line away from the coast, including a branch line between Skoppum and Horten. The Horten Line was officially opened as a narrow-gauged railway line on 13 October 1881. Between the termini Skoppum and Horten, the trains stopped at Borre Station as well as four other stops.

Increased traffic
After the opening, up to eight passenger trains were daily running on the line. The peak was in 1924 where up to 24 daily trains were running with over 200,000 passengers. In 1957 the Horten Line and the Vestfold Line were converted to normal-gauged railway lines. From the 1950s, the passenger services were steadily decreasing until it terminated on 28 May 1967. The freight trains continued to operate until January 2002.

Closed
In 2007 the Parliament approved that the Horten Line should be closed. It was abolished January next year. The stretch between Skoppum and Borre was rebuilt as a bike path and later extended to Horten on 30 June 2017. There are still remains of tracks at the previous level crossings. Borre Station and the goods shed at Horten are preserved as well as the track between Horten and Dypvannskaia.

The future
During the years 2013—2014, the Norwegian National Rail Administration, the Norwegian Coastal Administration and the Norwegian Public Roads Administration analysed the possibility of a bridge and tunnel connection between Horten and Moss. The conclusion was that a railway bridge would be too expensive and a railway tunnel could not serve neither Moss nor Horten due to its required length. Horten will ne served by a new station at Viulsrød when the stretch between Nykirke and Barkåker on the Vestfold Line opens in 2025.