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You are here: Frontpage / Eastern Østfold LineHistory

Eastern Østfold Line

Length: Starts: Ends: Status:
79 km Ski Station Sarpsborg Station In service
The Eastern Østfold Line is the 78.9-kilometre long railway line between Ski and Sarpsborg which runs through the Indre Østfold district. Rakkestad Station is now the terminus for the passenger trains, while some freight trains operates on the rest of the line.
Knapstad Station. Photo: Ole Skarbø/Nasjonalbiblioteket
Knapstad Station. Photo: Ole Skarbø/NasjonalbiblioteketPublic domain
The Eastern Østfold Line opened on 24 November 1882 after the Western Østfold Line was taken in use on 2 January 1879. The Parliament approved the narrow-gauged lines on 6 June 1873 which were opened as the Smaalenene Line. The idea was to construct a connection line to Sweden. The Eastern Østfold Line was electrified in 1958. On 7 April 1995, a triangular track opened at Hafslund in order to let northbound trains from Halden run directly on the Eastern Østfold Line without returning at Sarpsborg.

Three branch lines
The Eastern Østfold Line had three branch lines which were mainly built to construct hydroelectric power plants. The Kykkelsrud Line between Askim and Kykkelsrud opened in 1900. Timber and flies were also transported on this line to _Glommens Træsliberi_. The Vamma Line between Askim and Vamma opened in 1917 and the Solbergfoss Line between Askim and Solbergfoss in 1924. The 7.9 kilometre long Solbergfoss Line was the longest and had also passenger traffic operated by railcars. All these line are today abandoned and abolished.

ERTMS
On 15 June 2003, regular trains services terminated on the stretch between Rakkestad and Sarpsborg. From 14 December, Mysen Station was the terminus on the Easter Østfold Line and passenger services between Mysen and Rakkestad were replaced by bus. Rakkestad is now the terminus in the weekdays and no services exist between Mysen and Rakkestad in the weekends. Since 15 August 2015, the Eastern Østfold Line became the first railway line in Norway to feature the European railway signalling ERTMS.