Instead of Ringeriksbanen, Norsk Bane AS wants to extend Vestlandsbanen, which is designed for 300 km/h and runs from Notodden on Sørlandsbanen directly to Voss, 86 kilometres from Bergen. The high-speed line would reduce the travel time between Oslo and Bergen to 2.25 hours.
A branch to Stavanger is also planned on the way, which would also reduce the Oslo - Stavanger journey time to 2.25 hours. The rail connection from Bergen to Stavanger would then only take 1.35 hours.
Norsk Bane has commissioned a feasibility study from the Spanish engineering company Sener.
Bergensbanen is the longest mountain railway in Europe, as the line between Ustaoset and Mjølfjell runs over one hundred kilometres above the tree line at an altitude of around one thousand metres.
More on the planned high-speed line of Norsk Bane AS.
Header: © Oivind Haug / VY Norsk Bane