{"id":278060,"date":"2025-09-04T16:30:32","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T06:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/?p=65587"},"modified":"2025-09-04T16:30:32","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T06:30:32","slug":"we-are-the-victims-of-subpar-infrastructure-says-norwegian-rail-challenger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=278060","title":{"rendered":"\u201cWe are the victims of subpar infrastructure\u201d says Norwegian rail challenger"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Norwegian Rauma Line is closed for traffic. The reason for the closure is a landslide, so not much could have been done to prevent it. However, it is one of many recent railway closures in the country, some of which could have been avoided. Freight operators suffer the consequences.<\/strong>
\n<\/span>The Rauma Line will remain closed until at least 1 October. Its impact on overall freight traffic is not too severe, as the railway only plays a minor role in Norwegian rail freight. The railway has not proven profitable for most companies, so many have abandoned it. Only one operator remains, and that is private rail freight challenger Onrail. Their freight train at the Rauma Line runs between Oslo and \u00c5ndalsnes. Onrail also runs freight trains from Oslo to Bergen, Stavanger and Narvik.<\/p>\n

The company\u2019s CEO, Henning Aandal, explains that such railway closures are costly. \u201cMuch like in other parts of Europe, Norwegian rail freight companies are barely profitable, so these incidents have an impact on the sector\u201d, he explains. To make matters worse, the nearby Dovre Line opened only in April 2025 after a closure of 3 months. An ice sheet hit a rail bridge, damaging it enough that trains could no longer pass.<\/p>\n

In the past years, there have been even more impactful closures. Aandal notes not only last winter\u2019s stoppage on the Dovre Line, but also a nine-month closure in 2023 and 2024 due to a collapsed bridge. An ice sheet hit a rail bridge, damaging it enough that trains could no longer pass. Moreover, a landslide north of Trondheim also put the so-called Nordlandsbanen out of function.<\/p>\n

Money is not everything<\/h2>\n

The commonality between those incidents is that forces of nature are the primary culprit. Yet, explains Aandal, in the case of the Dovre Line and the track north of Trondheim, engineering and planning also played a key role. \u201cAt the Dovre bridge, an excavator changed the river flow, causing the ice sheet to run into the bridge. And north of Trondheim, an excavator caused the landslide in an area with challenging quicklime.\u201d<\/p>\n

Politicians and infrastructure manager Bane NOR say that the railways have been underfunded, and that more money is needed to keep infrastructure up to standard. However, money is not everything. \u201cThe quality of maintenance is also lacking\u201d, says Aandal, pointing to the maintenance mistakes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe, the rail freight operators, are the victims of subpar infrastructure\u201d, the Onrail CEO continues. Since those companies are on the edge of profitability, an improvement in infrastructure reliability will push them over that edge. That would be a major relief for the sector.<\/p>\n

\n

Fortunately, money seems to be less and less of an obstacle. <\/strong>Earlier, Norway approved a budget that nearly doubled spending<\/strong> on rail maintenance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are satisfied that the government wants to prioritise maintenance and renewal of the railway. There is a large maintenance backlog that affects operations, in addition to the fact that we more often experience extreme weather that leads to landslides and floods\u201d, Bane NOR\u2019s former CEO Thor Gjermund Eriksen stated at the time. \u201cMore money for upgrading and renewing the railway will help to improve punctuality in the long term.\u201d<\/p>\n