The upcoming Follobanen offers a two-mile-long express tunnel between Ski and Oslo. When it finally comes into use, the municipalities along the line expect a radical change in interest in settling here. This particularly applies to Nordre Follo with the small town of Ski, the university town of Ås, and the growth municipality of Vestby. Farthest to the south is Vestby, with 19,000 inhabitants. The plan is to increase this number to almost 30,000 in the next 20 years. This will be done by building no less than 6,000 apartments, all of which will be located close to the station. Some of them have already been built. – We have been at the peak of growth in Norway in terms of local jobs and population for the past ten years, and with the Follobanen we will develop the center strongly, says mayor Tom Anders Ludvigsen (Ap). Homes are popping up near Vestby station, and there will be more. It is just the start of an enormous development that will give Vestby center 10,000 more residents. Photo: Lars Håkon Pedersen / news The line gave the impetus to construction It all started when the huge railway project began in 2015, says Ski mayor Hanne Opdan (Ap). – When we learned that Follobanen became a reality, the elected officials took action and planned for the development we wanted to happen. Builders have realized projects, and there are more to come. She shows around Magasinparken, a stone’s throw from the new Ski station. Here, the blocks of flats grow like toadstools. Magsinparken in Ski is located close to the railway station, and is one of the first large housing projects to be realized after the Follobanen was started. Photo: Magasinparken – We are betting on a varied development with a good living environment, emphasizes Opdan. Next to the homes, the ground has been dug for a new secondary school. Nordre Follo is planning a total of 12,000 homes, while Ås has the same number of homes on the drawing board as Vestby, 6,000. The importance of eleven minutes The Follobanen will reduce the travel time by train to Oslo by eleven minutes each way. It might not sound like much. But from Ski, the time is halved. For Vestby, a reduction from 33 to 22 minutes. From Ås, the train time to Oslo drops from 29 to 18 minutes. This means that residents of Vestby will get to Oslo S just as quickly as people in Groruddalen, even if they live several miles further away. But it is not only time that counts. Askill Harkjerr Hasle at the Institute of Transport Economics lists the advantages of a faster railway with greater capacity. Photo: Lars Håkon Pedersen / news Research leader for socio-economic analyzes at the Transport Economics Institute (TØI), Askill Harkjerr Halse, has several raisins to offer when public transport is strengthened as here. – There will now be two double tracks and increased capacity on the busiest section of the Østfold line towards Oslo. This will result in more departures and fewer delays. He says that this will make everyday life easier for many, and that more people will then choose the train. – In the longer term, it will also make it more attractive to settle south of Oslo and commute into the city. Prices are increasing But other effects of the housing boom and faster trains are increased pressure on municipal services, demands for infrastructure, and not least the price of entering the housing market. This may push more people to have to choose housing even further outside the capital than before. Because the more popular an area is, the higher the price the housing developers can charge. On the walkway between the modern housing complexes in Ski, Per Michaelsen walks. He and his wife live in a detached house in Ski and would like an apartment, but perhaps not in a dense block environment. Per Michaelsen wants more speed in the development because the prices are increasing too much. But the municipality must keep up and make arrangements for schools, kindergartens and other infrastructure. Photo: Lars Håkon Pedersen / news They are also worried about the young people who grew up there. – I think what is happening is good, but the pressure on apartments is becoming so severe that our children are unable to establish themselves here because the prices are so high. The solution, he believes, is to build even faster. But mayor Hanne Opdan parries that. – We are in a pinch, because it costs so much to establish what is needed around new residential areas. A station city war Transport researchers generally believe that it is good that buildings are built close to public transport hubs, so that car traffic is reduced. But in Follo there is now such a large development of housing that it makes Aud Tennøy concerned. She is research leader for urban development and urban transport at TØI. – It is not certain that you will be able to create proper station towns at all the stops for the train down. The danger is if all the settlements try to become a city. There has to be a certain size for it to function as a city, and you can run the risk of crushing each other’s legs, and end up becoming drabant cities instead if you want to develop them all. The central gardens in Ås are on the drawing board. The small station town with its many students and school pupils believes in strong growth in the coming years. Photo: DARK Design Group Commuting both ways In Vestby, they have a high number of jobs in relation to the population, as a result of an active business policy that has attracted many logistics companies in the first place. – We usually say that to enter Norway from abroad, you have to pass through Vestby, says mayor Tom Anders Ludvigsen. He hopes that faster railways will also increase commuting into the municipality, not just by people living here and going to work elsewhere. The new cultural center in Vestby has cost half a billion kroner. The planned opening is in the autumn. Photo: Julie Helene Günther / news Directly opposite the town hall, a new cultural center worth over NOK 500 million is ready to open in a few months, and a large shopping center marks the horizon behind a huge construction pit. There will be 500 apartments here, set up by the property company Bonava, where Matilda Vinje is regional manager. Matilda Vinje at the developer Bonava believes in the Follo region and the effect of the Follobanen. Photo: Lars Håkon Pedersen / news – We see that the axis south from Oslo through Follo is interesting for several developers, not least because of the Follobanen. There will also be more affordable apartments than closer to Oslo, she says. She also points out that the municipality has been forward-leaning and benevolent in the project phase. Now all that is needed is for Bane Nor to fix it so that the trains can go through the new tunnel.
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Planning 24,000 homes in Follo – news Oslo and Viken – Local news, TV and radio
