– Postponing the project for 13 years is not an option and cannot be allowed to stand. That’s what mayor Hege Eide Vik (Sp) in Vaksdal says. For many years, both local, regional and national politicians have fought for two major developments that will make the Bergen Railway faster and safer: The Ringeriks Railway, with a new tunnel between Oslo and Hønefoss, will cut the travel time on the Bergen Railway by about one hour. A new railway route between Arna and Stanghelle east of Bergen is necessary to provide landslide-safe train transport on a section that is highly prone to landslides. If a new route Stanghelle-Voss is also built later, the journey time Bergen-Voss will be reduced from 63 to 24 minutes. – The disappointment of the times The Arna-Stanghelle development has all along been planned as a joint development of the new E16 and new railway in parallel, where the tunnels will act as escape routes for each other. On 31 March – the last day before the Palm weekend – there was a political storm against the Norwegian Public Roads Administration not wanting to prioritize the new E16 on that stretch. County mayor Jon Askeland (Sp) called it “the disappointment of the times – so shocking that I have trouble finding words for my anger.” He thinks the same about the fact that the Directorate of Railways also downgrades Arna-Stanghelle in its contribution to the updated National Transport Plan (NTP) for the years 2025-2036. With the financial framework from the government, the directorate believes that both major developments on the Bergen Line must be postponed. Arna-Stanghelle east of Bergen will not start construction until after 2036. Ringeriksbanen Oslo-Hønefoss will start construction after 2030 at the earliest. – Large projects must be pushed forward somewhat, says railway director Knut Sletta. Railway director Knut Sletta prioritizes maintenance over new developments on the Bergen Railway or elsewhere. Photo: Jon P Petrusson / news / Jon Petrusson Maintenance backlog The big projects on the Bergen Railway are put on hold in order to raise money for operation and maintenance and overcome all the adjustments and delays that are due to old facilities. The fact that the major projects on the Bergen Railway have been relegated to obscurity is due to a clear choice by the Norwegian Railway Directorate and Bane Nor. They would rather take care of what they have than start new prestige projects. – We prioritize implementing what has been set in motion in terms of supply improvements. At the same time, we prioritize operational stability through renewal and maintenance, says Sletta. news has previously reported that the railway fell into disrepair faster than Bane Nor managed to renew old facilities. Especially in and around Oslo, thousands of travelers are injured when the train stops because worn conductors fall down and old signaling systems fail. – We have to work to reduce the maintenance backlog in order to increase the regularity of trains, says Sletta. Hope and hopelessness The campaign for the improvement of the Bergen Railway has been a decades-long roller-coaster of political promises and broken promises. Especially the 150-year-old vision of the Ringeriksbanen, which is still not finished. Last spring, it was nevertheless assumed that construction work on Arna-Stanghelle could start in 2023-2024. Two months later, the Directorate of Railways placed the Arna-Stanghelle section at the very top of its wish list. And almost all the land acquisition has been completed: the state has almost finished buying out 38 houses that must be demolished. The expropriation will cost the state around NOK 200 million. But in the fall of last year, the government announced that it would not set aside funds for the start of construction either in 2023 or 2024. 13 more years And now the Norwegian Railway Directorate cannot find room for Arna-Stanghelle for the next 13 years. – It will require a higher financial framework in order to be realized in the second six-year period of NTP, says Sletta. He explains that Arna-Stanghelle has gone from being the highest priority last year to falling off the list now: – In the portfolio prioritization last year, we emphasized that Arna-Stanghelle was the project that had come the furthest in the planning. In the NTP prioritization, socio-economic benefit is an important criterion, and there Arna-Stanghelle is rated lower than other projects. New E16 and double-track railway is planned between Arna and Stanghelle east of Bergen, mostly in a tunnel the whole way. Photo: Red Ant/Statens vegvesen The Norwegian Road Administration: – I am excited Development director Kjell Inge Davik in the Norwegian Road Administration explains why they do not prioritize Arna-Stanghelle, even though the project is as good as “ready to go”: – We have given input to NTP based on very tight framework from the Ministry of Transport, says – How serious is it that they do not prioritize the project? – It is no more serious than that I have responded to a task from the ministry. The Storting will decide in a year’s time what the final answer will be about Arna-Stanghelle. He emphasizes that the road service is governed by the annual state budget and other political signals. – The government will not start any new projects in 2023, simply because the national economy is challenging. Development director Kjell Inge Davik in the National Roads Administration wants the Arna-Stanghelle development, but has not prioritized it in his contribution to the new National Transport Plan. Photo: Leif Rune Løland / news Davik is nevertheless an optimist, and points out that the new road and railway Arna-Stanghelle was the only project that received extra permits in the government’s agreement with SV on the state budget for 2023. – I am very happy about that. Then we can continue the preparations until construction starts. I am excited to see what is said about this project in the 2024 budget that the government presents in October. He cannot answer what will happen if Arna-Stanghelle is stopped, after 38 residential buildings have been expropriated. – It will be a hypothetical question. It is quite common for us to expropriate properties even if no political investment decision has been made. It is needed to be able to start a project. The project manager: – Working further Katrine Erstad is the project manager for the joint project for new road and railway Arna-Stanghelle. – We continue to work as planned until the situation is clarified politically. With the fact that we have received NOK 200 million for 2023. When it comes to expropriation, she says that of the 38 home owners, only three remain with whom the state has not entered into an agreement or is in dialogue with. “But none of the houses have been demolished yet. Many homeowners still live there, with a date for moving out.” Erstad does not think that the planning work has been in vain when the framework from the ministry means that neither the Directorate of Railways nor the National Road Administration prioritizes Arna-Stanghelle in their NTP proposals. – We are politically governed and are used to it. – Postponing the new railway and E16 Arna-Stanghelle for 13 years is not an option, says Vaksdal mayor Hege Eide Vik. Photo: Mette Anthun Life, health and utility The Vaksdal mayor does not accept the postponement proposal from either the Norwegian Public Roads Administration or the Norwegian Railway Directorate. – There is broad political agreement on this project. Today’s road and track cannot race faster. Then a new route must come as soon as possible to ensure life and health and safe travel conditions for people and goods transport, says Vik. She believes that the criterion of socio-economic benefit used by the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Finance gives the wrong result. – We have to prioritize life and health when we have to spend limited funds on transport, and around the big cities and between Norway’s two biggest cities we have to invest in trains. There is great value creation in Western Norway, and it would be a good use of money to invest in predictable roads and railways to ensure transport between Bergen and Oslo. Vik believes that the financial framework the government has given for transport development is too tight. – If we are to achieve such an investment, more money must be allocated to the railway in the first six-year period. Then she believes that projects such as Intercity Bergen-Voss and the Ringeriksbanen can be prioritized. – A total of one and a half hours reduced travel time will make Bergensbanen future-proof, climate-friendly and race-safe, says Vik. The new E16 and Vossebahn joint project between Arna and Stanghelle Illustration: Norwegian Road Administration The development of the new E16 and Vossebahn between Arna and Stanghelle is Norway’s largest tunnel project. A total of 80 kilometers of road and rail tunnels will be built. The price tag is NOK 26.4 billion, with the road costing NOK 13.7 billion and the railway costing NOK 12.7 billion. Several billions are saved by the development taking place in parallel. Today, the stretch is very prone to landslides and accidents. The E16 between Bergen and Voss is the most landslide-prone European road in Norway. – A new E16 and the Vossebanen Arna-Stanghelle will provide increased traffic safety, predictable transport, increased capacity for goods on the track and reduced travel time, according to the National Road Administration and Bane Nor. They summarize the background for the development as follows: Arna-Stanghelle-Voss is an important part of the main corridor for transport between Bergen and Oslo, both by road and rail. Today, the road and railway section is characterized by low standards, tunnels in great need of maintenance and upgrades, and areas prone to landslides. This results in an inefficient and predictable travel route for road users and businesses and large costs for society. In addition, there are many traffic jams. The main problem is especially the many serious collision accidents. The state zoning plan was approved by the Ministry of Local Government and Districts on 01.04.2022. The project is prioritized in the first part of the National Transport Plan (2022–2033) and with the necessary permits construction would be possible to start in 2024. In the autumn of 2022 the Ap/Sp government removed the money for further planning of the project and therefore postponed the development indefinitely.
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The director of railways will postpone the new and safe railway Arna-Stanghelle until after 2036 – news Vestland
