Rørosbanen

Rørosbanen is a 431 km long Norwegian railway line between Hamar (connected to Oslo by means of Hovedbanen) and Trondheim via the towns of Elverum and Røros.

The Line

Rørosbanen goes through Østerdalen and follows the Glomma river for a long stretch. In the Norwegian railway system Rørosbanen is the secondary line between Oslo and Trondheim, Dovrebanen being the primary line.

The line is connected to Meråkerbanen, Dovrebanen and Solørbanen. The maximum elevation, at Harborg, is 670 metres above sea level, a fairly low maximum height for a Norwegian main line. Rørosbanen is Norway's second longest stretch of unelectrified railway, the longest being Nordlandsbanen.

Today, passenger trains on Rørosbanen are operated exclusively by small diesel multiple units.

History and 2000 disaster

Rørosbanen was built between 1862 and 1877, the official opening was October 13 1877. It is Norway's oldest main railway, i.e. one connecting two parts of the country, in this instance eastern Norway and central Norway. Originally Rørosbanen was a narrow gauge railway with a 1067 mm gauge, the line was upgraded to standard gauge (1435 mm) between 1917 and 1941.

On January 4 2000, two passenger trains collided on this line, killing 19 people. The accident caused a temporary closure of the line, as the lines safety was investigated. Since Rørosbanen was not electrified, the method of pulling the plug on trains on collision course was unavailable. Rørosbanen was not equipped with automatic train control either. When the train traffic controller noticed that the trains were on collision course he tried to a warning to the train drivers by mobile phone, but the phone numbers were either wrong or missing. In the aftermath there was controversy on whether the driver on the northbound train had ignored or overlooked a red danger signal, or if the signal system was faulty.

Rørosbanen competes with a main road through Østerdalen for traffic and some people have called for the line's permanent shutdown to save money, arguing that the trucks and busses can handle the extra traffic if the line is closed.