Ulriken Tunnel
The Ulriken Tunnel (Norwegian: Ulrikstunnelen) is a railway tunnel on the Bergen Line between Bergen Station and Arna Station in Bergen Municipality in Vestland county, Norway.
 Entrance from Arna Station | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Line | Bergen Line |
| Location | Bergen, Norway |
| System | Norwegian railway |
| Start | Arna Station |
| End | Bergen Station |
| Operation | |
| Opened | 1964 |
| Owner | Norwegian National Rail Administration |
| Operator | Norwegian State Railways CargoNet |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 7,670 meters (25,160 ft) |
| No. of tracks | Single track |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) |
| Electrified | 15 kV 16.7 Hz AC |
| Operating speed | Max. 130 km/h (old tunnel), 160 km/h (new tunnel) |
Original (Old) Tunnel
The existing 7,670-meter (25,160 ft) long tunnel runs under the northern part of the mountain Ulriken in Bergen. Before the tunnel was opened in 1964, the Bergen Line ran via Nesttun. This stretch is now a heritage railway, the Old Voss Line. The tunnel has single track and is electrified.
New Tunnel
The Norwegian National Rail Administration has plans for building a second tunnel through the mountain.[1] Work on boring the 7.7km tunnel began in January 2016 and it is the first in Norway to use a tunnel boring machine. On August 29, 2017 infrastructure manager Bane Nor and contractors Strabag and Skanska celebrated the successful completion of boring the New Tunnel. The next step is to blow 16 crossings from the New to the Old tunnel, and to fit out the tunnel ready for use by railway traffic. Completion of the new double-track tunnel is expected in 2020.[2]
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ulriken Tunnel. |
- Aagesen, Ragnhild (21 September 2010). "Bergen-Arna" (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 20 September 2011. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
- Smith, Kevin. "Norway celebrates Ulriken tunnel breakthrough". Retrieved 2017-09-04.