Transportation
A present and historical key to land transportation to Narvik is the Ofoten Line railroad from northern Sweden across the mountains to this port town. Goods like iron ore shipped via this railroad make Narvik an important seaport. The railroad has stops at Bjørnfjell Station, Katterat Station, Søsterbekk Station, and Narvik Station.
The port of Narvik is ice-free and well protected from the weather. The port consists of three waterfront sections: LKAB bulk port, central port area with piers and deep-water harbor at Fagernes with intermodal facilities. Approximately 16,000,000 tonnes (16,000,000 long tons; 18,000,000 short tons) of cargo are annually shipped from the ports of Narvik. Most of this iron ore.
Port Authorities have initiated an expansion of the container area of approximately 45,000 square metres (11 acres), which is more than twice Norways largest terminal in Oslo today handles. In 2005, the port of Narvik got status as Motorways of the Sea in the EU-system. In Norway, Oslo is the only city which have this status in addition to Narvik.
Hurtigruten or "Hurtigruta" (literally "Express Route", but sometimes referred to as "Norwegian Coastal Express" in English) is headquartered in Narvik. However, Hurtigruten do not have any regular sailings to Narvik.
Because of the extreme terrain there, there are no railroads northwards from Narvik or south to Bodø, Norway, which is at the northern end of the rest of Norway's railroad network. However, it is possible to reach Narvik by way of an approximately twenty-hour 1,540-kilometre (960 mi) train ride through the Swedish rail system from Stockholm.
The activity related to the railway and large port facilities are still important in Narvik, and goods to and from North Norway, Sweden, and Finland are often distributed via Narvik. In the proposed project called the "Northern East West Freight Corridor" portion of the Eurasian Land Bridge, there are plans for using Narvik as a port for goods from East Asia bound for eastern North America. The reason is that the railroad and ocean distances for these are shorter than though central Europe to Western European ports.
European route E6 crosses through the municipality using three bridges: Skjomen Bridge, Beisfjord Bridge, and Rombak Bridge. There is also the proposed Hålogaland Bridge that will cross the Rombaken fjord. Narvik is served by two airports: the small Narvik Airport, Framnes just outside the city centre has a short runway and is served by De Havilland DHC-8 100 aircraft with regular flights to Bodø. The larger and more capable Harstad/Narvik Airport, Evenes is 80 kilometres (50 mi) by road from Narvik and have regular flights to Oslo, Trondheim, Bodø and Tromsø.
There are highway connections from Narvik across the mountains eastwards to Abisko and Kiruna, Sweden (via European route E10).
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