Oslo Tunnel - Future

Future

The Oslo Tunnel is the largest bottle-neck in the railway system in Norway, and delays caused around the tunnel can spread throughout the whole network. The National Rail Administration has stated that until at the earliest 2040, it is unnecessary with more capacity through the West Corridor, i.e. running west of Oslo. This includes possible ungraded to the railway lines around Oslo, such as high-speed lines along the Østfold and Vestfold Lines, and to Lillehammer. In 2012, after the completion of the Asker Line, a new schedule plan has been proposed. NSB, the Airport Express Train and CargoNet have all asked for more slots through the tunnel than is available. One possible solution is to decrease the reserve capacity, thus increasing the capacity from 24 to 30 trains per hour per direction. However, the tunnel is already characterized as "critically overloaded".

Should a new tunnel be built, it would not necessarily run next to the Oslo Tunnel. One proposal from the National Rail Administration calls for a separate commuter train station to be built underground, at the location of Oslo Bus Terminal, within walking distance of Oslo S. This proposal involves the line connecting to the existing route before reaching Nationaltheatret. Norsk Bane have called for a line to run further north, and serve Majorstuen, where there is a major metro and tramway hub. Norsk Bane also call for the tunnel to be built for higher speeds, and state that it is necessary to build high-speed rail to Bergen and Stavanger. Combined with a new line from Drammen to the tunnel, it would allow travel time from Drammen and Oslo to be reduced to 18 minutes.