History
When the Parliament of Norway decided on 8 October 1992 to build a new central airport for Eastern Norway, they also decided that the main mode of ground transport to the airport should be by railway. While the previous airport, Oslo Airport, Fornebu, was located just outside the city limits; the new Oslo Airport, Gardermoen, would be located some 50 kilometers north of the city, outside the reach of the existing public transport systems. The political agreement to build the airport stated that the costs of construction should not be borne by the tax payers. As a result, the entire airport was financed with money borrowed through Oslo Lufthavn AS, a subsidiary of the Norwegian Airport Administration. The same principle was chosen for the airport rail link. The Norwegian State Railways (NSB) created the subsidiary, NSB Gardermobanen AS, on 24 November 1992 to perform the construction of the line. This company would be able to charge train operators using the railway line; and could use this income to cover its down payments and interest on the debt created to pay for the infrastructure investment. It was planned to give a profit margin of 7.5%.
In 1996 NSB Gardermoen stated that they expected to charge commuter and intercity trains 100 million Norwegian krone per year to use the new line. County politicians in Akershus stated that it was not reasonable for commuters to have to pay for the new railway. Early estimates showed that this would almost double to price from Oslo to Eidsvoll, and that passengers would have different prices, depending on which route they followed. Stor-Oslo Lokaltrafikk, which was responsible for buses in Akershus, stated that they had no way to influence NSB's prices, but that they would consider starting a coach service along the route, which would not charge the surcharge.
Read more about this topic: Gardermoen Line
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