Kongsvinger Line - The Line

The Line

At Kongsvinger there is a junction, the main line turns south and continues to Charlottenberg in Sweden, while another line, the Solør Line—now closed for passenger traffic—runs northwards to Elverum. The entire stretch between Kongsvinger and Charlottenberg, is 115 km long.

At Sørumsand, an old narrow gauge heritage railway called Tertitten operates during the summer.

Passenger service on the Kongsvinger Line is operated mostly by electric multiple unit commuter trains which run between Oslo and Årnes, with a few trains continuing to Kongsvinger. Passenger service across the border was once frequent and operated by Linx to Stockholm and Kungspilen to Karlstad. However poor business caused these companies to cease operations after 2004. During 2005 and 2006, passenger service between Oslo and Stockholm still existed, but not on a daily basis.

Passenger service across the border is again frequent. Starting 7 January 2007 the Swedish national rail company SJ reinstated daily traffic on the route, although the train journeys are 90 minutes longer than Linx provided, partly because they stop at several stops in Norway and operate as local trains, allowing commuter tickets. The local traffic authority in Värmland operates trains with a similar traffic pattern between Oslo and Karlstad. They have connection with X 2000 high speed trains between Karlstad and Stockholm. The Swedish trains have between Oslo-Kongsvinger replaced some Norwegian local trains, and the Swedish operators get Norwegian funding, on the condition they operate like local trains in Norway.