The Jæren Line () was a long railway line between Stavanger and Egersund in Jæren, Norway. The name is no longer in official use and the section is regarded as the westernmost part of the Sørlandet Line. Owned by Bane NOR, the line has double track from Stavanger Station to Sandnes Station, and single track from Sandnes to Egersund Station. The line is electrified at and equipped with centralized traffic control and GSM-R. The line is served by the Jæren Commuter Rail and intercity trains along the Sørlandet Line, both operated by Go-Ahead Norge. CargoNet runs container freight trains on the line, which terminate at Ganddal Freight Terminal.
The line opened as a narrow gauge stand-alone line on 27 February 1878. The railway was extended from Egersund to Flekkefjord as the Flekkefjord Line in 1904. The Jæren Line's only branch, the Ålgård Line from Ganddal to Ålgård, opened in 1924. In 1944, the Sørlandet Line was extended to Sira on the Flekkefjord Line, and the Jæren Line was integrated in the main railway network. Because of this, the line was converted to standard gauge.
Route
thumb|left|Map of the Jæren Line and the [[Ålgård Line]]
The Jæren Line constitutes the section of the Sørlandet Line between Stavanger and Egersund. At the time of the line's opening, it was long, but has since the 1950s been long. The railway is double track on the section from Stavanger Station to Sandnes Station, and single track from there to Egersund Station. The line is electrified at and equipped with centralized traffic control, automatic train stop, and GSM-R. The railway line is owned and maintained by the Norwegian National Rail Administration, a government agency.
The zero marker for the line is located at Stavanger Station, which is from Oslo Central Station and located above mean sea level (AMSL). Previously there was a branch just south of the station which ran through a long tunnel before reaching the port. The first station after Stavanger is Paradis Station ( from Stavanger Station). The line runs past the closed Hillevåg Station and a closed spur to an industrial area at Mariero before reaching Mariero Station (). The line continues past the closed Lyngnes Station, a closed spur to Sørbø Trelast and the closed Vaulen Station. the line immediately afterwards reaches Jåttåvågen Station (), which also serves the stadium and the newly redeveloped area of Jåtten.
The line continues past Gausel Station (), which in addition to serving a redeveloped area serves as a major transfer hub for buses towards Forus and Sola. which previously also included a branch to the port in Sandnes. The next station on the mainline are the closed Skjæveland Station and Orstad Station, followed by the operating Øksnevadporten Station (). South of there lays to spurs, to Øksnevad, Kvarnaland and Block Watne. The line continues past the closed Engjelsvåg Station before reaching Klepp Station (). The line continues past the closed Leland Station and the closed Tumarki Station before having a closed spur to Varheia. After passing the closed Vardheia Station, the line reaches Bryne Station ().
At Ogna there is a distinct change to the landscape, as it changes from a flat to a hilly. Particularly between Bryne and Ogna, the line have a large curve radius, but between Ogna and Egersund this changes to much tighter curvature. After Ogna the line crosses Ognaelv and runs through the long Sirevåg Tunnel before reaching Sirevåg Station (). The line then runs through two tunnels before passing the closed Vatnamot Station and reaching Hellvik Station (). The line continues through six tunnels, the longest being , before passing the closed Maurholen Station. It then passes through four more tunnels and two bridges before reaching Egersund Station ().
History
thumb|left|The narrow-gauged Jæren Line and a windmill at Hå in 1912
Construction
During the 19th century, transport along the Jæren coast was dominated by ship. Some simple roads had been built, but these were insufficient for quick and efficient transport. In the mid-19th century, the roads were improved, and ideas were launched to start a traction engine service along the coast. At an 1866 meeting at the sheriff's office in, Forest Manager Andreas Tanberg Gløersen launched the first idea of building a railway to connect Stavanger and Egersund. Gløersen had been to the Netherlands where he had taken and observed train operations. Later the same year, a meeting was held with representatives from Hå Municipality, Klepp Municipality, and Time Municipality.
The meeting concluded that a railway should be built, and the responsibility for the preparatory work was given to County Governor Vilhelm Ludvig Herman von Munthe af Morgenstierne. He started by conducting traffic counting throughout the district. This resulted in an estimate for a revenue of NOK 215,000 and a cost of NOK 153,000 per year. Originally the proposal was to connect the various villages in Jæren together. But during planning, national authorities stated that the line would be part of a trans-national railway that would connect Rogaland to Eastern Norway. This resulted in the railway being planned with a straighter profile and running via fewer communities.
thumb|left|The narrow-gauged Jæren Line near [[Ogna in 1908]]
The proposal was sent to the Ministry of the Interior, who recommended the line and presented it to Parliament on 6 May 1874. Parliament passed legislation to build the line on 3 June 1874. The "Blue Line" proposal ran along the waterfront, but would require two different stations in Sandnes. The "Red Line" proposal ran midway through the town center, splitting it in two. However, it gave only a single station, and was eventually chosen, after the municipal council initially had supported the Blue Line.
Construction started in October 1874 on the section between Forus and Gausel. Tracks were shipped to Norestraen, which was the southernmost docks which were sufficiently deep to allow the ships. The line opened on 27 February 1878, The line was proposed to be built via the Vestfold Line to Skien and onwards along the south coast before connecting with the Jæren Line at Egersund. However, Norway was hit by the Depression of 1882–85, which reduced railway construction to a minimum. In addition, controversy arose over which route should be chosen through Agder: along the populated coast or through the sparsely populated interior. This issue kept the line at bay, and not until 1908 was a decision made in favor of the interior route.
In 1894, the Railway Committee recommended parliament to prioritize three new lines, the Bergen Line, the Rauma Line and the Gjøvik Line. However, this met protests from representatives from Agder, and it became clear that there would not be a majority to build the Bergen Line unless part of the Sørlandet Line was built. Jørgen Løvland proposed a compromise in which the Flekkefjord Line be built from Egersund to Flekkefjord, as the first part of the Sørlandet Line, as well as the Treungen Line. The Flekkefjord Line opened on 31 October 1904. The same year, stations were opened at Forus and Gausel. Instead, the ministry wanted to again consider the Ålgård Line as part of the Sørlandet Line, and proposed that the Ålgård Line be built with standard gauge—which would be used for the Sørlandet Line—instead of the narrow gauge used by the Jæren Line. However, there would be no need for standard gauge until the Sørlandet Line was extended to Rogaland, so the line was planned to be built with narrow gauge track, but all other installations would be prepared for standard gauge. The first train to operate on the line went from Stavanger on 20 December 1924, and the Ålgård Line became the last state-owned railway in Norway to be opened with narrow gauge. Not until 1930 was a branch built from the railway station in Sandnes to the port. The conversion itself took only two days, during which the line was closed. On 29 April 1944, a test train was run from Sira to Stavanger. The upgrade was officially opened on 1 May, after which the Jæren Line was connected to Oslo, and considered part of the Sørlandet Line. When the Jæren Line was built, the station in Egersund was located in the city center. With the opening of the Sørlandet Line, a new station was built north of the city center. The old station remained in use, despite being located on a dead-end track, as it was served by trains terminating in Egersund. However, this section of line was not converted to standard gauge until 1948. Passenger traffic was terminated from 25 September 1952, although the spur remained in use as a port line until 1986. After these changes, including the move of the station in Egersund, the Jæren Line was reduced to a length of . New stations were established at Varden and Vardheia in 1956, On 3 June 1956, the Jæren Line received electric traction. With electrification, NSB introduced three weekly services with the Class 66 multiple units, which were capable of , but the service did not generate sufficient patronage and was terminated in 1958. The remaining long-haul trains were hauled using El 11 locomotives. They were from the 1960s supplemented with El 13 locomotives. The electrification also saw the introduction of electric multiple units for local trains. Originally this consisted of Class 65 and five Class 67. In 1960, the Class 67 units were swapped with Class 68 units.
After the Ofoten Line, the Jæren Line was the first line in Norway to receive centralized traffic control, which was taken into use on 20 March 1964. The section from Sandnes to Egersund followed suit on 7 July.
Automatic train stop was introduced on 30 December 1986. with the introduction of El 18. In 1991, four Class 69 units were introduced on trains between Egersund and Stavanger, and in 1994, two renovated Class 69 units were moved from Eastern Norway and put into service between Kristiansand and Stavanger. The Scanet train radio system was installed between 1993 and 1996.
Commuter rail and double track
thumb|[[Hellvik Station]]
The commuter rail system was introduced from 1 January 1992, after an agreement between NSB, Rogaland County Municipality and the six municipalities along the line. NSB introduced new Class 69 multiple units, while the county municipality introduced a fare coordination with the corresponding bus services. The increase in service involved 15 departures per direction per day, and the travel time from Stavanger to Egersund was reduced from 80 to 55 minutes. In addition, NSB introduced a half-hour headway between Stavanger and Sandnes. The stations were upgraded, including new sheds. A new station, Sandnes Sentrum, was opened in the city center of Sandnes. At the same time, the stations with the least patronage, Hognestad and Lyngnes, were closed. In 1993, NSB won Statens Byggeskikkpris, among other things for the new sheds on the Jæren Line. In 1997, NSB announced that they would order 36 new electric multiple units, which would among other things replace the aging trains on the Jæren Line. The new Class 72 trains were put into service on 8 August 2002, several years after schedule. In April 2004, the rail administration opened Jåttå Station, which was located close to Viking Stadion, the new home ground of the Norwegian Premier League side Viking FK. On 2 January 2007, the Scanet train radio system was replaced with GSM-R. The primary goal of the project was to increase capacity and build stations in areas with transit-oriented development. Travel time between Stavanger and Sandnes was only reduced with four minutes. Construction was done by adding another tack adjacent to the existing one, rather than building a new right-of-way. The upgrades included the construction of of low noise barriers and of conventional high noise barriers. The upgrades were made in such a way that a future tram-train can run on the route. All intermediate stations were built in such a way that they later could be adapted to also serve the light rail service. The route is built to allow the light rail service to enter and leave the Jæren Line at Lura, Gausel, Hinna and Stavager. In addition to Jåttåvågen Station, a number of bridges were built. The area is a growth area for Stavanger, with the station being located next to Viking Stadion, Jåttå Upper Secondary School and several large workplaces. Jåttåvågen Station opened on 6 January 2008.
Construction of the section from Jåttåvågen to Lurahammaren started in March 2007, while the section from Lurahammaren to Sandnes started in September 2007. The latter is the narrowest part of the line and required the construction of several new bridges. Lurahammaren Tunnel was widened to allow double track, a new bridge was built over the intersection og Langgaten–Strandgaten, a new bridge was built over County Road 44 at Lura, the technical facilities at Sandnes Station were upgraded, and the tracks to the port in Sandnes were removed. Construction on the section between Stavanger and Hinna started in April 2008. As there was already a double track between Kvaleberg and Stavanger Station, only the southern part of the route received new track. However, the existing part was subject to technical upgrades and a new station was built at Paradis to serve the southern part the downtown area. The new line was opened on 16 November 2009 and from 14 December, the 15-minute headway was introduced between Stavanger and Sandnes. Because of this, the signaling system at the terminal is operated manually and therefore cannot be used with full capacity.
Service
thumb|Two [[NSB Class 72|Class 72 trains of the Jæren Commuter Rail at Sandnes Sentrum Station]]
The Jæren Commuter Rail is a local services operated by Go-Ahead Norge between Stavanger and Egersund. The service between Stavanger and Sandnes operate with a fixed schedule every 15 minutes. Of the trains to Sandnes, half continue onwards to Nærbø, giving a 30-minute headway. One train per hour operate all the way to Egersund. On weekends and late evenings, there is a reduced service. Travel time from Stavanger to Sandnes is 19 minutes, from Stavanger to Nærbø is 37 minutes, and from Stavanger to Egersund is 1-hour and 7 minutes. The operating deficits are covered through subsidies by the Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications. Go-Ahead uses four-car NSB Class 72 electric multiple units on the service. As of 2011, the service has a weekly ridership of 74,000.
Go-Ahead also operates up to eight daily intercity services to Kristiansand. Up to five of these services continue onwards to Oslo. Travel time from Stavanger to Kristiansand is 3 hours, while travel time all the way to Oslo is seven and a half hours. One of the services to Oslo is a night train. Intercity trains along the Jæren Line only call at Egersund, Bryne, Sandnes Sentrum and Stavanger, with travel time from Stavanger to Egersund being slightly less than an hour. CargoNet operates up to five container freight trains from Oslo per day and one from Drammen per day to Ganddal Freight Terminal.
Future
Plans have been made which call for either doubling or tripling the frequency on all the services on the existing commuter rail network. However, increased frequency south of Sandnes will require double track. Should the frequency be doubled, double track would have to be built to where the current service to Nærbø terminates. Plans call for these trains to possibly be extended to either Varhaug or Vigrestad. Should the frequency be tripled, double track would be needed all the way to Egersund. Parts of the Jæren Line is straight enough to permit speeds between . However, several shorter parts need to be rebuilt to allow this, particularly between Egersund and Ogna, and from Bryne to Ganddal. In particular, the section from Ogna to Egersund would probably have to follow an all-new route, should it be rebuilt to double track. The effect of higher maximum speeds is greatest for intercity trains, as the commuter trains have so frequent stops they spend little time at maximum speed. The annual traffic potential for the Ålgård Line is 600,000 passengers. Plans call for stations at Vagle, Figgjo, Kongeparken and Ålgård. It is possible to continue the trains that currently terminate at Sandnes to Ålgård without new infrastructure investments to the Sørlandet Line. However, the Ålgård Line would need a full upgrade, including new tracks, electric system and signaling. Ålgård is also a good location for a park and ride for European Road E39.
A branch to Sola has been considered to allow the trains to operate to Sola and Stavanger Airport, Sola. The line would branch from the Sørlandet Line south of Gausel, and be built so trains from the branch could run both northwards and southwards. Proposed stations include the airport, Solakrossen, Forus West, Statoil's head office and possibly the shopping center Kvadrat. This would give a travel time of 17 minutes from the airport to the city center, and 10 minutes from the airport to Sandnes. This route has, however, also been proposed as part of the light rail system. It is estimated to generate 2.5 million passengers annually.
Rogaland County Municipality is planning a light rail for Greater Stavanger. The initial plans call for a Y-shaped service which could be operational by 2018, with possibilities for further expansion. As of 2010, the plans call for a line from Stavanger to Sandnes, and a branch to the airport. The travel time from Sandnes to Stavanger would be 29 minutes, and is therefore a supplement to the commuter rail. The light rail would have interchange with the Jæren Line at Stavanger, Paradis, Jåttåvågen, Gausel and Sandnes Sentrum. Several new branches of the light rail have been proposed for later construction.
On 15 December 2019 operation of the line will pass from Vy to Go-Ahead Norge.
See also
- Narrow gauge railways in Norway
References
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