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The Røros Line (Norwegian: Rørosbanen) is a 383 km long railway line in Norway running between the towns of Hamar and Støren via Elverum and Røros. It connects to the Dovre Line at Hamar to Oslo and at Støren to Trondheim. The narrow gauge line was opened in 1877, running between Hamar and Trondheim, a total of 431 km. With the opening of the Dovre Line in 1921, the northern section from Støren to Trondheim became a part of this line. The line is owned by the Norwegian National Rail Administration.
RouteThe Røros Line follows the Østerdal valley, running alongside the River Glomma for much of the way. In terms of the Norwegian railway system the Røros Line is a secondary route between Oslo and Trondheim, the primary route between those two places being by way of the Dovre Line. As well as being connected to the Dovre Line, the line also has connections to the Meråker Line (at Trondheim) and the Solør Line (at Elverum). The summit of the line, at Harborg, is 670 metres above sea level—a fairly low elevation for a Norwegian main line. The Røros Line is Norway's second longest stretch of unelectrified railway, the longest being the Nordland Line. Today, passenger trains on the Røros Line are operated exclusively by small diesel multiple units of the types BM92 and BM93 operated by Norges Statsbaner. HistoryRørosbanen was built between 1862 and 1877. The first part, between Hamar and Elverum (Grundset) opened as the Hamar–Grundset Line (38 km) in 1862, and was later extended to Rena (Aamot) as Aamotbanen (26 km) in 1871. The northern part was opened as Trondhjem–Støren Line (49 km) in 1864. The Røros Line itself was built in sections from north and south, Rena–Koppang (56 km) opened in 1875, Støren–Singsås (30 km) in 1876, Singsås–Røros (79 km), and Røros–Koppang (153 km) in 1877. On 14 August 1877 the lines from south and north was connected at the farm Skjøten in Alvdal, and the official opening of Rørosbanen took place at Røros on 13 October 1877. The route is Norway's oldest mainline railway, defined as one connecting two regions of the country: in this instance eastern and central Norway. The connection southwards from Hamar was with boat over the lake Mjøsa to Eidsvoll, and the Hoved Line to Oslo (Kristiania). The railway connection between Eidsvoll and Hamar opened as Eidsvold–Hamar Line in 1880. GaugeAt the time of the construction of Rørosbanen, there was a gauge controversy in Norway. While the Hoved Line already in 1854 had been built with standard gauge, it was argued, notably by railway director Carl A. Pihl, that narrow gauge was more suitable for Norwegian landscape and also less expensive. Unfortunately, this became the choice for the Røros Line, and all other lines constructed in Norway in years to come, unless they connected to the Swedish railways. The extension of Hoved Line to Hamar (1880) was built with standard gauge and caused an inconvenient break-of-gauge for transport at the Røros Line, and a change to standard gauge was debated repeatedly, however without any decision made. For the opening of the Dovre Line in 1921, the Støren to Trondheim section was transferred to standard gauge, leaving the Røros Line with break-of-gauges at both terminals, and eventually it was decided to convert the line as well. The Hamar to Koppang line was ready in 1931, but it would take another 10 years until the Koppang to Støren line was converted by the Germans during the war in 1941. Åsta AccidentThe Åsta accident occurred on 4 January 2000, a northbound Type 92 multiple unit and a southbound passenger train headed by a Di 3 locomotive collided on the line near Åsta Station, killing 19 people. The accident caused a temporary closure of the route while the line's safety was investigated. The Røros Line being a non-electrified line, the method of cutting the power to trains seen to be on a collision course was not available. Furthermore, the line was not equipped with Automatic Train Control. When the train traffic controller became aware that the trains involved were heading for a collision he tried to send a warning to the train drivers by mobile phone, but the phone numbers were either wrong or did not work. There was controversy in the aftermath about whether the driver of the northbound train had ignored or overlooked a red danger signal or whether the signal system itself was faulty. [1] Future developmentsThe Røros Line competes for traffic with a main road through the Østerdal and some people have called for the permanent closure of the line to save money, arguing that trucks and buses can handle the extra traffic if the line is closed. Other people have opposed such a closure. [2] There are plans for a completely new high speed railway net in Norway. In 2007, a German university suggested that the high speed Oslo–Trondheim railway should follow the Røros Line route. This would be cheaper than along the Dovre Line, as the terrain is easier in Østerdalen compared to Gudbrandsdalen, and the distance is shorter. The cities along the present main Dovre Line are rather small. See High-speed rail in Norway. Photographs
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