Jernbaneverket

Not to be confused with the Swedish rail administration Banverket.
Jernbaneverket
Company typeGovernment agency
IndustryRailway infrastructure
Founded1996
Defunct2016
FateClosed by the Government of Norway, assets were transferred to Bane NOR and the Norwegian Railway Directorate.
SuccessorsBane NOR
Norwegian Railway Directorate (Jernbanedirektoratet)
HeadquartersOslo, Norway
Area served
Norway
Key people
Elisabeth Enger (Director)
ParentNorwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications
Websitewww.jernbaneverket.no
(Redirects to www.banenor.no)

Jernbaneverket (lit. 'the railway administration') was a government agency responsible for owning, maintaining, operating and developing the Norwegian railway network, including the track, stations, classification yards, traffic management and timetables.[1] Safety oversight was the duty of the Norwegian Railway Inspectorate,[2] while numerous operating companies run trains on the lines; the largest being the state owned passenger company Vy (formerly NSB) and the freight company CargoNet.[3]

The administration operated all railways in Norway, except public station areas and freight terminals built before 1997 and private sidings. All track is standard gauge, with a total of 4,230 kilometres (2,630 mi), of which 2,498 kilometres (1,552 mi) is electrified, and 245 kilometres (152 mi) is double track.[4] The Norwegian Railway Museum was a subsidiary of the rail administration.[5]

On 1 December 1996, NSB was split up; formally NSB and the inspectorate were demerged from the National Rail Administration, and NSB made a limited company. All three became subordinate to the Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications. The administration got its own chief executive, Steinar Killi, from 1 July 1999.[1]

On 31 December 2016, as a result of the rail reform of the Conservative lead government coalition, the administration was dissolved and all tasks were transferred to Bane NOR or the Norwegian Railway Directorate. Bane NOR took over ownership of the infrastructure from 1 January 2017.[6]

  1. ^ a b Norwegian National Rail Administration. "About". Archived from the original on 16 December 2007. Retrieved 30 July 2008.
  2. ^ Norwegian Railway Inspectorate. "English". Archived from the original on 20 September 2008. Retrieved 30 July 2008.
  3. ^ Norwegian National Rail Administration, 2008a: 12–16.
  4. ^ Jernbanestatistikk 2012, p. 4.
  5. ^ Norwegian Railway Museum. "Om Norsk jernbanemuseum" (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 23 July 2007. Retrieved 30 July 2008.
  6. ^ "Ny jernbaneorganisering" (in Norwegian). Regjeringen.no. 5 February 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2017.