Central Oslo · 1854 to today
From two terminals to one connected railway
For most of Oslo's first railway century, eastbound and westbound trains belonged to different stations. Joining them required more than a tunnel; it changed the logic of the entire network.
The first railway established Oslo's eastern terminal
Hovedbanestasjonen opened on 1 September 1854 with the railway to Eidsvoll. Its position beside Bjørvika placed trains close to the harbour and the commercial centre of Christiania. The station was later known as Østbanestasjonen, or Oslo Ø. 02 07 08
The buildings and track layout changed as traffic grew, but the railway never left the site. Oslo S therefore occupies the site of Norway's first main railway station. 01 07
Drammenbanen ended on the other side of the city
Vestbanestasjonen opened with Drammenbanen in 1872. It stood near Pipervika, separated from Oslo Ø by the street plan and the harbour. A passenger arriving from the west could not continue by train towards the north or east. 05 10
The arrangement reflected the way separate railways had been built, but it became increasingly impractical as Oslo grew. Two terminal stations made through passenger operation impossible and consumed valuable central land.
Havnebanen joined the rails without joining the passenger journey
Havnebanen opened in 1907 around the harbour between the eastern and western systems. It allowed freight wagons to move across the city and served quays and industrial traffic along the waterfront. 05 06
The railway did not solve the passenger problem. Trains still ended at Oslo Ø or Oslo V, and travellers still crossed the city by other means. Havnebanen closed when Oslotunnelen opened in 1980. 06
A central station needed a railway beneath Oslo
A formal plan for a central station and tunnel was presented in 1938. War, rebuilding priorities and the complexity of construction beneath an established city delayed the project for decades. The decisive plan was approved in 1968, and tunnel construction began in 1971. 02 04 05
The route ran west from the eastern station beneath the centre, with a station at Nationaltheatret and provision for another at Elisenberg. It then emerged towards Skøyen and the existing Drammen railway. 04 09
The two railway systems finally met in 1980
King Olav V opened Oslotunnelen on 30 May 1980. Trains could now run through central Oslo instead of terminating on opposite sides of it, and Nationaltheatret opened as the new underground station between Oslo S and Skøyen. 02 03 08
The tunnel became part of Drammenbanen and gave westbound trains direct access to the national network at Oslo S. It also made the old terminal arrangement unnecessary; Oslo V closed to passenger traffic in 1989. 04 09
For the first time, passenger trains could cross central Oslo on one continuous railway.
The central station arrived in stages
The first stage of Oslo S opened with the tunnel. The new track layout was completed in 1982, joining the old eastern station area with the through tracks from the west. 01 02
The public station building followed. Oslo S was officially opened on 12 February 1987, while the older Oslo Ø buildings were retained and incorporated into the larger station complex. 07 08 10
Nationaltheatret expanded to four tracks
Nationaltheatret opened with two tracks in 1980. A second hall and two additional tracks entered service in 1999, doubling the underground station's platform capacity. 03 09
Oslotunnelen remains the only through railway beneath central Oslo. Many passenger services therefore depend on this short corridor.
The city railway in time
From two terminals to Oslo S
Hovedbanestasjonen opens
Norway's first railway establishes the eastern station on the site now occupied by Oslo S.
Vestbanestasjonen opens
Drammenbanen receives a separate terminal on the western side of the city.
Havnebanen links the networks
A freight railway around the harbour creates a physical connection, but passenger trains still terminate on opposite sides of Oslo.
A central-station plan is presented
The idea of a tunnel and one central station gains a formal shape.
The through-railway plan is approved
The city tunnel and new central station move from proposal to construction programme.
Tunnel construction begins
Work starts beneath central Oslo towards Nationaltheatret and Skøyen.
Oslotunnelen opens
King Olav V opens the through connection and the first stage of Oslo S.
The station track layout is complete
The new central operating layout joins the eastern and western railways.
Oslo S is officially opened
The completed station building gives the joined network its central public hall.
Nationaltheatret doubles
Two more tracks and a new hall expand the underground station.
Sources
From Oslo Ø and Oslo V to one central station
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