Roa–Hønefoss · 1909 to today
The original eastern approach to Bergensbanen
For eighty years, a passenger travelling from Oslo to Bergen normally passed through Roa. The trains changed route; the connection did not lose its value.
Bergensbanen needed a way into the capital
The high-mountain railway was constructed from the west and from the interior, but its eastern end at Hønefoss still needed a practical connection to Christiania. Roa on Gjøvikbanen offered the shortest way into the existing railway network north of the city. 01 02
The connecting line was therefore part of the Bergen project rather than a later local branch. When the complete railway was formally opened in November 1909, trains could run from the capital through Roa and Hønefoss towards the mountains. 01 03
The line found a route through Hadeland and Ringerike
From Roa, the railway runs west through the country around Kalvsjø and Grindvoll, descends towards Jevnaker and reaches Hønefoss. Stations and sidings served the communities along the way, but the route's national purpose was always larger than its length. 01 04
Its position between two established railways made the line useful even when local passenger traffic declined. A connection can matter most because of the traffic that passes through it.
Oslo–Bergen passenger trains ran through Roa until 1989
Roa–Hønefossbanen carried the regular Oslo–Bergen passenger service from the opening of the complete railway in 1909. The journey left Oslo on Gjøvikbanen, turned west at Roa and joined Bergensbanen at Hønefoss. 01 02
In 1989, the passenger service moved to the route through Drammen, Hokksund and Randsfjordbanen. That routing better served the larger population corridor west of Oslo, while Roa–Hønefossbanen increasingly became a freight railway. 02
For eighty years, Roa was on the ordinary passenger journey between Oslo and Bergen.
The connection was electrified in 1961
Electric operation began in 1961, three years before electrification was complete all the way to Bergen. The work prepared the eastern approach for a fully electric long-distance service. 01 02 04
The line remained single track. Train length, crossing opportunities and capacity on the adjoining railways therefore continued to shape how it could be used.
Freight keeps the old Bergen approach alive
Much of the rail freight between Eastern and Western Norway still runs through Roa. The connection allows freight trains to avoid the busier passenger corridor through Oslo, Drammen and Hokksund before they turn west at Hønefoss. 01
It also remains an alternative route for passenger trains when the ordinary railway through Drammen is closed. The line that lost its daily long-distance passenger service in 1989 retained a strategic role precisely because Norway has few east–west railway connections. 01
The connection in time
From Bergen trains to freight
Bergensbanen is approved
The route across the mountains needs an eastern connection to the capital.
Roa–Hønefossbanen opens
The new connecting railway completes the route between Gjøvikbanen at Roa and Hønefoss.
The Bergen railway is formally opened
The completed east–west railway is celebrated with Roa–Hønefossbanen as its eastern approach.
Electric operation
The connecting railway is electrified before the final western sections of Bergensbanen.
Bergen passenger trains change route
Regular passenger trains between Oslo and Bergen move to the route through Drammen and Hokksund.
Freight and resilience
Freight trains remain the principal traffic, while the line provides an alternative route when the railway through Drammen is unavailable.
Sources
The short line in the long Bergen story
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