2022: A New Line is Added to a Norwegian Light Rail System

November 21, 2022

On Norway’s west coast, the second line of a light rail system in the city and municipality of Bergen first went into service. This took place three days after the inaugural ceremony for this new route was held. The second line encompasses 5.6 miles (nine kilometers) between Kaigaten in Bergen’s borough of Bergenhus and the borough of Fyllingsdalen. Bergen Light Rail’s first line had been opened in 2010, with subsequent extensions officially introduced in both 2013 and 2017.

In reporting on the start of operations for Bergen Light Rail’s second line, Erik Buch of Urban Transport Magazine underscored the broader context for this network of trams. “The expansion of tram systems has also gained momentum in Scandinavia in recent years,” noted Buch. “Norway’s second largest city, Bergen, even dared to build a completely new system — in 2010, the tram returned to the city a modern low-floor system under the name Bybane, some 45 years after the closure of Bergen’s former tram which was closed down in 1965.”

Bergen went on to emphasize the overall popularity of that first line. “The first line soon proved to be very successful and has since been extended twice — it has been 20.4 km [12.7 miles] long since 2017,” he stated.  “The increase in passenger demand and the high level of acceptance on the part of the population soon made plans for a second line realistic, and after around five years of construction, the time has now come: Today, 21 November 2022, Line 2 between Kaigaten and Fyllingsdalen starts revenue service.”

There are a total of 35 stations along Bergen Light Rail in its entirety. (The accompanying photo of a tram at the station at Kaigaten was taken about three weeks before the opening of Line 2.)

Photo Credit: Iver Daaland Åse / Bybanen Utbygging (licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en)

Additional information on the opening of Line 2 of Bergen Light Rail is available at  https://www.urban-transport-magazine.com/en/a-second-new-tram-line-in-bergen/

A video of travel on this line can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuw6_acqkPI

For more information on Bergen Light Rail, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergen_Light_Rail