1982: The Closing of a Longtime Railway Station in the Norwegian Town of Brevik

December 1, 1982

Nearly nine decades after it was opened, a railway station in the town of Brevik in southeastern Norway was closed. (That town has officially been part of the municipality of Porsgrunn since 1964.) The station was built as part of the Brevik Line, a 6.2-mile (10-kilometer) railway in that region of Norway. Brevik Station served as the line’s terminus.

Brevik Station was designed by the prolific railway architect Paul Due (1835-1919). He designed this station in the Romanesque style, an approach incorporating various elements of both Ancient Roman and medieval architecture.

Construction on Brevik Station began in 1893. Both this station and its namesake railway were inaugurated by King Oscar II (1829-1907) on October 15, 1895. (The United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway in existence at that time share the same monarch, so Oscar II was the king of both countries.)

During its first three decades of service, Brevik Station was extensively used as a transfer point for people traveling on coastal ferries in the area. In addition, it became a major link for overall public transportation locally until every regular train run on the Brevik Line for passengers was terminated in 1968.

After it ceased railway operations altogether, Brevik Station was renovated and has been used for office space. It has also been listed as a cultural heritage site. (The accompanying photo of the station was taken in 2018.)

Photo Credit: Karl Ragnar Gjertsen (licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en)

For more information on Brevik Station, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brevik_Station

Additional information on Paul Due is available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Due_(architect)