Lysaker Station
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lysaker Station is Norway's third-largest railway station, located at Lysaker on Drammenbanen. The station serves regional, local and Airport Express trains. It opened in 1872, and is located 7.00 km west of Oslo and at 7.5 meters elevation.[1] As of 2006, the owner and operator, Jernbaneverket is in the process of renovating the station, but there is a controversy over whether the station should remain in a curve.
The station is located between Skøyen (to the east) and Stabæk, but when the new Askerbanen is finished expanded to Lysaker in 2011, the station will be connected to Sandvika. There are more than one thousand daily bus departures from Lysaker Station and within 800 meters there are 20,000 jobs with an additional 10-15,000 in development.[2] All local and regional trains that operate west of Skøyen stop at the station, in addition to three-hourly Airport Express Trains to Oslo Airport, Gardermoen.[3]
Contents |
[edit] Expansion
In 2006 the process of renovating the station began, with estimated investments of NOK 1 billion. Lysaker Station is planned to be one of the most important stations west of Oslo, and is to continue as a local connection point for public transport. The construction work consists of renovating the station building, expanding the present track from two to four tracks and building a terminus under the existing tracks for the proposed automated light rail Forbunebubanen to Fornebu.[4] The construction work is planned to be completed in 2009 and two years later Askerbanen will be finished between Lysaker and Sandvika.[5]
[edit] Controversy
There has been controversy related to the renovation of the station. The present station is located on a curve, and the present plans from Jernbaneverket do not involve moving the station[6], despite protests from both advocates for the disabled community and the railway company NSB that this would result in a gap of up to 40 cm between the train and the platform. This would cause accessibility problems for disabled.[7] Jernbaneverket claimed that this would not be a major problem, since 80 percent of the trains' length would be within 22 cm of the platform – only 2 cm further away than if the station had been built on a straight track.[8]
As a counterargument, NSB have stated that, since they are required to have a maximum 25 cm clearance between the platform and the trains, their trains would no longer stop at the station after its completion. NSB have estimated that to adapt their trains to comply with regulations, the company would be facing a bill of NOK 400 - 500 million. In addition, they would have to order all new trains to replace type BM70 that operate on Vestfoldbanen through Lysaker. This would cost NOK 1.5 billion, exceeding the cost of building a new station. Since NSB is state-owned and receives subsidies for rail transport from the Norwegian Government, in the end the bill for replacing the vehicles would be footed by the taxpayers.[9]
In addition, the designs have been criticised by both the Norwegian Railway Inspectorate and NSB because under the new design, it will not be possible for both the conductor and the engineer to have full view of the platform, thus perhaps necessitating doubled staffs for each train passing through the station. In response, Jernbaneverket has attempted to address the problem by installing a video surveillance system.[10]
The primary motivation behind the curved-track station design was the preservation of the 1913 Vollsveien Bridge, which Jernbaneverket claimed would have to be torn down under a straight-track layout. This has since been disputed, and former Minister of Transport and Communication Torild Skogsholm (Liberal) has unambiguously stated that she places the blame for the problems the station has faced on the director of Jernbaneverket, Steinar Killi.[11] Minister for Transportation and Communication, Liv Signe Navarsete (Sp) announced in July 2006 that the construction of the station would continue, following the curved design, though minor functional changes would be made to address the concerns raised.[12]
[edit] References
- ^ Jernbaneverket. Lysaker stasjon (Norwegian). Retrieved on 2006-12-06.
- ^ Jernbaneverket (2006-05-10). Slik utvides Lysaker stasjon (Norwegian). Retrieved on 2006-12-06.
- ^ Flytoget. Rutetabell (Norwegian) (PDF). Retrieved on 2006-12-06.
- ^ Jernbaneverket (2006-05-10). Slik utvides Lysaker stasjon (Norwegian). Retrieved on 2006-12-06.
- ^ Jernbaneverket (2006-03-31). Dette er strekningen Lysaker-Sandvika (Norwegian). Retrieved on 2006-12-06.
- ^ Jernbaneverket (2006-05-10). Slik utvides Lysaker stasjon (Norwegian). Retrieved on 2006-12-06.
- ^ Funksjonshemmedes Fellesorganisasjon. Lysaker stasjon - et skandaleprojsekt (Norwegian). Retrieved on 2006-12-06.
- ^ Jernbaneverket (2006-01-06). Gransking av plattform i kurve (Norwegian). Retrieved on 2006-12-06.
- ^ Aftenposten (2006-11-17). Glippen blir pengesluk (Norwegian). Retrieved on 2006-12-06.
- ^ Asker og Bærums Budstikke (2006-09-05). Sikrer Lysaker stasjon (Norwegian). Retrieved on 2006-12-06.
- ^ Asker og Bærums Budstikke (2006-08-29). Lysaker-striden: - Ført bak lyset (Norwegian). Retrieved on 2006-12-06.
- ^ Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications (2006-07-14). Presisering om Lysaker stasjon (Norwegian). Retrieved on 2006-12-06.
