Lysaker Station

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Lysaker
Artists impression of new Lysaker Station
Location
Place Lysaker
Municipality Bærum
Coordinates 59°54′49″N 10°38′10″E / 59.91368679962932, 10.63601016998291
Line(s) Drammenbanen
Distance 7.0 km
Elevation 7.5 m
Service
Opened 1872
Platforms 4
Owner Jernbaneverket
Line operator(s) Norges Statsbaner
Connections
Yes

Lysaker Station (Norwegian: Lysaker stasjon) is Norway's third-largest railway station, located at Lysaker on Drammenbanen. It serves regional, local and Airport Express trains. The station opened in 1872, and is located 7.00 km west of Oslo S at 7.5 meters elevation.[1] In 2007-09 the owner and operator Jernbaneverket is renovating the station, but there is a controversy whether the station should remain in a curve.

The station is located between Skøyen, to the east, and Stabekk. When the new Askerbanen is finished expanded to Lysaker in 2011 the station will be connected directly to Sandvika. 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.[2] More than one thousand buses depart from Lysaker Station daily, and within 800 meters there are 20,000 jobs with additional 10-15,000 in development. [3] Lysaker is the closest station to Fornebu and large parts of Eastern Bærum.

Contents

[edit] History

Lysaker is an original stations on Drammenbanen that opened in 1872. In 1914 the station building burnt down and was replaced by a new building in 1917. At the same time the railway was converted from narrow to standard gauge and a new bridge over Lysakerelven was built. In 1922 the line was rebuilt to [[double track] from Oslo V to Sandvika. The current station with two platforms was built in 1987 after the old station building had been demolished. Lysaker served as the closest railway station to Oslo Airport, Fornebu until it closed in 1998.[4] Because of this the station was branded as Lysaker/Fornebu from May 27, 1990 to October 7, 1998.[5]

[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 to continue as a local connection point for public transport. The construction work consists of renovating the station building, expanding from two to four platforms. [6] First a new double platform north of the present will be built, then the current will be dismantled and a new one on the same location built. The construction work is planned to be completed in 2009 and two years later Askerbanen will be finished between Lysaker and Sandvika giving four tracks west of Lysaker.[7]

The reason for the expansion is to increase the capacity of the West Corridor from Oslo to Drammen, by having four tracks between Lysaker and Asker. This will allow discrimination of trains based on stopping pattern to increase through speed of express trains. Until the extension is finished Lysaker will be the only main railway station between Oslo and Drammen not to have four platforms. This will be an absolute criteria in 2011 when Askerbanen is completed to Lysaker, and there will be four

[edit] Light rail terminus controversy

A proposed light rail system from Fornebu was planned to terminate at the new Lysaker Station,[6] but the Akershus county municipality has not been able to decide on what mode of transportation to use, with both rapid transit, automated people mover and tramway having been suggested. In 2007 the plans for a people mover were canceled, and replaced with a tram.[8] Because the people mover was canceled after construction of the station had started, Jernbaneverket has claimed the county for NOK 31 million.[9]

[edit] Curve controversy

The present station is located on a curve, and the renovation plans from Jernbaneverket do not involve moving the station or straighten it [10], despite protests from both advocates for the disabled community and the railway company NSB. They claim the station will have gap of up to 40 cm between the train and the platform causing accessibility problems for the disabled.[11] 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.[12]

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, as well as having to order all-new trains to replace type BM70, costing NOK 1.5 billion and exceeding the cost of building the new station. Since NSB is state-owned and receives subsidies for rail transport from the Ministry of Transport and Communications the replacement bill would be footed by the taxpayers.[13]

Designs have also been criticised by both the Norwegian Railway Inspectorate and NSB because it will not be possible for both the conductor and the engineer to have full view of the platform, necessitating doubled staffs for each train passing through the station. Jernbaneverket has attempted to address the problem by installing a video surveillance system.[14]

The motivation behind the curved 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 stated that blames the problems on the director of Jernbaneverket, Steinar Killi.[15] Minister for Transportation and Communication, Liv Signe Navarsete (Centre) announced in July 2006 that the construction would continue following the curved design, though minor functional changes would be made.[16]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Jernbaneverket. Lysaker stasjon (Norwegian). Retrieved on 2006-12-06.
  2. ^ Flytoget. Rutetabell (PDF) (Norwegian). Retrieved on 2006-12-06.
  3. ^ Jernbaneverket (2006-05-10). Slik utvides Lysaker stasjon (Norwegian). Retrieved on 2006-12-06.
  4. ^ Jernbaneverket (2006). Ny Lysaker stasjon (Norwegian).
  5. ^ Norsk Jernbaneklubb. Lysaker (Norwegina). Retrieved on 2008-05-30.
  6. ^ a b Jernbaneverket (2006-05-10). Slik utvides Lysaker stasjon (Norwegian). Retrieved on 2006-12-06.
  7. ^ Jernbaneverket (2006-03-31). Dette er strekningen Lysaker-Sandvika (Norwegian). Retrieved on 2006-12-06.
  8. ^ Oslo Sporvognsdrift (2007-05-11). Bybane til Fornebu vedtatt (Norwegina).
  9. ^ Asker og Bærum Budstikke (2008-03-25). Regning for banerot.
  10. ^ Jernbaneverket (2006-05-10). Slik utvides Lysaker stasjon (Norwegian). Retrieved on 2006-12-06.
  11. ^ Funksjonshemmedes Fellesorganisasjon. Lysaker stasjon - et skandaleprojsekt (Norwegian). Retrieved on 2006-12-06.
  12. ^ Jernbaneverket (2006-01-06). Gransking av plattform i kurve (Norwegian). Retrieved on 2006-12-06.
  13. ^ Aftenposten (2006-11-17). Glippen blir pengesluk (Norwegian). Retrieved on 2006-12-06.
  14. ^ Asker og Bærum Budstikke (2006-09-05). Sikrer Lysaker stasjon (Norwegian). Retrieved on 2006-12-06.
  15. ^ Asker og Bærum Budstikke (2006-08-29). Lysaker-striden: - Ført bak lyset (Norwegian). Retrieved on 2006-12-06.
  16. ^ Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications (2006-07-14). Presisering om Lysaker stasjon (Norwegian). Retrieved on 2006-12-06.

[edit] External links

Preceding station Line Following station
Stabekk Drammenbanen Skøyen
Preceding station Express trains Following station
Asker   Bergen - Oslo S   Nationaltheatret
  Kristiansand - Oslo S  
Preceding station Regional trains Following station
Sandvika   Airport Express   Skøyen
Sandvika   Skien - Oslo S - Lillehammer   Skøyen
Preceding station Local trains Following station
Stabekk 400 Asker - Oslo S - Lillestrøm   Skøyen
Sandvika 440 Drammen - Oslo S - Dal  
450 Kongsberg - Oslo S - Eidsvoll  
550 Spikkestad - Oslo S - Moss  
v • d • e
Airport Express Train
Flytoget
Lines
Stations
Asker  · Sandvika  · Lysaker  · Skøyen  · Nationaltheatret  · Oslo S  · Lillestrøm  · Oslo Airport