Polarbanen

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Info
Polarbanen
Type	Railway
System	Norwegian railway
Status	Never completed
Terminals	Fauske Narvik
Operation
Operator(s)
Technical
No. of tracks	1
Gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8½ in)
Electrification	No

Polarbanen or the Polar Railway was a partially built railway between Fauske and Narvik in Nordland, Norway. The railway was built by the German forces in Norway during World War II, but never finished before the German capitulation in 1945. Still, some of the infrastruction for the railway was in place, including many tunnels and bridges.

[edit] Background

As part of the construction of Festung Norwegen, Nazi Germany wanted to expand the Norwegian railway, that at the time only went north to Grong, all the way to Kirkenes, right beside the Soviet border. The construction of Nordlandsbanen was performed with Norwegian management by Norwegian workers, but the Polar Line north of Fauske was managed by the German authorities.

Most of the construction work was performed by 8,300 Russian prisoners of war and about an equal amount of Wehrmacht soldiers. After the war Norwegian authorities chose to suppress the partiall finished corridor. Part of the reason for this could have been the possibility of a Soviet demand of compansation for the labor from the Russian slaves. But even through the 1970s when the debate about the Nord-Norgebanen was at a peak and the casualties of the war in the past, the partially built corridor was suppressed. During the construction of the E6 highway through Nordland some of the right-of-way was used for the road.