Tønsberg Station

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Tønsberg Station
A NSB BM70 train at Tønsberg in 2006.
Location
Place	Tønsberg
Municipality	Tønsberg
Coordinates	59°16′19″N 10°24′31″E / 59.27194, 10.40861
Line(s)	Vestfoldbanen
Distance	115.68 km
Elevation	14.5 m
Service
Opened	1915
Line operator(s)	Norges Statsbaner
Connections
	Vestviken Kollektivtrafikk

Tønsberg Station on the Vestfoldbanen railway, is the main railway station in the city of Tønsberg in Vestfold, Norway. The station is located in the downtown area, to the east of the hill Slottsfjellet. It is located at an altitude of 14.5 metres above sea level, and is 115.68 km from Oslo Central Station. The current station is from 1915.

When Vestfoldbanen first opened in 1881, Tønsberg was accessed to by means of a branch line running in a 221 metre long tunnel through Slottsfjell. At that time the Tønsberg station was a terminal station and trains had to reverse direction in Tønsberg, usually the cars were pushed into the station. This was a cumbersome operation, and in 1915 the current layout was opened. Now trains from the east run in a loop around Tønsberg city before entering the station and no reversing is necessary.^[1] The loop does take up space however, and in 2002 the Tønsberg city council passed a resolution to replace the loop with a single line, reintroducing the simple cul-de-sac station. Jernbaneverket, who owns the railway protested however, pointing out that turning trains around would hold it up for ten minutes.^[2] There have been calls to continue the discussion.^[3]

[edit] References

^ Sigurd H. Unneberg, Sem og Slagen, en bygdebok Bind 2, Kulturhistorie, del 2 . Tønsberg: Høgskolen i Vestfold, 2001. Relevant chapter is online here (Norwegian)
^ "Vil beholde jernbanesløyfe (Want to keep the railway loop)", NRK Østafjells, 2002.08.29. (Norwegian)
^ Vil ha omkamp om jernbane (Wants a rematch over the railway) Tønsberg Blad, November 17, 2005 (Norwegian)