Finse Station

Finse Station (Norwegian: Finse stasjon) is a railway station located at Finse in Ulvik, Norway. The station is served by up to seven daily (peak days only) express trains in each direction, normally three per day and one overnight trains, all operated by the Norwegian State Railways.^[1] The station also features a navvy museum, dedicated to the builders of the railways in Norway.^[2] One of Norway's popular trails also start in the station and ends in the town of Aurland after a four-day trek.^[3]

History

The station was opened as part of Bergensbanen on June 10, 1908, five years after the first hotel. Since there is no (public) road access, the railway is the sole access to the area. After the railway came, Finse grew as a recreational area, and also received a small amount of permanent residents, at the most 200 including a school and a store. The proximity and easy access to both Bergen and Oslo made Finse a popular mountain resort, but during the 1960s and -70s the tourist traffic declined, as did the village, and during the 1980s it virtually died when the school and store closed. Finse Station still operates the oldest and highest situated post office in Norway, founded on 1 March 1904.^[4]

Paul Armin Due designed the station building in jugendstil; originally with one and half stories, it soon outgrew the traffic and was extended in length and in height. The second store was then built in wood. There was also two locomotive depots at Finse, used to store the snowplows.^[5] The restaurant was taken over by Norsk Spisevognselskap on 1 January 1928. It retained operations until 17 June 1946, when it was privatized.^[6] Finse was one of the bases for snow removal on the railway until 1993 when the Finse Tunnel opened. At the same time the station, at 1,222.2 metres (4,010 ft) above mean sea level, became the highest point on the Norwegian railway network.^[7]

References

External links

• Jernbaneverket entry
• NSB entry
• Norsk Jernbaneklubb entry
• Navvy Museum