The –HøRoa–Hønefoss Line (, formerly ) is a long, single track railway line between Roa and Hønefoss in Norway. At Roa Station, the line connects to the Gjøvik Line, while at Hønefoss Station, it connects to the Randsfjorden Line and the Bergen Line. The line runs through Innlandet and Viken counties and allowed the Bergen Line access to Oslo at Oslo East Station.
The Line was built by the Norwegian State Railways (NSB) and opened on 1 December 1909, along with the last part of the Bergen Line. The line was electrified in 1961. Until 1989, nearly all Oslo–Bergen trains used the line to terminate at Oslo East Station. It was also possible to reach Oslo from Hønefoss via the Randsfjord Line, albeit terminating at Oslo West Station. NSB also ran a local service between Hønefoss and Oslo along the Roa–Hønefoss Line. Oslo–Bergen trains ran via the Randsfjord Line after 1989 and local train services have been terminated. However, the line remains in use for freight trains along the Oslo–Bergen route.
Route
The line starts at Roa Station, which is also located on the Gjøvik Line and is from Oslo Central Station (Oslo S). Located at above mean sea level, Roa has the highest elevation on the whole line. The line runs first west, then south to Jevnaker Station, passing Kalvsjø Station, Grindvoll Station, Gunstad Station, Bjellum Tunnel and Kvellsrud Station, before reaching Jevnaker, which is from Roa. For a long time, Jevnaker had two separate stations located at each end of the town, with the other station serving as the terminus of the Randsfjord Line.
The line then runs south-west, past Bergerfoss and Kistefoss, before reaching Viul. There, there is a branch to a lumber mill. After Viul, the line runs through two tunnels, long. At Hval, located from Roa, there was formerly a spur to a military camp. The line then runs over a bridge over Randselva before passing Hønen and a spur at Hønen and to a Goman bakery. Just before reaching Hønefoss Station, the line runs on a bridge over Begna. At Hønefoss, the Roa–Hønefoss Line and the Randsfjord Line come in from the east while the Randsfjord Line and the Bergen Line continue to the west. Hønefoss is from Oslo via Roa and via Drammen.
History
Hønefoss Station opened on 13 October 1868 as an intermediate station on the Randsfjord Line which connects Randsfjorden to Drammen. The initial proposals for the Bergen Line route went from Hønefoss via Sandvika to Oslo West Station (Oslo V). However, this was met with a combination of political opposition and technical restrictions. During the 1880s and 1890s, all lines that did not connect to Sweden were to be built with narrow gauge. The Drammen Line, which connected Sandvika to Oslo, was narrow gauge, as were the rest of the lines west of Oslo. During the planning of the Gjøvik Line (at the time known as the North Line), military considerations eventually led to the decision to build it with standard gauge. Eventually it was decided that the Bergen Line would also be built with standard gauge. However, to reach Oslo from Hønefoss, a longer route to connect to the Gjøvik Line would have to be built, allowing the line to connect to the more important Oslo East Station. The construction of the Roa–Hønefoss Line and the Bergen Line from Hønefoss to Taugevatn was passed by the Parliament of Norway on 2 June 1898.
The line was built by NSB as part of the Bergen Line project, for which construction across the mountain had commenced in 1895. Construction of the Roa–Hønefoss Line started in 1903. This section is relatively flat and was the easiest part of the project to build. The line was officially opened along with the section of the Bergen Line from Gulsvik to Hønefoss, by King Haakon VII on 27 November 1909. It was taken into ordinary use on 1 December. At the time the line opened, there were stations at Roa, Grindvoll, Jevnaker, Hval and Hønefoss.