Currently, there is a total of 12 freight trains that run on the Oslo-Bergen route daily.

“In general, we experience that our customers want to move more of their volume from road to rail. Deliveries on the Bergen Line have also been stable since spring 2025, without closures and disruptions that stop the flow of transport on the railway, says Commercial Director Carl Fredrik Karlsen at CargoNet. “The start of the year has been good, and our volumes on the Bergen Line in the first two months are 20 percent higher than last year.”

Functioning infrastructure

The topic of closures and disruptions is a delicate one in Norway. It is a major obstacle to the modal shift. In the absence of major infrastructural improvements, Norwegian rail freight companies would go out of business, OnRail’s CEO had claimed earlier. When things do work, results like the 60% modal share are attainable.

Part of the Oslo-Bergen success story also has to do with Norway’s geography. “We see that the Bergen Line, together with the Ofot Line, is the section that is most resistant to competition from road traffic”, commented OnRail CEO Henning Aandal. “This is due to the fact that the Bergen Line crosses the high mountains between east and west. This of course presents challenges for both road and rail, but in general the rail is more robust than the roads on this section.” Moreover, rail also provides faster transit than road transportation.

To illustrate, CargoNet made an operational loss of 200 million Norwegian crowns (17 million euros) in 2024. That won’t be the case in 2025: “The results are more positive in 2025, mainly driven by the effects of the compensation scheme – in addition, we are experiencing better demand from the market. Part of this picture is also driven by the bankruptcy of our competitor BLS halfway through the year”, the state company comments.

CargoNet points to infrastructure closures, such as on the Dovre line, as being the biggest obstacle to profitability. The reopening of that line has shown CargoNet that rail freight operations can be profitable if the infrastructure works, the company tells RailFreight.com.

Interest rate cuts

Similarly, private operator OnRail is rather positive about 2025, especially after the Rauma line was reinstated in October. Its CEO Henning Aandal also points out that the Norwegian Central Bank cut the interest rate twice in 2025, allowing for more consumer spending. That has had a positive impact on the intermodal market segment.

If OnRail succeeds in attaining a positive net result for 2025, then it will be the first company to do so. “We would be smiling more than ever”, comments Aandal – who also points out that OnRail managed that once before, in 2021.

Both Onrail and CargoNet seem to have benefited from the bankruptcy of competitor BLS Rail. Henning Aandal explains that with its entry into the market, BLS Rail did not expand the market, but only captured market share from the existing operators. BLS’ bankruptcy therefore removed overcapacity from the market.

Despite SJT’s ruling, Onrail has still not been granted access to the workshop and the parking facility at Kongsvinger. The result: SJT is now imposing a daily fine of 30,000 Norwegian crowns (2,640 euros) on CargoNet until the situation is rectified.

Millions in losses

“Lack of maintenance could also have consequences for public safety and emergency preparedness, as a result of rolling stock in Norway not being available to transport personnel and goods, as in this case, to the necessary extent”, argues SJT.

The railway authority’s decision has been to the satisfaction of Onrail. “We are pleased that the Norwegian Rail Inspectorate is clear that the railway regulations have been violated and that the authority’s orders must be followed”, the company’s CEO Henning Aandal wrote to Aftenposten.

According to him, state-owned CargoNet “deliberately breaks the law and tries to get rid of its challenger on the railway.” Onrail has incurred costs of over 30 million Norwegian crowns (2,6 million euros) as a result of the workshop exclusion, which started two years ago, Aandal claims.

Lawsuit

For its part, CargoNet takes a different view of the conflict. “We dispute the legal basis for the orders from SJT, and thus also the penalty payment”, writes Marius Holm from CargoNet’s parent company Vy to Aftenposten. The company has sent a lawsuit notice to the Norwegian Rail Inspectorate.

“There is no legal basis for imposing tasks on CargoNet as operator of Norwegian Railways’ shared infrastructure, because CargoNet does not have legal control over the workshop”, the Vy spokesperson said. That authority lies with the infrastructure provider, according to CargoNet. As a commercial market player, it maintains that it does not have the authority or the resources to carry out that task.

The Alnabru workshop

CargoNet is currently leasing the workshop from its owner, infrastructure manager Bane NOR. The freight operator has hired maintenance company Mantena, another state-owned company, to provide servicing at the facility.

Mantena has said that it has no problem providing maintenance services for Onrail alongside CargoNet. It pointed to the facility’s lessee, saying that CargoNet needs to give its approval before Mantena can service Onrail as well. In turn, CargoNet pointed to Bane NOR, because they are the owners of the facility.

“It is no longer possible to run trains in Norway,” Henning Aandal, general manager of the freight train company Onrail, tells the Swedish publication. The latest major issue is the closure of the Dovre line between Oslo and Trondheim, where a bridge was damaged due to weather conditions.

Unviable detour

As a result, companies need to take a detour on the non-electrified Røros line, but that one has a much lower capacity. Onrail cannot compensate for the lack of capacity, and so all freight has switched to the road.

Onrail is suffering financially, even if state-owned CargoNet is doing even worse. Nevertheless, the private operator is worried about the situation. “If things don’t get much better, the freight train companies in Norway will die”, Aandal said. “So far we have managed, but the business is hanging by a thread if the infrastructure crisis in Norway continues.”

CargoNet numbers

As for CargoNet, its poor financial situation is not quite a new state of affairs. In 2023, its net sales fell from 117,9 million euros in 2022 to 111,9 million, while the result after financial items deteriorated from minus 5,7 million euros to minus 11,9 million.

CargoNet confirms that the ongoing three-month closure of the Dovre line will mean multi-million losses for the company. “We would like to run trains, but it has been easier said than done in recent years,” Carl Fredrik Karlsen, commercial director at Cargonet, said.

The latter is currently leasing the workshop from its owner, infrastructure manager Bane NOR. CargoNet has hired maintenance company Mantena, another state-owned company, to provide servicing at the facility.

Pointing fingers

For its part, Mantena has said that it has no problem providing maintenance services for Onrail alongside CargoNet. It points to the facility’s lessee, saying that CargoNet needs to give its approval before Mantena can service Onrail as well. At the same time, CargoNet points to Bane NOR, because they are the owners of the facility.

Regardless of who is at fault, what matters for Onrail is most likely that they simply get access to the facility. “This has cost us millions of Norwegian crowns in extra expenses and lost revenue”, comments Henning Aandal, CEO of Onrail, to the Norwegian publication NRK. The millions of Norwegian crowns likely equal hundreds of thousands of euros, but no specific number has been mentioned.

Now, Swedish rail publication Järnvägar reports that DB Schenker is no longer satisfied with the prices offered by Green Cargo. Green Cargo has been demanding larger sums of money for its services. Additionally, negotiations with other freight train operators have not yielded any tangible results.

Onrail steps in

DB Schenker has now signed a 3-year agreement with Onrail, and the Norwegian rail operator is set to replace Green Cargo on the NRE. “We believe that we can develop traffic and improve profitability”, says CEO Henning Aandal. “We hope to be able to run the route in less than 24 hours, a few hours faster than trains currently running.”

The NRE is an import transport route for consumer goods, which head north towards Narvik, as well as fish, which are transported southward. Onrail says that they have deals with various interested shippers. “DB Schenker will transport large volumes with our train and we have signed agreements with other transport buyers for train freight between Oslo and Narvik.”

Service improvement

Onrail seeks to improve rail transportation on the route by using two locomotives and having fewer driver changes.

“We will eventually run with two locomotives in each train to reduce the risk of disturbances, to be able to transport more seafood, to be able to quickly climb the slopes on the Ofotbanen and on the Stambanan through Övre Norrland and to be able to accelerate a little faster after all the train encounters”, CEO Henning Aandal says.

Aandal adds that Onrail intends to employ drivers on longer sections of the route than its competitor Cargonet. “We will employ Swedish train drivers for the intermediate section, but we want to have as few train driver changes as possible to reduce the driving time between Oslo and Narvik”, he says.

Also read:

• Railway in Sweden closes to freight traffic, volumes shift to road
• DB Cargo Scandinavia completes freight pilot to Danish port of Hirtshals
• Railway to Bergen reopens, freight traffic restarts

On the other hand, OnRail, which also uses the Oslo-Bergen line, said it tried to provide some alternatives by having the goods transported by rail between Oslo and Stavanger. From there, trucks would take them via road to Bergen. “There is a backlog, but Onrail is operating as normal”, Aandal highlighted.

The accident

A freight train operated by OnRail derailed just inside the Arnanipa Tunnel. The cleanup process started on Sunday 24 March, after Norwegian police and the National Accident Investigation Board concluded their on-site inspections. The accident caused significant damage, but luckily nobody was seriously hurt. Only the train driver, who is treated as a suspect together with a person who helped set up the train, suffered minor injuries. The dynamic of the accident is still unclear and under investigation. What is currently known is that the train might have ran a red light and that a diverting switch struck, forcing it to derail. However, it is not clear which of the two events happened first.

Once the cleanup of the scene was finished and the damaged train was removed, Bane NOR was able to start repairing the damaged infrastructure. “Among other things, we have laid 3,000 metres of signal cable, made several hundred cable joints, changed many sleepers, built a new catenary system and carried out dozens of rail welds”, Bane NOR said. It needs to be mentioned that the derailment might have led to a massive tragedy, as a passenger train, loaded with 200 people, was coming from the opposite direction inside the tunnel. However, a last-minute emergency call allowed the passenger convoy to stop safely one kilometre from the derailed locomotive.

Also read:

• How can Sweden enhance rail freight capacity along the Öresund axis?
• Iron Ore Line to fully reopen this week after derailment
• What is the future of the Oslo-Gothenburg line?

Also read: Derailment in Norway blocks rail access to Bergen indefinitely

Freight train may have ran a red light

The available information from the Norwegian Accident Investigation Board is that a freight train may have run a red light at the Arna station and that a diverting switch was activated, forcing the train to swerve right and derail. Which of these two events happened first is still undetermined. This led to an emergency call to all trains nearby that might have saved hundreds of lives. A passenger train carrying 200 people was coming from the other side of the tunnel and, thanks to the call, it was able to stop roughly one kilometre from the derailed freight convoy.

The Norwegian police said that there are two suspects concerning the incident. One is the train driver, who was slightly injured in the accident, and a person who helped to set up the train. The latter already pleaded not guilty, according to Norwegian media VG. It is not yet clear what the position of the train driver currently is. What also remains unclear is the dynamic of the accident.

Also read: Accident in Norway: ‘Some cargo will have to wait for the reopening of the line’

The impact on rail freight

For rail freight, this accident means no traffic at all between Bergen and Oslo, two of the largest ports in Norway. At least 18 freight trains run on the line. A third of them are operated by OnRail, the company involved in the accident, with the remaining 12 belonging to CargoNet. A spokesperson from CargoNet recently told RailFreight.com that only some of the cargo on the Bergen-Oslo line can be moved by road. The rest of it will just have to wait until the reopening of the line, for which no date has yet been set.

Also read: Derailment in Norway blocks rail access to Bergen indefinitely

At least 18 daily freight trains will remain on the ground

How many more freight trains run on this line is still unclear. Norwegian infrastructure manager (IM) Bane NOR told RailFreight.com that 112 trains travel this route every day (56 per direction), but was unable to specify how many of those are freight convoys. OnRail, the operator involved in the accident, runs three daily trains per direction between Oslo and Bergen. The company was also contacted for further information but no answer was provided as of yet. Thus, at least 18 freight trains are going to be cancelled every day. This will lead to more trucks on the road connecting Oslo and Bergen, but this option is not necessarily always viable, as CargoNet pointed out.

The accident

The accident took place on the evening of Friday 22 March near Arna, 20 kilometres northwest of Bergen. A freight train operated by OnRail derailed at the entrance of the tunnel connecting Arna and Trengereid. The train driver was slightly injured. Bane NOR started the cleanup over the weekend, but it might be a lengthy process. A spokesperson from the IM said that it is not known when the railway will be reopened, meaning that rail freight traffic between two of Norway’s largest ports is on hold until further notice.

According to him, Norway’s main issue is the congested network. “The demand is higher than the supply in several sections. If we are to succeed in meeting the transport industry’s needs for an energy-efficient and green transition, it is crucial that we increase our investment in freight on rail”, said Stenstrøm.

Breaking down the traffic numbers

The Norwegian railway network consists of three main rail freight axes: Nordlandsbanen, Dovrebanen and Østfoldbanen. Traffic on those axes grew by eight, seven and five per cent, respectively, in 2022. Bane Nor mentioned that a slight decrease was noted in the southern and western parts of the network, which, however, is considered normal since 2021 was a year of immense growth. As a result, it is not surprising that volumes stay the same or drop slightly.

Small success story

One of the challenges faced by Norwegian rail freight last year concerned the withdrawal of the company Green Cargo from rail operations. Green Cargo used to operate seven daily trips between Oslo-Trondheim and Bergen-Stavanger. The company’s decision to discontinue its train routes posed an immediate danger of a reverse modal shift for around 100,000 tonnes of cargo from rail to road.

However, in coordination with companies OnRail and CargoNet, Bane Nor managed to keep those volumes on rail. Green Cargo’s seven daily trips were distributed between these two companies, with OnRail operating five and CargoNet two of them. “The transport industry has made a strong contribution to this transition”, said Stenstrøm.

Also read:

• New tracks at Norwegian port of Larvik enable massive modal shift

• Norwegian trains will run on clean energy in 2022

• Rail freight in Norway won’t stop growing