Polar Line

Polar Line
Overview
Type	Railway
System	Rail transport in Norway
Status	Never completed
Termini	Fauske Drag
Technical
Number of tracks	Single
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	No

The Polar Line (Norwegian: Polarbanen, German: Polarbahn) is an incomplete and abandoned railway line which had run northwards from Fauske, Norway, to Narvik and, if finished, ultimately would have run 1,215 kilometers (755 mi) to Kirkenes. The railway was constructed by the Wehrmacht in occupied Norway during the Second World War as part of Festung Norwegen. At Fauske, the line would connect with the Nordland Line, with construction stretching as far north as Drag, Tysfjord. After the war, the plans were abandoned by Norwegian authorities, although they were from the 1970s revitalized as part of the proposed Northern Norway Line. Some tunnels and bridges remain, and part of the route has been used to build European Road E6.

Organizationally, the construction of the Polar Line started at Finneid. It ran through the Bratthaugen Tunnel before reaching Fauske, where Fauske Station was planned. At the time of German capitulation on 8 May 1945, most of the right-of-way through Fauske was completed. The line continued northwards, crossed Svartosen on a bridge and continued to the lake of Vallvatnet, where a passing loop station was planned. The line continued to Straumen, where a station was planned 1 kilometer (0.6 mi) north of the village. A power station was built at Røyrvatnet. The line continued past the lake of Hellandsjøen. On the 4.9-kilometer-long (3.0 mi) section from Hellandsjøen to Buvik, five tunnels were planned and a station was planned at Hellbukta.

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