Smørstein Tunnel
The northern entrance, County Road 313 to the left
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| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Line | Vestfold Line |
| Location | Smørstein, Holmestrand, Norway |
| Coordinates | 59°31′31″N 10°16′49″E / 59.5254°N 10.2803°ECoordinates: 59°31′31″N 10°16′49″E / 59.5254°N 10.2803°E |
| Operation | |
| Opened | 25 May 1921 |
| Owner | Norwegian National Rail Administration |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 288 m (945 ft) |
| No. of tracks | Single |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) |
| Electrified | 15 kV 16 2⁄3 Hz AC |
| Operating speed | 0 km/h (0 mph) |
The Smørstein Tunnel is a 288-meter (945 ft) railway tunnel located at Smøstein in Holmestrand, Norway. The tunnel carried a single, electrified track of the Vestfold Line. The need for a tunnel arose after a 19 August 1918 landslide washed away the railway past Smørstein. A temporary track was in place from 28 October, but the Norwegian State Railways (NSB) determined that the geology was too unstable and thus decided to build a tunnel to avoid the poor geological conditions. The tunnel opened on 25 May 1921 and was until 2010 the only tunnel on the Vestfold Line between Drammen and Larvik. The tunnel and the section of line was scheduled to be closed in 2016 with the opening of the Holmestrandsporten tunnel.
The Smørstein Tunnel runs through the hill of Smørstein in Holmestrand, Norway. The 288-meter (945 ft) tunnel is single track and electrified at 15 kV 16 2⁄3 Hz AC. The tunnel is located next to County Road 313. It constitutes part of the Vestfold Line, owned by the Norwegian National Rail Administration. The northern entrance of the tunnel is located at a milestone distance of 81.97 kilometers (50.93 mi) from Oslo, 1.86 kilometers (1.16 mi) from the closed station of Smørstein, which was in use from 1921 to 1978.
The original railway line past Smørstein opened on 13 October 1881, following a route which ran closer to the fjord. During construction in 1880 the area had experienced a landslide which had nearly taken with it the permanent way.
In August 1918 the Norwegian State Railways (NSB) was working on building a level crossing at Smørstein as part of a realignment of a road. The earthwork from the construction was piled up close to the fjord. Its weight caused a landslide on 17 August, in which the masses slid into the fjord. This caused a series of successive smaller slides, each wave originating closer and closer to the railway tracks. All available maintenance of way crew were prescribed from the district. NSB originally operated trains past the section, but eventually chose to evacuate the trains while they ran past the site.
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