Although 80% of Norway’s railway network is electrified, the Norwegian Railway Directorate published a recommendation study for a fossil-free railway operation on the remaining lines. Railways only account for 0.2% of the 32% of emissions share of total greenhouse gases in Norway, still, they represent an equivalent of 50,000 CO2 emissions.
The Norwegian Railway Directorate (Jernbanedirektoratet) individually considered options of keeping the diesel, non-fossil diesel, hydrogen, battery operation, or electrification of the remaining part of the Norwegian railway network. Based on that, recommendations were given for individual railway lines:
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Nordlandsbanen (Trondheim to Bodø)– partial electrification combined with battery operation with expected costs to reach almost EUR 570 million.
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Røros (Hamar - Støren) and Solør Lines (Kongsvinger - Elverum)– electrification (marginally better than hydrogen) mostly due to connectivity to adjacent sections of track such as Kongsvinger and Dovrebanen. Estimated costs exceed EUR 750 million.
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Raumabanen (Åndalsnes - Dombås) – none of the alternatives is viable, with hydrogen being closest to it. Due to very low traffic and a marginal share of overall emissions from the operation on this line (accounting for 3% of total railway emissions in Norway), continuing the current mode of operation for a period until new technologies emerge is therefore considered acceptable.
Based on traditional socio-economic profitability assessments, none of the concepts are profitable. However, it involves the railway in the overall climate commitments in Norwegian society, which has high standards and expectations from all parts of its economy.
