Norway’s first emission-free freight terminal will open in 2024. This could mean 400 fewer trucks in the centre of Bergen every day, benefitting soft road users and improving air quality.
Today, goods arrive at Nygårdstangen both on rails and by truck. This will come to an end when the new terminal opens. The terminal will be operated entirely by electrically powered freight trains, making it the most climate-friendly terminal in Norway.
“We look forward to being able to open a green and future-oriented freight terminal for the benefit of the city and the railway. This will be good for traffic safety, well-being for cyclists and pedestrians and for the city air”, says Bane NOR’s Regional Terminal Manager Ove Algrøy.
You can see how the green terminal will look here: https://youtu.be/bF3cA0rI7Js
Electrically powered traffic
The upgraded terminal will have new, longer tracks that provide space for more long freight trains. There will also be new tracks for train parking, and everything will be electrified. Thus, all movement of freight wagons inside the terminal will be completely emission-free.
Buildings will be demolished to make room for the new track. They are used, among other things, for transhipment and storage of goods that do not come with the railway. Fewer cars will drive in and out of the terminal area following the conversion, providing an additional environmental benefit.
The following measures will also contribute to making the terminal emission-free:
- Electrified tracks for both loading and parking of freight trains
- Two new terminal buildings supplied with energy from district heating and solar cells
- Rechargeable electric lifting equipment
- Charging points for machines and equipment
- Electrical connection for refrigerated containers
More than double the capacity
Bane NOR will facilitate both longer freight trains and growth in freight volume to and from Bergen in the years ahead.
“The conversion facilitates that more and longer freight trains can be loaded more efficiently. This gives a capacity increase of over 100 per cent, which is at the same time environmentally friendly and cost-effective. We thereby strengthen the competitiveness of goods on the railway”, says Bane NOR Project Manager Eivind Farestveit Larsen.
The new tracks and the possibility of local storage at the terminal will help to achieve this goal. In addition, the freight tracks that are being built will have direct access from the terminal to the main track on the Bergen line. This makes traffic flow more efficient for freight trains.
Better utilisation of the areas combined with simpler logistics will increase capacity and facilitate more freight traffic on environmentally friendly, electric railways.
Full operation during rebuilding works
The terminal will be rebuilt while running full freight traffic, requiring effective construction planning.
Bane NOR recently announced the assignment to rebuild Nygårdstangen with an advance announcement in which it invited contractors to become involved in the tender process and the division of the contracts from an early stage. By focusing on early dialogue with the construction industry, Bane NOR hopes to obtain input from interested contractors so that the construction period can run as smoothly as possible for everyone involved in the terminal.
Source: Bane NOR
