The landslide closed the Bergen Railway between Myrdal and Voss at 9.30pm on Thursday night. Ten hours later, at 7:25 a.m. Friday morning, Bane Nor reported that the Bergen Railway had opened between Myrdal and Voss, but was still closed between Myrdal and Hallingskeid, further east.
– What is open to traffic is the passage between Voss and Myrdal. The Bergen line between east and west remains closed until further notice, press officer Harry Korslund said on TV 2.
You should still expect major delays and adjustments, and the demanding conditions make it difficult to say when the track will reopen.
– There are many considerations that must be considered, especially the safety of those who have to clean up landslides. The extent of the damage to that stretch has not been mapped out to the smallest detail, Korslund said.
And it’s still uncertain whether passengers exposed to snow on Myrdal will be able to board:
– The good thing about opening the passage between Voss and Myrdal is that we can transport passengers to Myrdal. But there is still uncertainty about whether we can get the trains moving, explained Korslund.
After being stuck in the snow for ten hours, the train’s brakes froze.
– If we couldn’t get the train right, we had to take a replacement train from Flåm, then drive further west from there, explained Korslund.
Bane Nor couldn’t say anything concrete about how many passengers got stuck in the snow last night, but it’s estimated the train was about half full.
For passengers planning to take the train on Friday, one piece of advice applies:
– The best advice for travelers planning to take a day trip is to follow the Vy and Bane Nor websites and apps, where ongoing travel information is available, says Korslund.
The clean-up work will take several hours, and the demanding weather conditions also make it uncertain whether alternative travel methods, such as buses rather than trains, will be possible.
– There are so many weather that affect the mountain pass between east and west. In this case, it is not yet certain whether road traffic can be used instead of rail, Korslund concluded.
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