The Flam - Myrdal Train

In the early morning we went by car to Leikanger and took a boat to Flam. The cruise through the Auerlandsfjorden was fabulous, the fjord-landscapes a delight to the eye.In Flam we boarded the Flam - Myrdal train which traverses the Flam valley.Then returning to Flam by the same train and back by boat to Leikanger.

The Flam - Myrdal RailwayAn incredible train journey from the mountain station at Myrdal on the Bergen Railway down to Flam station nestled in the innermost corner of the Aurlandsfjord. Nowhere in the world do adhesion railcars on normal tracks have a steeper journey than on the Flam Railway. Each year, this exciting stretch of track attracts people from all corners of the world, making the Flam Railway one of Norway's major and most spectacular tourist attractions.

C H A L L E N G E

It was a major challenge for railway engineers of the period to build a railway track from the Myrdal Plateau, down the precipitous mountain sides, to the bottom of the Flam Valley. The twisting tunnel, which wends its way through the mountain at several levels, is proof of the most audacious and skilled engineering exploits in Norwegian railroad history. The mountain line had to be laid along steep slopes and round sharp bends to enable the train to snake its way up and down the sheer inclines. Almost 80% of the railway line has a gradient of 55%o, the equivalent of 1:18.

20 YEARS' CONSTRUCTION

The Bergen Railway from Oslo to Bergen was inaugurated in 1909. Work on the Flam branch line was started in 1923 to ensure the transport route down to the Sognefjord, and progressed so well that they could begin to lay the tracks in the autumn of 1936. The line was opened temporarily for steam trains on 1. August 1940, and for electric trains in 1944.

20 TUNNELS

The train takes about one hour to cover the 20-kilometer long track, through 20 tunnels totaling a distance of six kilometers. Eighteen of these tunnels were excavated by hand, each meter claiming a month's hard labour from the railroad workers. To avoid areas at risk from avalanches, the Flam Railway crisscrosses the river and the bottom of the valley three times in the course of its journey. Instead of building bridges, the river was led through a tunnel under the railway line.

BREATHTAKING SCENERY

The F15m Railway is one of the world's most attractive and spectacular railway lines. The train journey from Myrdal to Flam provides a panoramic view of some of the wildest and most striking examples of Norwegian mountain landscape. Rivers cut through deep ravines, waterfalls cascade down the side of steep, snow-capped mountains, and mountain farms cling dizzily to sheer slopes. At the foot of the mountains you can enjoy the natural beauty of the Flam Valley and admire the majestic Aurlandsfjord, a branch of the world's longest fjord, the Sognefjord.

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