Railway lines stretch for more than 3,000 kilometres across Norway, with a total of 775 tunnels and over 3,000 bridges. Most of the routes go through changing scenic countryside, offering panoramic views of suburbs, mountains, lakes and fjords.
The most famous of these rail stretches are the Bergen Railway, which runs between Oslo and Bergen over the mountain plateau Hardangervidda, and its side line, the spectacular Flåm Railway, one of the world's steepest railway lines.
Other railway lines of note are the Dovre Railway from Oslo and Trondheim with its side line the Rauma Railway between Dombås and Åndalsnes, the alpine town by the fjord.
Travel like Harry Potter
Parts of the Harry Potter film "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" were filmed on the Rauma Railway. The sequences filmed on the Rauma Railway were filmed in Bjorli and shot on a veteran train belonging to the Norwegian Railway Club.
See the northern lights or midnight sun
If you would like to travel through a different type of landscape, with a spectacular light and the possibility to see the midnight sun and the northern lights, travel north on the Nordland Railway between Trondheim and Bodø.
Scenic railroad lines
Combination tours
Combination tours are round trips with train, bus and boat and offer great value for money. The most popular of these is the Norway in a nutshell® tour, a fabulous trip that takes you through some of the most picturesque landscapes in Norway including fjords, mountains and valleys. The Norway in a nutshell® tour runs year round.
Offers and discounts
There are many special offers and discounts that make train travel both enjoyable and affordable. On NSB trains, the Minipris ticket costs NOK 199, 299, 399 or 499 for a single ticket, whatever the distance of your journey, as long as there are Minipris seats still available. The offer is available for a limited number of seats on NSB Regional departures. Minipris tickets can be purchased on the NSB internet site and from ticket machines. Tickets must be bought at least one day before the date of travel.
For those who are going to travel around in Norway the InterRail and Eurail passes are worth buying.
Smoking
Smoking is prohibited on all trains and inside train stations in Norway.
The Oslo Airport Gardermoen Express Train
Flytoget, the Oslo Airport Gardermoen Express Train, is a high-speed train which brings passengers to and from Oslo Airport Gardermoen. The trip from the airport to Oslo Central Station takes about 20 minutes (one hour from the airport to Drammen).
Travel to Norway by train
An extensive rail network links Norway to the other Scandinavian countries and the rest of Europe, whereas the national trains in Norway are served by the Norwegian State Railways (NSB).
From the European continent
There are express trains from Copenhagen. Most rail journeys from the continent are overnight, and you will find sleeping compartments on all of them. A variety of discount passes are available for train travel in Europe and Norway. Not all trains offer first-class service, but second-class is of a high standard.
From Copenhagen
There are regular train connections to the capital city of Oslo from Copenhagen several times a week.