The Jæren Railway

The Seaview Rail, also known as the Jærbanen, is a 75-kilometre long stretch of railway between the city of Stavanger and the quiet town of Egersund.

The tour will take you through a natural and cultural landscape which is unique in Norway: Jæren with its open skies, wide horizons and endless ocean, constantly changing weather and light.

A unique landscape along the Seaview Rail

The stretch between the two towns features long sandy beaches and miles of sand dunes, only broken by boulders and salmon rivers.

This is Norway’s food basket with intensive agriculture in a flat, vast and well-kept cultural landscape, in an area with a mild climate the year-round.

Historically, the Jæren coast has been regarded as one of the most dangerous in Europe, and this has left a distinctive imprint of the area. Along this weatherbeaten coast, a large number of lighthouses were constructed in the 1900s, and some of them are visible from the train.

Jærbanen's history

During the 19th century, transport along the Jæren coast was dominated by ship. Some simple roads had been built, but these were insufficient for quick and efficient transport. In 1866 the first idea of building a railway to connect Stavanger and Egersund was launched, and the line opened as a narrow gauge stand-alone line on 27 February 1878.

Egersund

Egersund is a small town in Southern Norway, with a little over 13.000 inhabitants. One of the best natural harbours along the Norwegian coast has made it an attractive port through history, and it retains its small-town charm even to this day.

In Egersund you can visit a chocolate factory, a porcelain factory, or just stroll through its narrow streets and enjoy the view of some of the oldest wooden houses in Norway.

Stavanger

Stavanger is the fourth largest of Norway's cities, and a good starting point for many activities and attractions in the south-west of Norway. Preikestolen ("The Pulpit Rock") is for instance only an hour away by car, and the city itself is reachable by ship, plane, car, bus or train.

In Stavanger, Jærbanen railway line connects to the Sørlandsbanen line, which services most of Southern Norway all the way east to Oslo.