Bergen Light Rail (Norwegian: Bybanen) is a light rail system in Bergen, Norway. The first stage of the project is a fifteen-station, 9.8-kilometre (6.1 mi) stretch between the city center and Nesttun, which opened on 22 June 2010. Construction continued from Nesttun to Rådal in January 2011; further plans for the project involve three lines, stretching to Bergen Airport, Flesland; Åsane and Storavatnet.
Plans for rail transit have existed since the 1970s, following the 1965 closing of the Bergen Tramway. A rapid transit design was first discarded, and in the 1990s a light rail line was proposed. The final decision to start construction was made in 2005. The first stage of the line is being built by the municipality, with financing from the state and the toll road ring, based on the Bergen Program. Ownership, maintenance and further extensions of lines and vehicles will be the responsibility of Hordaland County Municipality through their wholly owned limited company Bybanen AS. Operation is done after public service obligation contracts issued by the county public transport authority Skyss. From 2010 to 2017, the system is operated by Fjord1 Partner, who operates the system's twelve Variotrams.
Read more about Bergen Light Rail: Route, Operation, Rolling Stock, Infrastructure
Famous quotes containing the words light and/or rail:
“I always used to suffer a great deal if I let myself get too close to reality since the definitive world of the everyday with its hard edges and harsh light did not have enough resonance to echo the demands I made upon experience. It was as if I never experienced experience as experience. Living never lived up to the expectations I had of it—the Bovary syndrome.”
—Angela Carter (1942–1992)
“For this is the mark of a wise and upright man, not to rail against the gods in misfortune.”
—Aeschylus (525–456 B.C.)