Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Means of Communication, by Bernh. Andersen, Andr. M. Hansen and J. T. Sommerschild
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government railways of a total length of about 500 miles are either in
course of construction or have been determined upon.
In order to make it possible to remove the difficulties that
result from the parcelling out of the railways between several
companies, a law has been passed for the expropriation of older
railways. The government shares in these lines at present amount
to about 85 % of the total amount of shares, thus leaving about
15 % in the hands of municipalities and private persons. In
the course of time, the State has bought up the greater part of
the private shares in the line from Kristiania to Eidsvold. The
government has, moreover, been authorised to acquire the remaining
preferential shares by exchanging them with government bonds,
a project which has been almost completely carried out. It will
be seen from the above, that there are at present in the country
government railways of a total length of 1,120 miles. To this must
be added the line from Kristiania to Eidsvold, in which the State
has the predominating interest, and which has a length of 42
miles. Of late there have also been constructed some smaller
tertiary railways, towards which government has given a grant,
either in the form of shares or in the form of a loan not subject
to interest nor repayment by instalments. One small private line
has also been laid without a government subsidy. The total length
of the private lines recently built, not including tramways and
similar lines, amounts to 68 miles. Thus the total length of all
railways in Norway amounts at present to 1,230 miles, a figure,
which, however, within the next few years, will be raised to about
1,850 miles. As already stated, this increase will result chiefly
from the government railways that are in course of construction
or have been resolved upon; but the private tertiary lines have also
made rapid progress of late, and there are indications of a
continued development in this direction. The Storthing, for instance,
in 1899 voted subsidies to three new private tertiary railways, one
of which — the Valdres Railway — is a very important
undertaking (65 miles), which it is also intended to fit up somewhat
better than is usual with tertiary railways.
With these railways, however, those that are completed and
those that are under construction or have been determined upon,
the railway system is not yet fully developed. The construction
of several, to some extent considerable, lines is still required for
this end.
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