More tenders for Norwegian railways

A train of Swedish SJ. In principle SJ Norge will take over the Norwegian rolling stock (photo Shutterstock)

Calls for tenders for rail services follow one after another in Norway, a country that is non-member of the European Union.« The experience of the first two competitions in rail traffic on Sørlandsbanen and on the northern routes is successful, as the offers will be at least as good as the current traffic and, at the same time, the State will spend much less taxpayer’s money for the purchase of rail links », explains Transportation Minister Jon Georg Dale. By « purchase », he speaks of course the annual costs of rail links that are subsidized by the State and so far operated by the historic company NSB, renamed Vy a few months ago.

>>> To read : NSB and Nettbuss are changing their names to Vy

Last spring, the Lot 2 put in tender obtained his operator: it is SJ Norge, a subsidiary of the Swedish public company SJ. The contract covers long-distance services between Oslo, Trondheim and Bodø on the Dovrebanen and Nordlandsbanen routes, as well as regional services on Rørosbanen, Raumabanen, Trønderbanen, Meråkerbanen and Saltenpendelen. The Swedes triumphed over the main Norwegian incumbent on their own land. The contract includes performance bonuses for the operator, as well as the option of a two-year extension of the contract, which the Norwegian agency Jernbanedirektoratet (the Norwegian Railways Directorate) could pursue for improvements, including an increase in the frequency of trains. It is this experience that has pushed Norway to undertake other tenders.

Remember that in Norway, Jernbanedirektoratet is a government agency that has strategic responsibility for the Norwegian rail network. It was formed in accordance with the 2015 Railway Reform and became operational on January 1, 2017. It is the company that is required to tender a large portion of passenger rail services. The infrastructure manager is Bane Nor, a company that remains in the hands of the State. The old NSB was dismantled and its passenger division is now called Vy Tog. The Norwegian system is therefore very liberalized, much more than some member countries of the European Union, but presents an atypical version where even the main lines are subject to tender.

On 3 September 2019, Jernbanedirektoratet announced the launch of tender for Lot 4. This important batch, which will start in 2021, covers all traffic on Østfoldbanen and Gjøvikbanen as well as on local trains L1 and L2:

Local train L1 (Lillestrøm – Asker / Spikkestad)
Local train L2 (Ski – Skøyen / Stabekk)
L21 Moss – Stabekk
L22 Skøyen – Mysen / Rakkestad)
R20 Oslo S – Halden
L3 Oslo S – Jaren
R30 Oslo S – Gjøvik

This wide lot 4 includes an substantial train service. Among other things, Jernbanedirektoratet has foreseen an increase of traffic of routes on the Østfoldbanen linked to the opening of the Follobanen in December 2022, which requires a greater expenditure of resources with more trains in circulation and the hiring of additional staff train.

The government will present further plans for the next bidding in accordance with the state budget planned for 2020, but also to take into account the criticisms made during the tenders of the Lot 1 and 2, whose deadlines were deemed too short. The government in Oslo explains that the extension of the pre-accession period could bring more companies to participate.

CEO of incumbent, Arne Fosen, said he was « extremely disappointed » with losing seven mainline routes and would evaluate the reasons Jernbanedirektoratet put forward. He explained that Vy Tog had improved his working methods and streamlined his organization, which he hoped would help him bid for the Lot 3 contract covering services in the west of the country, which will be the next to be assigned.

This liberalization of the railways in Norway shows that even a non-EU country can sometimes go very far in a process of liberalization, stressing that the status quo remains untenable. Much of the passenger traffic is under bidding, including long-distance traffic. In other countries, the main lines are subject to pure competition, that is to say without subsidies from the State, other than a possible decline in rail infrastructure fees. The Norwegian example is interesting for the future.