Brevik Station
Brevik | |
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General information | |
Location | Brevik, Porsgrunn Norway |
Coordinates | 59°03′14″N 9°41′24″E / 59.054°N 9.690°E |
Elevation | 11.6 m (38 ft) |
Owned by | Norwegian State Railways |
Line(s) | Brevik Line |
Distance | 202.62 km (125.90 mi) |
History | |
Opened | 16 October 1895 |
Closed | 1 December 1982 |
Location | |
Brevik Station (
History
Proposals for a railway to Brevik were first put forward in 1875,
Leveling of the plateau commenced in 1893, costing 32,000 Norwegian krone (NOK).[4] One house was expropriated to make way for a road to the station and a smith was expropriated on the station area. The small valley of Bjørndalen was filled in and the remains of an old fort were destroyed during the work.[6] A two-story station building was erected,[4] and a new dock for steamships was built lower down, to allow a shortest possible correspondence time between the train and the ships.[6] A spur was built down to the docks, allowing freight trains to level with the ships. Six buildings had to be expropriated in Torsvik.[6] The official opening took place on 15 October 1895, officiated by King Oscar II.[7]
The opening of the station shifted the center of Brevik closer to Strømtangen. While this previously had been a less develop part of the village, several merchants, hotels and restaurants were established in the vicinity of the station.
The station received a face-lift in the 1930s, at which time the restaurant was moved from the southern to the northern wing. It was moved back after renovations in 1954,
With the termination of passenger traffic in 1968, the ground floor became disused. It rented to Trosvik Verkstad, which at first used it for office space. Later it converted the southern part into a physician's office. From 1982 the upper story was also available and rented to the same company, until it went bankrupt in 1986. A series of renovations were carried out, which partially destroyed many dignified aspects of the building. Following the bankruptcy, the station building was sold to Nydalen Compagnie. As they did not use it, the building occupied by homeless, who scavenged the building for molding and similar which was used for firewood, rapidly dilapidating the building. Brevik Management bought the building in 1988, fixed it up and moved their head office there from December 1988.[17] Also the outhouse, which had been disused since the 1960s, was restored. The renovation work was awarded Sparebankens Brevikspris in 1991.[18] The station building and two outhouses were listed as cultural heritage sites in 1997.[19]
Facilities
Brevik Station is located at the southern end of the Brevik Line, 202.62 kilometers (125.90 mi) from Oslo.[20] All the stations on the Brevik Line were designed by Architect Paul Due,[21] and Brevik Station was his third brick station building.[22] It is designed with in a Medieval style and dominated by Romanesque motives.[19] As was common for the era, the station was built with a corresponding park.[23] The upper story of the station building was used as a residence for the station master.[14]
The station acted as the central transport hub for Brevik. The Strømtangen area also served, until 1934, as a quay for ferries along the coast, and until 1962 for car ferries across the sound to Stathelle. The bus route to Skien also terminated there.[8] Narvesen established a kiosk at the station, but by the 1950s the traffic had fallen sufficiently that it had to close. There was also a privately run restaurant in the station building and it served as a hub for a courier service.[11]
Service
The Brevik Line had one express train per day which ran to Oslo. Originally connected via the
Brevik was the furthest along the South Coast that the railway reached at the time it opened, and remained in that position until the opening of the Kragerø Line in 1927. In that period the station acted as a transfer station between the train and steamships for the fastest transport along the coast. The ferry service, Brevikruta, commenced in 1896, and continued until 1934, although it struggled for the last seven years.[24] Plans for a railway ferry service to Continental Europe were launched in 1912. By 1915 Frederikshavn had been settled on and it was argued that it would provide fastest service from Norway to Hamburg, Germany. Two ferries would be required, each using seven hours on a crossing and allowing for two return services per day. However the plans were never carried through.[26]
References
- ^ Sørensen (1995): 9
- ^ Sørensen (1995): 10
- ^ a b Sørensen (1995): 11
- ^ a b c d Sørensen (1995): 13
- ^ Sørensen (1995): 12
- ^ a b c Sørensen (1995): 14
- ^ Sørensen (1995): 29
- ^ a b Sørensen (1995): 41
- ^ a b Sørensen (1995): 42
- ^ Sørensen (1995): 54
- ^ a b c Sørensen (1995): 71
- ^ Norwegian National Rail Administration (2009): 34
- ^ Sørensen (1995): 55
- ^ a b Sørensen (1995): 66
- ^ a b Sørensen (1995): 64
- ^ "Breviks-broen tar trafikken fra NSB". Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). 23 September 1963. p. 7.
- ^ Sørensen (1995): 69
- ^ Sørensen (1995): 70
- ^ a b Hartmann (1997): 149
- ^ "Brevik" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Railway Club. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
- ^ Hartmann (1997): 60
- ^ Hartmann (1997): 69
- ^ Sørensen (1995): 65
- ^ a b Sørensen (1995): 38
- ^ Aspenberg (1994): 156
- ^ Sørensen (1995): 53
Bibliography
- ISBN 82-91448-00-0.
- Hartmann, Eivind; Mangset, Øistein; Reisegg, Øyvind (1997). Neste stasjon (in Norwegian). Gyldendal. ISBN 82-05-25294-7.
- "Railway Statistics 2008" (PDF). Norwegian National Rail Administration. 2009. Archived from the original(pdf) on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
- Sørensen, Johnny (1995). Breviksbanen (in Norwegian). Brevik: Brevik historielag. ISSN 0333-1377.
Preceding station | Following station | |||
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Terminus | Brevik Line | Dalen |