Portal:Trains/Selected article/Week 15, 2009

Ofotbanen Drift AS, trading as Ofotbanen, is a Norwegian passenger and freight railway company. The company operates a fleet of six locomotives, three multiple units, 22 passenger and 48 freight cars. The sole service is the passenger train Unionsexpressen between Oslo and Stockholm, but the company is seeking contracts for other passenger and freight transport. It has previously offered freight haulage on contract. The company was founded in 2001, and took over Norges Statsbaner's (NSB) passenger operation of the Ofot Line in 2003. The following year it entered the freight market, in particular with timber trains for Norske Skog. It further expanded into other services, such as charter trips. In 2006, the company almost went bankrupt, and was taken over by Rail Management. In 2007, the automotive distributor Autolink started purchasing the autorack operations from Ofotbanen, and at the same time bought 40% of the company. 2008 saw a dramatic decline in operations, as both the Norske Skog, Autolink and passenger train services were terminated. In April the company started service with the Unionexpressen between Oslo and Stockholm. The company went bankrupt in October, but was immediately re-established.