Portal:Trains/Selected article/Week 15, 2013

The Ålgård Line (Ålgårdbanen) is a closed, but not abandoned, railway line between Ganddal and Ålgård in Rogaland, Norway. The 12.24 km line was built as a narrow gauge branch line of the Jæren Line by the Norwegian State Railways (NSB) and opened in 1924. It runs through the villages of Foss-Eikeland and Figgjo in Sandnes to Ålgård in Gjesdal. Several proposals were made for the Ålgård Line to become the first part of the main line from Stavanger to Oslo, but instead the Sørlandet Line was connected to the Jæren Line in 1944. At the same time, the Ålgård Line was upgraded to standard gauge. The line had up to ten daily round trips with diesel multiple units, until passenger traffic was terminated in 1955. Freight traffic remained until 1988, when most of the line was abandoned in 1988, although 3 km was used until 2001. The line is owned by the Norwegian National Rail Administration. The station at Figgjo has been converted to a museum, and the 3 km section from there to Ålgård is used for recreational draisines. There have been proposals to reopen the line either as part of the Jæren Commuter Rail or the planned light rail for Greater Stavanger.