Portal:Trains/Selected article/Week 23, 2009

The Flekkefjord Line (Flekkefjordbanen) is a 17.1 km abandoned branch line to the Sørland Line. It ran between Sira and Flekkefjord in Vest-Agder, Norway. The only current activity on the line is tourist draisines. The station buildings along the line were designed by the architect Paul Armin Due; these have all been demolished. The line opened in 1904 as an 64 km extension of the narrow gauge Jæren Line. It was planned as the first step of a main line along the South Coast. At Flekkefjord, there was steam ship connection, onwards to Oslo. In 1941, the line was converted to standard gauge, and in 1944 the Sørland Line was completed. The western part of the Flekkefjord Line was integrated into it, while the remaining section became the branch line that kept the name Flekkefjord Line. During the 1940s, steam locomotive-hauled trains were replaced by railcars. Following the declining traffic, in part due to the slow speeds caused by the line's narrow profile, the line was closed, with the last trains running in 1990.