Portal:Trains/Selected article/Week 29, 2009

The Ring Line (T-baneringen or Ringbanen) is the newest rapid transit line of the Oslo Metro of Oslo, Norway. It connects to the Sognsvann Line in the west and the Grorud Line in the east; along with these two lines and the Common Tunnel, the Ring Line creates a loop serving the city center and Nordre Aker borough. The line has three stations: Nydalen, Storo and Sinsen, and is 5.0 km long. Four-fifths of the line is in two tunnels, with the 1.0 km section between Storo and Sinsen, including both stations, being the only at-grade part. The line connects to the Grorud Line north of Carl Berners plass and with the Sognsvann Line north of Ullevål stadion. Planning of the line started in the late 1980s and the city council approved the line 1997. Construction started in 2000; Nydalen and Storo opened on 20 August 2003, and Sinsen opened on 20 August 2006. The line cost NOK1,348 million to build and was financed through Oslo Package 2. The Ring Line is served by lines 4, 5 and 6 of the metro, operated by Oslo T-banedrift on contract with the transport authority Ruter. All lines operate each fifteen minutes. Nydalen and Storo are such located that trains in either direction use the same time along the loop, effectively giving a five-minute headway to the city center. After the opening of the line, the areas around the stations have had increased urban redevelopment. The infrastructure is owned and maintained by the municipal company Kollektivtransportproduksjon.