Smørstein Tunnel
The northern entrance, County Road 313 to the left | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Line | Vestfold Line |
| Location | Smørstein, Holmestrand, Norway |
| Coordinates | 59°31′31″N 10°16′49″E / 59.5254°N 10.2803°E |
| Operation | |
| Opened | 25 May 1921 |
| Owner | Norwegian National Rail Administration |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 288 m (945 ft) |
| No. of tracks | Single |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) |
| Electrified | 15 kV 16.7 Hz AC |
| Operating speed | 200 km/h (120 mph) |
The Smørstein Tunnel is a 288-meter (945 ft) tunnel located at Smørstein in Holmestrand, Norway. The tunnel carried a single, electrified track of the Vestfold Line. The need for a tunnel arose after a 19 August 1918 landslide washed away the railway past Smørstein. A temporary track was in place from 28 October, but the Norwegian State Railways (NSB) determined that the geology was too unstable and thus decided to build a tunnel to avoid the poor geological conditions. The tunnel opened on 25 May 1921 and was until 2010 the only tunnel on the Vestfold Line between Drammen and Larvik. The tunnel was closed in 2016 with the opening of the Holmestrandsporten tunnel, and converted to a bicycle tunnel along with the rest of the old railway line.