Assessing the possibility of profitable operation of Haukelibanen

The company Norsk Bane AS has made a plan for construction and operation of High Speed Rail lines from the cities of Haugesund and Bergen to Oslo. The concept includes frequent train service for passengers and freight with a travel time of less than 2 1/2 hour on the more than 400 kms line. Our assesment is that it is impossible to achieve the planned fare revenues. Furthermore the construction cost is most likely more than twice the planned amount. In the best case it might be possible to cover operational cost by fare revenues.