Is passenger transport on the Norwegian railway network privately or socially profitable?

Based on traffic and revenue data for separate routes in the Norwegian railway network, we have analysed the possibility of profitable passenger transport on the Norwegian railways. Most routes are operated under public purchase obligations. Such arrangements will continue to be necessary in the future, since revenues do not cover costs. Nevertheless, most of these routes are socially profitable. There is uncertainty in the data as well as in parameter estimates etc., but we conclude that the routes between Hamar and Røros, between Dombås and Åndalsnes and between Trondheim and Storlien are commercially as well as socially unprofitable. If a redistribution of public purchases of passenger transport services is to be undertaken, we recommend to allocate more to the heavy traffic routes.