Finse Station

Historie

Finse Station is located in the small mountain village of Finse in the municipality of Ulvik in Hordaland county, Norway. The station is served by up to seven daily express trains in each direction, normally three per day and one overnight trains, all operated by the Norwegian State Railways. The Finse Tunnel begins just west of the village and the Rallarvegen goes through the village.The station also features a navvy museum, dedicated to the builders of the railways in Norway. One of Norway's popular hiking trails also starts at the station and ends in the village of Aurlandsvangen after a four-day trek.HistoryThe station was opened as part of the Bergensbanen railway line on 10 June 1908, five years after the first hotel was built in Finse. Since there is no (public) road access, the railway is the sole access to the area. After the railway came, Finse grew as a recreational area, and also received a small amount of permanent residents, at the most 200 people, including a school and a store. The proximity and easy access to both Bergen and Oslo made Finse a popular mountain resort, but during the 1960s and 1970s the tourist traffic declined, as did the village, and during the 1980s it virtually died when the school and store closed. Finse Station still operates the oldest and highest situated post office in Norway, founded on 1 March 1904.