Ban Nor writes on its website that it was closed between Drammen and Sande after 3pm due to drifts and high water levels.
– Ban Nor is with crews and they are working to divert water from the railway line and assess the damage, Ban Nor’s press officer Harry Korslund told NRK at 3.30pm.
Korslund in Ban Nor told NRK shortly before 20.30 that it looks like the railway section could be reopened on Saturday morning.
Passengers get off the train at Sande station after a landslide occurred at Kopervikdalen on the Westfold line.
Photo: Anne Locknwick
– Backfilling with crushed stone takes place in the evening and at night. It looks like it will reopen tomorrow morning with a small caveat that work will go ahead as planned.
He added that the first half will be run at a slower pace for extended periods.
There will be alternative transport for commuters on Friday evening.
Long queues
Train passenger Jorun Westrin tells NRK that they were told to get off the train.
Westrin says there will be long queues at the Sande station after 3pm.
Jorunn Westhrin and her granddaughter Klara (10) were waiting at the Sande station.
Photo: Private
They were told over the public address system that there had been a massive landslide at Koperviktalen in Tramen.
According to West, passengers should have been informed that Vy had ordered the buses to be loaded.
– Extensive damage
Anne Loknvik, another passenger at NRK, was on the train approaching Sande when the conductor said the crowd erupted at Kopervikdalen near Drammen.
As a result, the train could not continue to Oslo, where he was to visit the museum.
– Many people are waiting for buses and taxis now. It goes without saying that we will have to stay here for a while before 3.30 pm.
Here you can see the mass collapse on the railway line at Kopervikdalen which led to a complete halt to train traffic on the Westfold railway on Friday afternoon.
Photo: Ban Nor / Ban Nor
He says the conductor told him that no route will be open today because of the damage.
She believes there are a few hundred people waiting in Sande.
– There is some chaos, but life goes on, says traveler Helge Hansen.
– Absolute anarchy here
It will be especially chaotic on Friday afternoon at Trammen station, where hundreds of commuters are trying to find alternative transport.
– It’s absolute anarchy here. And there were reports of traffic, and it was clear that many people in Drammen were not known, because people were running everywhere. It was confusing to say the least. Every time a train comes here, people rush out and run in the direction of the taxis, Svein Magne Kelby tells NRK.
Chaos at Drammen station after the Westfold line was closed as a result of a mass slide.
Photo: NRK Notes
He says he chose to take it easy.
– I couldn’t take it. I sat down and bought a coffee and people ran to get into taxis.
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