- Polar Line
Infobox rail line
name = Polarbanen
caption =
type =Railway
system = Norwegian railway
status = Never completed
start =Fauske
end =Narvik
stations =
open =
close =
owner =
operator =
character =
stock =
linelength =
tracklength =
notrack = Single
gauge = RailGauge|sg
el = No
speed =
elevation =The Polar Line ( _no. Polarbanen) was a partially built
railway betweenFauske andNarvik inNordland ,Norway . The railway was built by the German forces in Norway duringWorld War II , but never finished before the German capitulation in 1945. Still, some of the infrastructure for the railway was in place, including manytunnel s andbridge s.Background
As part of the construction of
Festung Norwegen ,Nazi Germany wanted to expand the Norwegian railway, that at the time only went north toGrong , all the way toKirkenes , right beside the Soviet border. The construction of theNordland Line was performed with Norwegian management by Norwegian workers, but the Polar Line north of Fauske was managed by the German authorities.Most of the construction work was performed by 8,300
Russia n prisoners of war and about an equal amount ofWehrmacht soldier s. After the war Norwegian authorities chose to suppress the partiall finished corridor. Part of the reason for this could have been the possibility of a Soviet demand of compansation for the labor from the Russian slaves. But even through the 1970s when the debate about theNord-Norge Line was at a peak and the casualties of the war in the past, the partially built corridor was suppressed. During the construction of the E6 highway through Nordland some of the right-of-way was used for the road.External links
* [http://polarbanen.info Private site on Polarbanen with many pictures] no icon
* [http://www.jernbane.net/script/dispenhet.asp?enhet=10892&kat=divno&katID= Jernbane.net page on the Polar Line] no icon
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