Narvik - Kirunavaara [TDV0031]

This time we travel from Narvik freight terminal down by the harbour and we start the 43 km long climb up towards the border between Norway and Sweden that is more than 500 meters above sea level. After we enter Sweden it is mostly downhill until we reach Stenbacken where we start an almost unnoticable climb again towards Kiruna. With one of these trains you can actually start coasting somwhere between Riksgränsen and Katterjåkk and if there are no oncoming trains or other obstacles in your way you can coast all the way past Abisko Östra. That is more than 30 minutes without using almost any energy. And with a locomotive like the Traxx that has regenerative electrodynamic breaking you produce more energy then you use during this time. The rich deposits of ore in northern Sweden were discovered in the 17th century, but since it was difficult to transport it the mines here could not compete with the mines in the Bergslagen area. There were different ideas of how to improve the possibilities to transport the ore and in the 1840s the first request to build a railroad was made. It did not become reality then, but in the 1880s a new attempt was made and the first part of what was to become this line was made. The most northern part that we travel along in this video was opened in 1903 and was electrified as early as in 1915. Of course the line has been heavily modernized since then. And even since this video was shot there has been some noticeable changes. From Bergfors station and down to Kiruna the old ATC-system is replaced with ERTMS and there are no optical signals, no green or red lights telling you if you can go or not. Thats information is instead given to you on a display in the drivers cab. Timetable: 0:00:00 Intro 0:00:07 Narvik 0:17:28 Djupvik 0:22:11 Straumsnes 0:29:00 Rombak 0:40:42 Katterat 0:48:37 Søsterbekk 0:52:18 Bjørnfjell 0:59:41 Riksgränsen 1:01:38 Katterjåkk 1:05:26 Vassijaure 1:09:42 Låktatjåkka 1:15:09 Kopparåsen 1:23:21 Björkliden 1:30:42 Abisko Turiststation 1:31:54 Abisko Östra 1:43:49 Stordalen 1:57:22 Kaisepakte 2:06:42 Stenbacken 2:13:06 Torneträsk 2:20:15 Bergfors 2:26:07 Rensjön 2:32:36 Rautas 2:44:59 Krokvik 2:48:53 Peuravaara 2:55:03 Kirunavaara