Norway’s Minister of Transport Jon-Ivar Nygård inaugurated on august 29, 2023, country’s greenest rail freight terminal located in Nygårdstangen.

In close co-operation with freight operators, the Norway’s railway infrastructure manager, Bane Nor, has upgraded the terminal and doubled its capacity. Now the climate-friendly terminal has longer tracks for train parking and large areas for cargo handling activities, with more efficient operations. The terminal is operated entirely by electrically powered freight trains.

Since its design, great emphasis has been placed on sustainability from the construction phase and used materials to activities carried out at the terminal.

The terminal is designed for completely emission-free operation. It is only used by electric locomotives, while arrangements have been made for all the lifting equipment to be electric and rechargeable. In addition, the terminal provides an electrical connection for refrigerated containers and supply of the terminal building through district’s heating and solar cells.

The terminal is “good for climate and the environment” and it was specially designed to support sustainability in Nygård as well as in the transport system, the minister said at the ceremony.

Previously, goods arrived at Nygårdstangen both on rail and by trucks and the opening of the rail terminal will absorb road traffic.

In order to reach its climate targets, Norway is committed to shift road traffic towards railways. The terminal is providing an increased capacity allowing the removal of up to 40,000 trucks per year between Oslo and Bergen, which is essential for country’s transport system.

“The railway transport is reducing the number of trucks from roads and through a good co-operation with Bane Nor, we completed this project. For us at CargoNet a green terminal is incredibly important and will help meeting climate targets,” the managing director of CargoNet Ingvild Storås said.

Bergen freight terminal in Nygårdstangen is centrally located at Bergen station in the city centre and is Norway’s second largest freight terminal in terms of transported volume. CargoNet, Onrail and Axess Logistics provide services at the terminal.