Norway is looking to speed up travel between its two largest cities, Oslo and Bergen, but a dispute is brewing over whether the big bucks should be invested in a superhighway or a high-speed train lines.
The present rail line and roads both take about seven hours for the 300-mile trip. Highway proponents, who currently have the government’s ear, are calling for a four-lane expressway with a 110km/h speed limit that would cut the driving time to about four hours at a cost of about $16 billion.
However, Norsk Bane, which builds high-speed rail lines, says the same money could upgrade the 1908 Oslo-Bergen route to high-speed operation that could not only cut the trip time to about 2.5 hours, but would also generate income from increased passenger and cargo traffic.
