Editing Jæren Line (section)

===Branches and gauge conversion===
[[File:Btd brueland.jpg|thumb|left|The yard at Brueland]]
On 5 February 1875, the parliamentary [[Standing Committee on Railways]] published a report recommending that there be built four trans-national railways to connect western and central Norway to eastern Norway. The Sørlandet Line was part of this plan, and was scheduled to be built between 1876 and 1888.<ref>Jubileumskomitéen Sørlandsbanen Vest (1994): 9</ref> The line was proposed to be built via the [[Vestfold Line]] to [[Skien]] and onwards along the [[Southern Norway|south coast]] before connecting with the Jæren Line at Egersund. However, Norway was hit by the [[Depression of 1882–85]], which reduced railway construction to a minimum. In addition, controversy arose over which route should be chosen through [[Agder]]: along the populated coast or through the sparsely populated interior. This issue kept the line at bay, and not until 1908 was a decision made in favor of the interior route.<ref>Jubileumskomitéen Sørlandsbanen Vest (1994): 10</ref>

In 1894, the Railway Committee recommended parliament to prioritize three new lines, the [[Bergen Line]], the [[Rauma Line]] and the [[Gjøvik Line]]. However, this met protests from representatives from Agder, and it became clear that there would not be a majority to build the Bergen Line unless part of the Sørlandet Line was built. [[Jørgen Løvland]] proposed a compromise in which the Flekkefjord Line be built from Egersund to Flekkefjord, as the first part of the Sørlandet Line, as well as the [[Treungen Line]]. The Flekkefjord Line opened on 31 October 1904.<ref>Jubileumskomitéen Sørlandsbanen Vest (1994): 11</ref> The same year, stations were opened at Forus and Gausel.<ref name=b201 />

The Ålgård Line was originally launched as an alternative route for the Sørlandet Line. In 1910, a committee was appointed to conduct preliminary planning. Although NSB's board supported the line, construction was placed on hold. In 1919, local politicians proposed that the line be built administratively as part of the Jæren Line, but this was rejected by the government.<ref>Thime (1999): 8</ref> Instead, the ministry wanted to again consider the Ålgård Line as part of the Sørlandet Line, and proposed that the Ålgård Line be built with standard gauge—which would be used for the Sørlandet Line—instead of the narrow gauge used by the Jæren Line. However, there would be no need for standard gauge until the Sørlandet Line was extended to Rogaland, so the line was planned to be built with narrow gauge track, but all other installations would be prepared for standard gauge.<ref>Thime (1999): 9</ref> The first train to operate on the line went from Stavanger on 20 December 1924,<ref name=t13>Thime (1999): 13</ref> and the Ålgård Line became the last state-owned railway in Norway to be opened with narrow gauge.<ref name=a227>Aspenberg (1994): 227</ref> Not until 1930 was a branch built from the railway station in Sandnes to the port.<ref name=e29 />

The Sørlandet Line was being built in standard gauge, and when the line was to connect to the Flekkefjord Line at [[Moi Station]], the Jæren Line would have to be rebuilt to standard gauge to avoid a [[break-of-gauge]]. Preliminary work to ease the conversion was done during the 1920s.<ref name=jsv46>Jubileumskomitéen Sørlandsbanen Vest (1994): 46</ref> The conversion itself took only two days, during which the line was closed. On 29 April 1944, a test train was run from [[Sira, Norway|Sira]] to Stavanger. The upgrade was officially opened on 1 May, after which the Jæren Line was connected to Oslo, and considered part of the Sørlandet Line.<ref>Jubileumskomitéen Sørlandsbanen Vest (1994): 47</ref> When the Jæren Line was built, the station in Egersund was located in the city center. With the opening of the Sørlandet Line, a new station was built {{convert|1|km|sp=us|adj=on}} north of the city center.<ref name=jsv46/><ref name=j61>Norwegian National Rail Administration (2009a): 61</ref> The old station remained in use, despite being located on a dead-end track, as it was served by trains terminating in Egersund. However, this section of line was not converted to standard gauge until 1948. Passenger traffic was terminated from 25 September 1952, although the spur remained in use as a port line until 1986.<ref name=b195 />

With the change of gauge, NSB took the opportunity to change the route several places.<ref name=h94>Hartmann (1997): 94</ref> After these changes, including the move of the station in Egersund, the Jæren Line was reduced to a length of {{convert|73.1|km|sp=us}}.<ref name=b195 /> The changes included building twelve new tunnels on the section between Brusand and Egersund, of which nine were between Hellvik and Egersund.<ref name=b200 /> Another tunnel was built at Lurahammer in Sandnes.<ref name=b201 /> The tunnels opened between 1947 and 1950.<ref name=b201 /><ref name=b200 />

[[Sandnes]] became the third-largest intermediate stop on the Sørlandet Line, after [[Drammen Station]] and [[Kristiansand Station]]. To better the facilities for serving Sandnes, the track through the city center was rebuilt to an [[elevated railway]]. Given the unofficial name The High Line ({{langx|no|Høybanen}}), the new [[Sandnes Station]] was located further south of the center of Sandnes, at [[Skeiene]]. The new station and the elevated section opened on 1 October 1955.<ref name=hoybane /> Also a number of other stations were rebuilt, in part because they had become too small and in part because they needed to be moved because of line realignments during the gauge conversion. New station buildings were opened at Vigrestad in 1954, at Nærbø in 1955, at Sirevåg in 1956, at Bryne in 1958 and at Klepp and Varhaug in 1959.<ref name=h94 /> The 1950s also saw the establishment of a new depot at Kvaleberget.<ref name=h207>Hartmann (1997): 207</ref> New stations were established at Varden and Vardheia in 1956,<ref name=b200 /> Lyngnes in 1957 and Luravika in 1959. Tumarki Station was closed in 1957.<ref name=b201 />

In 1955, passenger traffic on the Ålgård Line was terminated, although sporadic freight traffic remained until 1988.<ref>Aspenberg (1994): 230</ref> On 3 June 1956, the Jæren Line received electric traction.<ref>Norwegian National Rail Administration (2009b): 34</ref> With electrification, NSB introduced three weekly services with the [[NSB Class 66|Class 66]] multiple units, which were capable of {{convert|120|km/h|sp=us}}, but the service did not generate sufficient patronage and was terminated in 1958.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Snøggtogett type 66 |author=Fjeldstad, Odd T. |journal=[[På Sporet]] |year=1996 |volume=87 |pages=36–42}}</ref> The remaining long-haul trains were hauled using [[NSB El 11|El&nbsp;11]] locomotives.<ref>Aspenberg (2001): 82</ref> They were from the 1960s supplemented with [[NSB El 13|El&nbsp;13]] locomotives.<ref>Aspenberg (2001): 98</ref> The electrification also saw the introduction of [[electric multiple unit]]s for local trains. Originally this consisted of [[NSB Class 65|Class 65]]<ref>Aspenberg (2001): 139</ref> and five [[NSB Class 67|Class 67]]. In 1960, the Class 67 units were swapped with [[NSB Class 68|Class 68]] units.<ref>Aspenberg (2001): 157</ref>

After the [[Ofoten Line]], the Jæren Line was the first line in Norway to receive [[centralized traffic control]], which was taken into use on 20 March 1964. The section from Sandnes to Egersund followed suit on 7 July.<ref name=ctc /> In 1966, 18 stations were closed, consisting of Maurholen, Vatnanot, Stokkaland, Hogstad, Stavnheim, Odland, Dysjaland, Kvia, Tårland,<ref name=b200 /> Gjerdo, Vardheia, Laland, Engjelsvåg, Orstad, Skjæveland, Lura, Luravika and Vaulen.<ref name=b201 /> During the 1970s, [[NSB El 14|El&nbsp;14]] locomotives were gradually introduced on both freight and passenger trains.<ref>Aspenberg (2001): 105</ref>

[[Automatic train stop]] was introduced on 30 December 1986.<ref name=atc /> During the late 1980s, [[NSB El 17|El&nbsp;17]] locomotives were introduced, but they proved unreliable and were taken out of service after 1998,<ref>Aspenberg (2001):121</ref> with the introduction of [[NBS El 18|El&nbsp;18]].<ref>Aspenberg (2001):124</ref> In 1991, four [[NSB Class 69|Class 69]] units were introduced on trains between Egersund and Stavanger,<ref>Aspenberg (2001):179</ref> and in 1994, two renovated Class 69 units were moved from Eastern Norway and put into service between Kristiansand and Stavanger.<ref>Aspenberg (2001):180</ref> The [[Scanet]] train radio system was installed between 1993 and 1996.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Train radio system for Norwegian State Railways |last=Solberg |first=Bjørn Olav |issue=4 |year=1994 |journal=Telektronikk |publisher=[[Telenor]] |pages=73–81 |url=http://www.telenor.com/telektronikk/volumes/pdf/4.1995/Page_073-081.pdf |access-date=24 October 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718023531/http://www.telenor.com/telektronikk/volumes/pdf/4.1995/Page_073-081.pdf |archive-date=18 July 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>