FLAMSBANA RAILWAY
By Prapti
#A Flamsbana train on
the ascent to Myradl along the Flams valley. The railway was completed in 1940
SEEN on a map,
the Flamsbana might look like a
railways of modest ambitions: pottering just over 12½ miles at a top speed of
25mph. seen in real life, its epic stature becomes apparent: a little line that
courageously scrambles through a landscape of tumbling waterfalls and sheer
mountains, descending fro the treeless expanse of the Hardangervidda to the mouth of one of Norway’s most spectacular
inlets, the Aurlandsfjord. In the process, it descends an ear-popping altitude
of nearly 900m-equivalent to a walk down Scafell Pike-making it the steepest
standard-gauge railway system in the world (as you’d hope, it also has an
especially comprehensive braking system). Be sure to pay a visit to the small
museum next to the station in the village of Flam, which chronicles the
construction of the railways-including how 20 tunnels were carved out of the
mountainside by hand.
The Flamsbana runs year round (return from £40;
visitflam.com). Myrdal is set on the Oslo-Bergen line, and is served by regular
trains from both directions.
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