The board of Oslofjord logistics was established in 2019 and has had an active role in various activities since then. The following highlights, shows the tasks that are necessary to meet various challenges and to ensure a good development of the area.​​

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Railway branch from the new Vestfold line

When the municipality's sub-plan for double track on the Vestfold Line Nykirke, Barkåker was adopted (2016), a branch from both the north and the south to the terminal area at Kopstad via a service track was considered. In further engineering of the Vestfold Line, the service track was moved due to costs. Therefore, only a possible branch from the north was regulated. When Oslofjord Logistikk contacted Bane NOR in 2019, it turned out that Bane NOR had no plans to build this branch. Extensive work was therefore initiated to ensure that the original promises of "high-capacity" branching were built.

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Multiconsult was engaged to find good, optimal solutions for the area and it was quickly discovered that the solution that Bane NOR had regulated was a very poor solution for the development of the railway area at Kopstad. This was taken up with Bane NOR in the spring of 2020 and through some meetings in the summer of 2020, the parties found a better solution. This solution would be somewhat more expensive than the regulated solution. Throughout autumn 2020, the Board focused on getting Bane NOR and the Norwegian Railway Directorate to change the branching solution. In December 2020, there was an email from the Norwegian Railway Directorate stating that Bane NOR had recommended to the Norwegian Railway Directorate that the branch should be taken out of the double track project. Throughout the autumn, various meetings and contacts were also held with politicians locally, regionally and centrally to draw attention to the potential the area has for railway and logistics development. There has been broad cross-party support for this. That is why Transport Minister Knut Arild Hareide came out and said that the branch that was regulated should be built.

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Several meetings were held with politicians during the autumn of 2021 partly to get the Directorate of Railways to change the order for the branch from the north and to bring in the southern branch. Through meetings with State Secretary Jon Ragnar Aarseth, we succeed in getting a hearing to change the order about branching from the north. We had this confirmed in our own meeting with the Norwegian Railway Directorate in November 2021. Our aim with the meetings was to get approval for an order related to a high-capacity branch that the Norwegian Railways had committed to in 2012.

 

During the autumn of 2022, we will succeed in establishing a better dialogue with Bane NOR to discuss the design of the northern branch and to find good solutions for the southern branch. Through the meetings, we have discussed possible solutions both in terms of branching from the north and the south. Our consultant from Multiconsult Sam Pawar assisted us in drawing up alternative solutions which were discussed with the Vestfoldbane project (UNB). It turned out that the deadline for delivering detailed drawings to ensure good design of ERTMS had expired and UNB believed that the train for the southern branch had to be scrapped, but that the project should facilitate such a branch in a later phase.

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It therefore became difficult to insist that this branch should be built at the same time as the development of the Vestfold Line. The UNB project was based on the solution we had agreed on in its further planning and in 2024 the branch was under construction. Afterwards, it turned out that the ERTMS project is delayed and that the Vestfold line will not open until 2026.

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Access by car from E-18

There is currently a temporary solution for today's activity with regard to filling masses, but there is a need for a permanent solution. In the autumn of 2020, Horten municipality started preparatory work for the zoning plan for a new two-lane intersection at Helleland. Rambøll AS was engaged as a consultant and a project group has been set up consisting of representatives from Horten municipality, Holmestrand municipality, Vestfold/Telemark county municipality, the Norwegian Road Administration and Oslofjord Logistics. Horten municipality had the project management. Horten municipality announced the start of a zoning plan for 2 level crossings in May 2021.

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The regulatory plan for the two-level intersection was completed in 2022 and received political first consideration in the same year. The regulatory plan allows for gradual development of the intersection. We also had meetings with the National Roads Administration in 2022 with the aim of co-financing the first development phase of the crossing. The final zoning plan was adopted in 2023. Then, in collaboration with the National Roads Administration, we initiated detailed design of half the two-level intersection (first construction stage) with the aim of obtaining state funding for the intersection in 2025 and with completion in 2026. The work was completed in the spring of 2024. We succeeded to get majority approval for this intersection to be built by the Norwegian Public Roads Administration in collaboration with us in the processing of the National Transport Plan in June 2024. It remains to get this also into the State Budget for 2025.

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Need for a revised regulatory plan

In 2021, we registered that the Regulatory Plan for the area was approaching 10 years old and was probably ripe for revision partly because the access from the railway is different than originally planned (without service tracks) and the railway part is also planned with other functions (service, train parking +) than just a freight terminal. This places other requirements on the fall and will affect the filling of the plot. In a meeting with Horten municipality (2021), we agreed that we should revise the plan where we can, among other things, ensure a certain degree of flexibility with regard to possible changes and that the plan should be adopted no later than spring 2023. Multiconsult and Rambøll were invited to come with an offer for the work. Multiconsult was chosen.

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In April (2022), a formal start-up meeting was held with the municipality and the Regional Planning Forum was held in May. Notice of commencement was announced at the end of May. The first treatment of the plan was at the beginning of 2023 and the second treatment in late autumn 2023.

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Filling plan for the area

In 2022, Norsk Gjenvinning (NG) got a new case manager, which has led to NG taking a more active role in the work with the goods terminal and not just simply filling the area. This has led to much closer cooperation with, among other things, the execution of a revised zoning plan. As an important part of the plan, it has been necessary to have a realistic fulfillment plan to avoid unfortunate sentences. NG has also taken responsibility for obtaining better data on the geological conditions in the various areas of the site to ensure that the filling takes place in a clear order and that the areas that need a longer settling time will not be able to be completed until later. The infill plan is now complete and will be the basis for further subdivision of the area. The areas closest to the crossing and the areas close to the railway are the areas that can be developed first.

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Information and discussions about the significance of the terminal

During the work, several one-page leaflets have been made which have helped to shed light on various problems and challenges that have arisen along the way. In 2021, we also carried out a

online seminar (during the corona period), while in 2022 we managed to carry out a seminar with approx. 50 registered in Horten municipality in collaboration with, among others, the business manager.

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Stakeholders

Meetings and discussions have been held with several stakeholders continuously over the past few years. There is a lot of interest, but it has been important to reduce the various risk factors and to get a final clarification as to whether renting or buying is most relevant. The business plan for development has been the subject of running

 

 

 

 

 

 

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