Train traffic on the Nordlandsbanen was suspended in both directions after an avalanche of snow and ice south of Saltfjellet.
The northbound train must have been driven into the snow and avalanche without injury to passengers, crew or goods. The train should have moved only after this. But the employees of the southbound train felt it too unsafe to pass the accident site if they reported the accident.
– We have called crews after we received reports from train crews on the Southern train about ice and snow drifts in the area between Dunderland and Polna. Harry Gorslund, news officer for Bane NOR, says employees on board the train decided not to take the opportunity to let it pass.
News of the slide came before 8:00 PM on May 17.
– Crews will examine the condition of the landslide site and there are many signs that there is a need to remove snow and ice, but it is too early to say anything about how long it will take for everything to return to normal. We will eventually get updated information based on how it looks on the site.
Korslund doesn't want to speculate on what caused the decline, and makes it clear that he doesn't currently know. But the weather can be a cause.
– There is still a lot of snow in the mountains, and with the temperatures we have had in Nordland and Helgeland, it is reasonable to assume that this is a contributing factor to the landslide. I still don't know how big and extensive the landslide is. If it is large and elaborate, the work will suffer. “If it's relatively small and limited, the work shouldn't take too long, but now there's a lot of uncertainty about both the amount and duration before traffic picks up and it's back up and running,” he says.
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