The Røros Railway
The Røros Railway runs between Hamar and Trondheim, through Østerdalen and past Røros, a journey of about 431 kilometers that takes around 6 hours. The line opened in 1877 and is Norway's oldest inter-regional railway line, and it takes you where no other train does: through the wilderness of Østerdalen to the mining town of Røros, with its beautiful wooden buildings.
Written by
The Fjord Tours team
3 min readUpdated: Sep 10, 2026
Quick facts
Røros Railway at a glance
- Name: Røros Railway (Rørosbanen in Norwegian)
- Route: Hamar–Røros–Trondheim
- Distance: about 431 km
- Journey time: about 6 hours
- Opened: 1877, Norway's first railway connecting two regions
- Highest point: near Harborg, 670 meters above sea level
- Operator: SJ Norway
Source: SJ Norway / Store norske leksikon / The Norwegian Railway Directorate.
The route and highlights
Moose, wolves, and bears in the forests. Traditional, heritage-listed railway stations from the birth of the railway era.
From Hamar, the train follows the Glomma, Norway's longest river, north through a forest. This forest is so old and dense that Østerdalen is considered one of Scandinavia's largest contiguous wildlands.
Further north, the line passes Femundsmarka National Park, one of the country's most pristine natural areas, where you can see semi-domesticated reindeer. The station buildings along the route take you back in time. Several of them are over a 100 years old and were built at a time when railway stations were still designed to look like stately wooden houses.
If you get lucky, you may be able to see moose from the train window on your journey. Wolves and bears are much shyer and stay as far away from people as possible.
The highest point is located at Harborg, between Glåmos and Rugldalen, 670 meters above sea level. In comparison, the Dovre Railway's highest point, at Hjerkinn, is almost 350 meters higher.
After hours of forests and mountains, a town completely different from the rest of the route appears. Røros is a traditional mining town that has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1980, with wooden houses and mining history dating back to the 1600s. This is when the copper works made it one of the most important industrial sites in Norway. The streets follow the same layout as they did in the 1600s and 1700s, and the well-preserved wooden houses are among the reasons the town was added to UNESCO's list.
Røros was the location for the holiday comedy Home for Christmas, which has been on Netflix for multiple seasons and has been one of its most popular series. In Røros, you can see locations from the show and enjoy the town's most iconic places and cafés.
History
The Røros Railway is older than both the Bergen Railway and the Dovre Railway. Construction of the Røros Railway was completed as early as 1877 - over 40 years before the others!
For a long time, the Røros line was the only railway link between Eastern Norway and Trøndelag. Workers completed construction in stages over 15 years, from the first section between Hamar and Grundset in 1862, until the entire line opened in 1877.
How to travel on the Røros Railway
Questions about the Røros Railway
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Discover all of Norway’s railways
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In this guide, we cover the route, stops, the best side to sit on, how to get there, and when the trip is at its best.
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The stretch is one of Norway's wildest and most photographed train journeys, and is known far beyond Norway's borders, thanks to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. It was also on this track that 50 tons of Norwegian gold were transported to avoid it falling into wrong hands during World War II.
In this guide, we will tell you all about the route, the most famous destinations, and how to travel, including the Golden Train as a separate optional experience.
The Dovre Railway
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Take a seat in Oslo and get off in Trondheim, with the whole of southern Norway behind you. See a diverse range of landscapes. From Lake Mjøsa's shimmering water, the Gudbrandsdalen valley's traditional farms, and the mighty Dovrefjell mountains with musk oxen and reindeer.
The Røros Railway
The Røros Railway runs between Hamar and Trondheim, through Østerdalen and past Røros, a journey of about 431 kilometers that takes around 6 hours. The line opened in 1877 and is Norway's oldest inter-regional railway line, and it takes you where no other train does: through the wilderness of Østerdalen to the mining town of Røros, with its beautiful wooden buildings.
The Sørlandet Line (Sørlandsbanen)
The Sørlandet Line takes you from Oslo to Stavanger in around 8 hours, through Norway's most summer-like region, often called 'the smiling south' (det blide Sørlandet in Norwegian).
The journey is about 545 kilometers, was completed in 1944, and is now fully electric. From Norway's capital through Telemark's deep valleys, past a traditional silver mining town, and all the way out to Jæren's green and flat fields on the coast.
One of the last stops on the way from Oslo to Stavanger is Bryne station, the town where Manchester City star Erling Braut Haaland grew up playing football.
The Nordland Railway
The Nordland Railway (Nordlandsbanen) takes you from Trondheim to Bodø in 10 hours. The 729-kilometer line crosses the Arctic Circle on the Saltfjellet mountain plateau. The landscape gradually changes along the route, from fjord villages in the south to the Helgeland coast and mountains further north.
It’s one of the few railways in the world that crosses the Arctic Circle. With the midnight sun or the northern lights.
The Bergen Railway: Oslo to Bergen by train
The Bergen Railway (Bergensbanen) runs between Norway’s 2 largest cities, and for many people it’s the Norwegian train journey. In 7 hours, you go from the forests around Oslo up to the Hardangervidda mountain plateau and on to the West Coast and Bergen.
The Flåm Railway
The Flåm Railway takes you from a bare mountain station at Myrdal, 867 meters up, down to the fjord village of Flåm in under 1 hour. In between: 20 tunnels, a waterfall, and farms clinging to slopes. It’s one of the steepest railways in the world with normal passenger service, and it opened in 1940.
In this guide, we cover the route, stops, the best side to sit on, how to get there, and when the trip is at its best.
The Rauma Railway
The Rauma Railway (Raumabanen) runs 114.2 kilometers from Dombås to Åndalsnes in about 1 hour and 40 minutes, past the steep Trollveggen mountain wall and Kylling Bridge.
The stretch is one of Norway's wildest and most photographed train journeys, and is known far beyond Norway's borders, thanks to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. It was also on this track that 50 tons of Norwegian gold were transported to avoid it falling into wrong hands during World War II.
In this guide, we will tell you all about the route, the most famous destinations, and how to travel, including the Golden Train as a separate optional experience.
The Dovre Railway
The Dovre Railway runs 548 kilometers from Oslo to Trondheim, over the Dovrefjell mountains and through the Gudbrandsdalen valley. The trip takes about 6.5 to 7 hours.
Take a seat in Oslo and get off in Trondheim, with the whole of southern Norway behind you. See a diverse range of landscapes. From Lake Mjøsa's shimmering water, the Gudbrandsdalen valley's traditional farms, and the mighty Dovrefjell mountains with musk oxen and reindeer.
The Røros Railway
The Røros Railway runs between Hamar and Trondheim, through Østerdalen and past Røros, a journey of about 431 kilometers that takes around 6 hours. The line opened in 1877 and is Norway's oldest inter-regional railway line, and it takes you where no other train does: through the wilderness of Østerdalen to the mining town of Røros, with its beautiful wooden buildings.
The Sørlandet Line (Sørlandsbanen)
The Sørlandet Line takes you from Oslo to Stavanger in around 8 hours, through Norway's most summer-like region, often called 'the smiling south' (det blide Sørlandet in Norwegian).
The journey is about 545 kilometers, was completed in 1944, and is now fully electric. From Norway's capital through Telemark's deep valleys, past a traditional silver mining town, and all the way out to Jæren's green and flat fields on the coast.
One of the last stops on the way from Oslo to Stavanger is Bryne station, the town where Manchester City star Erling Braut Haaland grew up playing football.
The Nordland Railway
The Nordland Railway (Nordlandsbanen) takes you from Trondheim to Bodø in 10 hours. The 729-kilometer line crosses the Arctic Circle on the Saltfjellet mountain plateau. The landscape gradually changes along the route, from fjord villages in the south to the Helgeland coast and mountains further north.
It’s one of the few railways in the world that crosses the Arctic Circle. With the midnight sun or the northern lights.