Rallarveien

Before the railway could be built, there was another challenge: how do you move people, equipment and supplies through a mountain landscape with no roads? The solution was a construction road – the road we know today as Rallarveien. At the height of the construction period, thousands of Norwegian and Swedish workers were involved in building the railway. Horses and carts carried equipment, food and other supplies into the mountains. During the long Arctic winter, carts were replaced by sleighs, carrying heavy loads through snow, cold and wind. The construction road between Rombaksbotn and Abisko was completed in 1898. Once the railway was finished a few years later, the road was no longer needed and was gradually reclaimed by nature. Today, Rallarveien is a popular hiking trail, where you can follow in the footsteps of the people who built the railway. The trail is also part of the “Norway Across” hiking route, taking hikers from the Swedish border, across the mountains and down to Rombaksbotn by the fjord. And along much of the route, the historic trail and the railway still run side by side.