Iron ore train crossing

We will now make a short stop to allow an iron ore train to pass us. Keep an eye out on the right-hand side of the train. The train you are about to see is the reason the Ofoten Railway was built in the first place. These enormous trains carry iron ore products from the mining areas around Kiruna in northern Sweden, across the mountains to the harbour in Narvik. A fully loaded ore train is around 750 metres long and consists of 68 wagons, carrying approximately 6,800 tonnes of iron ore products. Around ten loaded ore trains arrive in Narvik every day. The ore they carry comes from enormous deposits in northern Sweden. These deposits have a remarkable geological history, formed more than a billion years ago through processes connected to intense volcanic activity. Today, mining takes place on an enormous scale beneath Kiruna. And the mine has created an unusual challenge for the city above it. As mining continues deeper underground, movements in the rock gradually affect the surface. Over time, the affected area has expanded towards parts of Kiruna, meaning buildings and neighbourhoods can no longer safely remain where they are. The solution has been extraordinary: parts of Kiruna are being moved. A new city centre has been built several kilometres away, and residents and businesses from affected areas are gradually being relocated. In some cases, buildings have actually been lifted from their foundations and transported to new locations. Others are replaced with new buildings or compensated as the transformation of the city continues. And this is not a project that is already finished. Kiruna will continue to change as the mining operation develops beneath the ground. But iron ore is only part of the traffic on this railway. The Ofoten Railway is also an important freight connection between northern Norway and the rest of Scandinavia. Every year, thousands of containers travel along the line, bringing goods north and carrying products south. Seafood is an important part of the southbound traffic, with large quantities of Norwegian fish transported by rail from Narvik towards markets elsewhere in Scandinavia and Europe. This makes the Ofoten Railway unusual. It was built more than 120 years ago for one main purpose – transporting iron ore from the mines to the sea. Iron ore still dominates the railway today, but the line has also become an important transport corridor for the communities and industries of Northern Norway.