Vestby Station

Class 73b train on the double-track section of the Østfold Line near Vestby

The station was opened in 1879 as a halt on the Smaalens Line, now known as the western branch of the Østfold Line.[4] The station building was designed by the Norwegian architect Peter Andreas Blix in the same Swiss cottage style as the stations Ås and Såner.[5][6] In the 1950s, the station was frequently used by weekend guests from Oslo that visited the nearby conurbation Hvitsten for having a bath.[7] A few years after the section of the Østfold Line between Ski and Moss Station was upgraded to double tracks,[4] Vestby Station received a major renovation.[8][9] A regulation plan for the station area was published in May 2010, which involved increasing the number of car parking places.[10]

In 2005, the station was subject of a terrorist attack. A non-Norwegian man had called the Norwegian police 7.49 in the morning, claiming that he had planted a bomb on the station which would detonate 8.00, eleven minutes later. All traffic on the Østfold Line was stopped, and the station investigated, but no bombs were found.[11]

Vestby Station has seen several accidents and injuries. In January 2004, a Linx train from Gothenburg, travelling at 130 kilometres per hour (81 mph), crashed into a plowing car that was partly parked on the railway tracks at Vestby.[12] No passengers were hurt in the accident.[13] It was victim of sabotage in March 2004, when some local youth laid steel pipes over the tracks.[14] In 2006, a two-year-old boy fell down from the platform and was run over by a passing train.[15] In June 2010, the station building caught fire in the middle of the night, but left no injuries.[16][17]

NSB Class 72 train and Ruter buses at the station

The station received a major overhaul after the Østfold Line was extended to double track in the 1990s.[18] The station was redesigned in the same architectural style as the preceding station Ås, with a modern walkway over the tracks.[19] The walkway is built in gluelam, and shapes together with the stairways down to the platforms one minimalistic construction.[19]

A bus stop is located on the east side of the station, and a park and ride facility with space for up to 120 cars on the west side.[10] There is also a taxi stand at the station.[10] The station building features a small kiosk.[8] The platforms have sheds and ticket machines. The station is located north of Sonsveien and south of Ås Station, 38.65 kilometres (24.02 mi) from Oslo Central Station.[8]

Vestby Station is served by the line L21 of the Oslo Commuter Rail, which is operated by the Norwegian State Railways.[20] The line runs through Oslo from Stabekk to Moss.[21] The service has two southbound stations before reaching Moss: Sonsveien and Kambo.[22] Travel time to Oslo Central Station is 33 minutes and to Moss 16 minutes.[23][24] The public transport authority Ruter operates bus services to the station from conurbations around Vestby.[25]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vestby stasjon.

• "Vestby Station". Norwegian National Rail Administration. Archived from the original on 2 May 2014. Retrieved 30 April 2014.