Several life-threatening incidents were recorded on the railway route between the Norwegian capital and Sweden. Metal objects were found on the tracks, causing damage to the braking systems of locomotives and carriages. The issue was reported on Friday afternoon by the newspaper Aftenposten.
The railway network operator Bane Nor deemed the incidents to be the result of deliberate actions. All occurred after dark in the same area, and similar objects were used to block the tracks: boulders or metal structures. Serious damage to rolling stock is said to have happened multiple times, and one of the incidents, according to Bane Nor, could have ended in a train derailment.
The most serious incident took place on 11 November, when a train heading to Oslo had to terminate its route urgently in the town of Moss after hitting a massive object left on the tracks a few kilometres earlier.
The train driver reported a “loud bang,” and the train entered the station with overheated brakes. Police found large steel elements on the tracks, similar to those that had damaged another train the previous day at exactly the same location.
Despite reporting a public-safety threat to the police and informing the PST counterintelligence service, investigators discontinued the case after three days. According to Aftenposten, police determined that, despite analysing recordings and the objects secured at the site, identifying the perpetrator was not possible.
The dangerous incidents occurred on the railway line connecting Oslo with the Swedish cities of Gothenburg and Malmö. Out of concern over further hazardous events, the speed of freight and passenger trains in the area has been reduced by half.