Common Tunnel - Future

Future

Oslo Package 3 is a political agreement between local and national politicians whereby state and municipal grants are combined with revenue from the toll ring to finance NOK 58 billion worth of transport infrastructure investments between 2008 and 2027. Ruter has requested NOK 100 million to upgrade the tunnel between Nationaltheatret and Majorstuen, where in some places there is only a few centimeters (about an inch) clearance between the tunnel wall and the trains. The upgrade would also include upgrades to the signaling system. Due to the narrow tunnel profile, evacuation from the trains have be done from the ends of the trains.

Ruter has proposed building a new underground station at Majorstuen, which would be located closer to Valkyrie plass. The current station causes long transfer distances between the metro, tram and bus, in part because passengers have to cross Kirkeveien at street level. The proposed station would have an island platform, easing transfer between westbound lines, and allow access to both sides of Kirkeveien. The station is estimated to cost NOK 1.8 billion and would have six entrances.

NOK 700 million has been allocated to build a new station at Homansbyen, in the residential area of Frogner, roughly mid-way between Nationaltheatret and Majorstuen. The station is estimated to have 10,000 daily travelers, and funding is scheduled for the period 2014 to 2017. Ruter has stated that they are opposed to building the station, and have made any decision in their long-term plan from 2010 to 2030 regarding if the station should be built. The company has stated that the area has a good tram service, and is in no need of rapid transit. Because the station would be deep underground, travel time gains to the city center for local residents would be small, compared to using the tram. Also, all travelers taking the metro west of the city center would receive longer travel time, since all trains would have to stop at Homansbyen. Ruter is also concerned that a rapid transit station would take ridership away from the trams, which previously have been threatened with closure. The imminent planned upgrades to the section of the tunnel do not include any intermediate stations.

The tunnel remains the bottleneck of the metro. Without infrastructure upgrades, the only way to increase capacity through the tunnel is by running six-car trains on services currently run with three-car trains. It is also possible to increase the capacity through the tunnel to 32 trains per hour per direction by changing the signaling system and using driver-less trains. In its long-term plans from 2009, Ruter stated that there is sufficient capacity in the tunnel until at least 2030. However, by 2011, the agency's plans stated that the capacity limit could be reached as early as or even before 2025. Any further increase in capacity would only be possible by building a second tunnel through the city center. The first plans called for a tunnel further north, roughly half-way between the Common Tunnel and the Ring Line, possibly in addition to a new tunnel through the city center.

Plans from 2011 have called for a new tunnel which runs from Majorstuen via Stortinget to Tøyen, but following a different route and with intermediate stations at Bislett, Hammersborg and Olaf Ryes plass, in the St. Hanshaugen and Grünerløkka boroughs north of the city center. Three of the lines would thus follow the existing tunnel to Stortinget and then switch to the new line, while the other three lines would follow the new tunnel to Stortinget and then run along the old tunnel onwards. This would allow for a six-minute headway on all but two branches, and also allow the proposed Fornebu Line to Skøyen, Fornebu and Nesodden to be built as part of the metro. Ruter has stated that the current stations are located in the areas which the most people want to travel to, and that if a second tunnel should deviate from these areas, they would have to serve places which generate as much traffic as the current stations.

Ruter has stated that the estimated investment cost would be NOK 10 billion, but that the tunnel would give high utility and would be one of the most economic investments they could make. There is no funding for a new tunnel in Oslo Package 3. By 2010, it was discovered that Oslo Package 3 was under-financed, and it is uncertain how much of the investment will be made by 2027. With the new tunnel being made a high priority by the city planners, this will either require additional grants from the municipality or the state, an increase in the toll fees, or the delay of investments in the program to a future Oslo Package 4. The left-wing parties have stated that they are willing to delay or abandon several road projects to allocate financing to a new tunnel, while the right-wing parties have stated that they are not willing to allow road projects to be undermined.