In the autumn of 2019, a separate project board was established where the aim is to ensure the development of the area. It has hosted many meetings and issued many letters and notes. Briefly summarized, the following has been carried out: 

 

Autumn 2019/summer 2020

A number of meetings and seminars were held with public authorities such as the Ministry of Transport, Jernbaneverket, Bane NOR, Horten municipality, the Norwegian Public Roads Administration and others regarding the development of the freight and services terminal at Kopstad during this period. There has been a special focus on branch lines from the new double-track Vestfoldbanen railway, and access from the E18. Multiconsult has been engaged in finding optimal solutions for the area, and quickly found out that the solution that Bane NOR had zoned as a branch line to the terminal was not very functional and would have to be rebuilt in order to optimise the area. This was discussed with Bane NOR in the spring of 2020 and through joint working meetings in the summer of 2020, the parties found a better solution. This solution will be somewhat more expensive than the zoned solution.

 

Throughout the spring of 2020, many interviews were conducted with potential users of the terminal. This review, carried out by the project board, shows a broad interest in the establishment of a new rail-based centre not only for freight management, and also for services linked to railways, recycling and logistics.

 

In May 2020, a major webinar was held with potential players and co-operative partners in collaboration with Horten municipality. It gave all parties a chance to hear about the opportunities for the development of the area. Subsequently, the project board decided that the name of the company should be changed to make it clear that this is no longer intended only as a freight terminal, but can accommodate much more. The name Kopstad Godsterminalutvikling was thus changed to Oslofjord Logistikk AS. 

 

There were also meetings with several relevant partners with a view to developing the terminal and the service area. Many players have already expressed an interest. This is the basis for the company's strategy and business plan.

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Reference is made to the following activities and materials:

• In collaboration with Horten municipality, a Web seminar was organized on 3 June 2020. You can find the link to the programme here.

• Capacity assessment of the double-track Vestfoldbanen railway. You can find the link here.

• Assessment of access from the railway and land use.

• Stakeholder analysis

• Consultation statement for KVU Terminals structure in the Oslofjord area. You can find the link here.

• Løvlien Georåd - Geotechnical engineering. You can find a link to their website here.

• Bane Nor - alternative solution identified. You can find the link here.

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Autumn 2020: 

​Throughout this period, the focus was on getting Bane NOR and the Norwegian Railway Directorate to change the zoned  branch line solution. In December 2020, an email came from the Directorate of Railways stating that Bane NOR had recommended to the Directorate of Railways that the branch line should be removed from the double track project. Throughout the autumn, various meetings were also held with politicians locally, regionally and centrally to draw attention to the potential the area has for business development. There has been broad cross-party support for this. That is why Transport Minister Knut Arild Hareide issued a statement that the branch line which had been zoned had to be built.

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At the same time, Horten municipality started preparatory work on the zoning plan for a new two-level intersection in Helleland. Rambøll as was engaged as a consultant, and a project group has been set up consisting of representatives from Holmestrand municipality, Vestfold/Telemark county municipality, the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, and Oslofjord Logistikk. Horten municipality is responsible for the project management.

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Spring 2020: 

Horten municipality announced the start of the zoning plan for the two-level intersection in May 2021. Work to optimise the area continued until April. This has resulted in a cheaper solution for the branch line from the north than had been discussed with Bane NOR in the summer of 2020. This is a solution that can be built using the funding that the double track project (UNB) has set aside for this solution. This was conveyed to the Ministry of Transport in a letter of 29 March. Work with the revised infill plan has been initiated in parallel with the optimisation plan and these must be linked. Work has been done to find a consultant who can handle a comprehensive plan for infill and for developing the logistics centre. Norsk Gjenvinning received an offer from Multiconsult in May to provide a satisfactory plan for further work with infill for a final terminal/logistics centre.

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There has been extensive contact with politicians both locally, regionally and centrally. The Vestfold bench at the Storting has been actively involved in the dialogue. Furthermore, this has been the subject of extensive press coverage, mainly locally.

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In addition contact has been established with both the Railway Authority and the Competition Authority. In addition, there has been some dialogue with Bane NOR. There have been attempts to get the Norwegian Railway Directorate to enter into dialogue, but we have not succeeded. The Directorate indicates that this is Bane NOR's task.

 

Autumn 2021:

​There were a number of meetings with politicians during the autumn, partly to get the Norwegian Railway Directorate to change the order for the branch line from the north and to include the southern branch line. We managed to get meetings with state secretary Jon Ragnar Aarseth and a hearing to change the order for the branch line from the north. This was confirmed in our meeting with the Norwegian Railway Directorate in November. We wrote a letter to the Department of Transport in September (see letter here). This letter has not yet been answered. We also tried to get a meeting with the new transport minister. The mayor of Horten municipality wants to have a meeting with him first, and we are therefore hoping for a meeting in the new year in 2022. Our aim with the meeting is to get approval for an order linked to the branch line from the south, as Jernbaneverket committed to in 2012.

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During the autumn we succeeded in establishing better dialogue with Bane NOR to discuss the design of the northern branch and to find good solutions for the southern branch. We have had meetings with both the traffic director and with the development project (UNB). In the meeting with UNB, we discussed possible solutions both in terms of branch lines from the north and the south. After the meeting, our consultant from Multiconsult, Sam Pawar, drew up alternative solutions which we will discuss in more detail with UNB in ​​the new year.

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The zoning plan is coming up to 10 years old and is ripe for revision, partly because the access from the railway is different than originally planned (without service track) and the rail element is also planned to include other functions (services, train parking etc.) rather than being just a freight terminal. This imposes other requirements and will affect the infill of the site. In the meeting with Horten municipality, we agreed that we should revise the plan, partly to ensure a certain degree of flexibility with regard to possible changes, and that the plan should be adopted no later than the spring of 2023. Multiconsult and Rambøll are invited to tender for the work.

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First half of 2022

Throughout the six months, we have continued to maintain political contact both regionally and centrally. However, we have not succeeded in getting a meeting with the Minister for Transport to explain the situation. We created a factual note (can be read here, but  norwegian text only), which describes the challenge we have regarding access both by rail and by road. This has been given to the minister.

 

The regulation plan for the two-level intersection has been completed and has received political first consideration. We also have meetings with the Norwegian Road Administration with the possibility of co-financing the first development phase of the intersection. Regarding branching from the railway, we have had a lot of dialogue with Bane NOR about branching from the north. This is somewhat adjusted, but not completely in line with our wishes. As regards the branch from the south, we have not received approval for this to be built at the same time as the double-track Vestfold Line, but that it can be expanded afterwards with some adaptations.

 

Norsk Gjenvinning AS (NG) has taken a more active role in the work with the goods terminal and not just filling the area. This has led to much closer cooperation with, among other things, the execution of a revised zoning plan. Since the current zoning plan is approximately 10 years old, we decided in collaboration with Horten municipality to initiate a revision of the plan. We asked for offers from both Rambøll as and Multiconsult for the work on the plan. Multiconsult was chosen. In April, a start-up meeting was held in the municipality and the Regional Planning Forum was held in May. Notice of commencement was announced at the end of May. As an important part of the plan, it is necessary to have a realistic fulfillment plan in order to avoid unfortunate subsidences. This is now almost finished and will be the basis for further rounding of the area.

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To ensure good support for the project, Multiconult has commissioned us to carry out a socio-economic analysis. This shows very favorable results. The analysis only uses established and known methods and bases that have also been discussed with the Norwegian Railways Directorate. This analysis was also an important basis for a seminar conducted in collaboration with the Norwegian Railway Association and Horten municipality on June 8th in Horten. There were approximately 50 participants in the seminar. Lectures from the seminar can be found here.

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We have also had an ongoing dialogue with several stakeholders who want to establish themselves in Kopstad. The business plan has also been adjusted somewhat during the spring.

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