Lars Hellik  Strøm came up with the idea of developing a freight terminal at Kopstad as early as 2006. Lars H Strøm is the managing director of freight transport for Norway’s truck freight terminals. The terminals in Drammen were about to be redeveloped, and he recognised an urgent need for a new freight terminal on the west side of the Oslofjord. He entered into positive negotiations with the then Jernbaneverket (the Norwegian National Rail Administration) in 2008, and a zoning plan for the area was adopted in 2012. Agreements with Jernbaneverket  were also reached on in-filling and a promise of high-capacity branch lines. You can read the letter from Jernbaneverket in 2012/2013 here. This provided a good basis to begin the development of the area. Norsk Gjenvinning joined in and is now responsible for dumping in-fill material to create building sites.

 

When the municipal sub-plan for double tracks on the Nykirke - Barkåker stretch of the Vestfoldsbanen was adopted (2016), the plan included a branch line from both the north and the south to the terminal area at Kopstad via a service line. You can find the drawings here, and an excerpt from the plan description here. As the Vestfoldbanen project developed, the service track was moved for cost reasons and the high-capacity branch line was reduced to a single, short line from the north alone. This resulted from an internal decision by Bane NOR that there should be a reduction in freight traffic on the Vestfoldsbanen line.

 

In 2019, assessments were carried out of the consequences that the single branch line would have for the freight terminal's functions and what it would mean if the southern branch were not to be built. Our assessment is that this would mean major restrictions on activities at the terminal linked to rail-related activities. It would mean that access to services and operating functions would be complicated and that the area for workshops etc. would be significantly reduced. There is much to indicate that the terminal would largely be used for road/road transport and only a smaller part would be used for rail activities. This has been repeatedly pointed out to the Ministry of Transport, the Norwegian Railway Directorate and Bane NOR.

 

The project has always had broad local and regional political support. The development of the area will mean regional growth and community development, as well as ensuring increased transport by rail. The location of the area also makes it possible to consider transport between multiple forms of transport such as road, sea and rail. The harbours at both Horten and Holmestrand are not far away and an automatic ferry between Moss and Horten will strengthen this approach. This initiative also received majority approval when the National Transport Plan was being considered in the spring of 2021. Here you will find excerpts from the National Transport Plan. Horten municipality has already initiated a zoning plan for a two-level intersection at Helleland, which will contribute to good accessibility by car.

 

In 2019, a separate board was established for Kopstad Godsterminalutvikling. The board quickly decided to change the name of the project to Oslofjord Logistikk as because it was obvious that this is not only going to be a freight terminal, but also has the potential to become a logistics centre for rail-related business, not only in freight transport, but also in services, railway operations and  handling different types of waste, as well as recycling and processing. The response to this has been overwhelmingly positive.

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The project aims to have the first construction stage of the area completed by 2024/2025. The entire area is expected to be completed by mid-2030.

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The timeline for historical activities/decisions can be read from the figure below, as well the plans for the next few years.