[3] The administration operated all railways in Norway, except public station areas and freight terminals built before 1997 and private sidings.
[1] On 31 December 2016, as a result of the rail reform of the Conservative lead government coalition, the administration was dissolved and all tasks were transferred to Bane NOR or the Norwegian Railway Directorate.
[7] Due to the inhospitable winter climate in Norway, many infrastructure activities become unfeasible for months at a time, leading to temporary overcapacity with numerous staff having no assigned work; this was difficult to account for in conventional means of competitive tendering for major maintenance and renewal projects, and came at a considerable premium in terms of both price and productivity.
[7] The Administration also anticipated future increases in difficulties pertaining to Norway's climate, as an increase in precipitation would likely lead to more frequent landslides; proactive measures taken to guard against this danger included setting up a comprehensive inventory of landslide-prone sites, the implementation of physical preventative measures in such sites, as well as close cooperation with the Norwegian Meteorological Institute to establish additional weather stations to provide more reliable forecasts.
That same year, it acquired the bankrupt telecom company Enitel, and the whole subsidiary transferred to the Norwegian Ministry of Trade and Industry in 2002.
[12] During the mid-2000s, considerable growth in both passenger and freight traffic was recorded, while punctuality figures in excess of 90 percent, the best in the NSB's history, had also been attained.
It was responsible for a continuous process of dynamically amending various requirements, standards and procedures to account for the introduction of new technologies as well as improvements in knowledge, particularly in respect to human error factors.
By 2005, the Administration was openly stating its long-term objective of entirely eliminate level crossings as a part of the modernisation of Norway's railways.
[13] A NOK 1.7 billion development programme was underway to roll out this European system to facilitate secure, rapid, and effective communication between line traffic controllers, train drivers, and other railway personnel; it also better facilitated international railway operations along with increased competition between train operating companies.
[13] Comprising 700 ground-based installations for coverage of 3,800 kilometres of track and 600 tunnels, the system was in place on along all Norwegian lines by 2007.
[13][17] The process of privatizing the work of 1,100 employees was discontinued after the 2005 election, following the victory of the socialist coalition government; despite this reversal, the Administration stated its intention to continue to tender various projects where it would be economically desirable to do so.
[19] This work largely focused on the expansion of freight terminals and the provision of additional passing loops.
[21][22][23] In March 2015, the Administration signed a joint contract with the Spanish construction group Acciona and Italian contractor Ghella to build the Blix Tunnel, the largest civil engineering feature of the Follo Line; construction work started later that same year.