This enterprise was partly owned by the Norwegian State Railways (NSB) and Fritt Ord, before it merged with the Reitan Group and was delisted from the Oslo Stock Exchange.

From the 1854 establishment of railways in Norway to 1909, no dining service was offered aboard trains; passengers were allowed to bring food with them.

[3] These were to be paid for by the state, but the Parliament of Norway delayed the grants after a long debate regarding the suitability of restaurant carriages on trains.

To get the carriages in time, Christiansen personally guaranteed the production cost in case a state grant was not allocated.

[4] In 1910, when President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt visited Oslo to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, several restaurant carriages were ordered solely for the occasion.

The board stated that they wanted to minimise the conflict of interest between the railway company and the dining-car operator.

They also saw centralising operations as a way to allocate a larger share of the revenue to the railway company, and to ensure a high quality of service on new lines.

[1] The restaurant carriages of the NSS were open to everyone, but dining was so expensive that usually only passengers travelling in first class used the service.

[15] Warm dishes, such as soups and sauces, were usually prepared at a small stove in the restaurant carriage's kitchen.

Otherwise, the menu consisted largely of fish options, such as halibut, flatfish, cod and even whale sausages.

[17] In 1921 a train ride from Kristiania to Trondheim lasted approximately 15 hours, and the average waiting time at each station was between 10 and 15 minutes.

[19] In 1923, the company was allowed to take over all restaurants in the railway districts of Oslo and Hamar; by 1925, it had taken over operation of the restaurants at Lillehammer, Hønefoss, Jessheim, Kornsjø, Halden, Ski, Eidsvoll, Otta, Dombås, Åndalsnes, Kongsvinger, Trondheim, Rena, Roa, Ringebu, Bjorli and Finse.

[21] From 1930 through 1934 the company took over restaurants at Ål, Jaren, Lillestrøm and Tønsberg, along with dining service on the steamship Skibladner, which ran on Mjøsa.

[24][26] The 60-bed hotel had a floor area of 605 square metres (6,510 sq ft)[27] and was marketed as a tourist destination, with bobsleigh and curling during the winter and tennis and croquet in summer.

Management wanted to centralise both a new depot and administrative offices at a single location close to the railway station, preferably co-located with a hotel.

[34] It remained the hotel's operator until 1976 when the government sold it to Eiendomsinvest, which outbid Spisevognselskapet by several million kroner.

[36] A merger with Spisevognselskapet would be considered a restructuring, and in 1974 Fritt Ord was established to take over Narvesen's owners' share of the company.

[33] The merged company retained the obligation to operate dining services on the trains, which put them in need of considerable subsidies from NSB.

In 1995 NSB sold its shares with Fritt Ord's approval, and the company was listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange.

[40] In November 2001 Fritt Ord sold its shares of ReitanNarvesen,[41] which was renamed Reitan Handel[42] and delisted from the Oslo Stock Exchange.