Transport in Norway
The main governing body is the Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications, which performs operations through numerous subsidiaries.
Aircraft is the commonly used mode of transport on longer distances, and the routes between Oslo and Bergen, Trondheim and Stavanger are all among the largest in Europe.
[9] These are located mainly in Sogn og Fjordane and Northern Norway, in areas with long distances to large cities and with too little traffic to support commercial flights.
The airports, which typically have an 800 metres (2,600 ft) runway, are run by Avinor, while the airplanes are operated based on subsidized public service obligation contracts with the Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications.
[7][18] by the far largest contractor is Widerøe with their fleet of de Havilland Canada Dash 8 aircraft,[19] but also Danish Air Transport, Lufttransport and Kato Airline have won bids.
[20] The flights operate from one or more regional airports to larger hubs; in Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim, Bodø, Tromsø and Kirkenes.
[22] The main long-haul network consists of lines from Oslo and westwards along the South Coast to Stavanger and over the mountains to Bergen; and north to Åndalsnes and via Trondheim to Bodø.
[28] Investment in new infrastructure and maintenance is financed through the state budget,[26] and subsidies are provided for passenger train operations.
The rail transits are operated by the counties, and the ticket system is integrated into the bus transport.
[36] In 2008, 130 ferry routes remained in service, operated by private companies on contract with the Public Roads Administration.
There are not enough funding through tax money, so these tunnels and bridges are normally financed mainly through toll fees.
[38] Some mountain passes have severe snowstorm problems in the winter, so often they have to be closed, or cars have to drive after a snowplow in a column.
[47] The Norwegian plug-in electric segment has the world's highest market share of new car sales, with 5.6% in 2013, and 12.5% in 2014.
[51] Bus and passenger boat services are normally operated by private companies on contract with the county or their public transport authority (such as Ruter or Vestviken Kollektivtrafikk).
[62][63] The Coastal Express (known as Hurtigruten) operates daily cruiseferries from Bergen to Kirkenes, calling at 35 ports.
[64] International car carrying cruiseferries operate from Southern Norway to Denmark, Germany and Sweden.
[65] The petroleum and natural gas production on the Norwegian continental shelf uses pipelines to transport produce to processing plants on mainland Norway and other European countries; total length is 9,481 kilometres (5,891 mi).
[8] The government-owned Gassco operates all natural gas pipelines; in 2006, 88 billion cubic meters were transported, or 15% of European consumption[66]
