E6 is partially closed and Dovre railway line shut

A landslide nearly 40 metres wide has closed the E6 near Krekke Camping in Ringebu.

The Dovre railway line is also closed between Ringebu and Hunderfossen until Wednesday afternoon at the earliest due to landslides and damage to the tracks.

“Both the E6 and the Dovrebanen are national critical infrastructure. We are concerned that it should be as passable as possible. Not only for the local community, but also for the operation of both Innlandet and Norway,” county emergency manager Asbjørn Lund in Innlandet told public broadcaster NRK.

These issues have cut off Gudbrandsdalen to road and rail traffic for the time being.

PM rules out super high-speed rail for Norway

On a visit to China, PM Jonas Gahr Støre said that high-speed 350 km/h trains wouldn’t be appropriate for Norway.

His comments come following a trip on a high-speed train between Beijing and Shanghai. The PM said the government would focus on improving trains in the most populated areas.

“I am inspired by seeing a country build the right projects for itself. What I am inspired by is trying to do the right things adapted to Norway. And then it’s about trains in the central areas,” he said.

“It (high-speed rail) depends on you having a travel basis in passengers, which Norway does not have,” he said.

Sola named the municipality with best economic prospects

Sola has been named the local authority with the best economic outlook in all of Norway, according to the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO).

“Large, central municipalities do best. Typically, these will be growing municipalities, with younger populations, greater economic diversity, higher income levels, higher education levels, a higher proportion of private jobs, and – on the contrary – fewer disabled people, lower sickness absence, less ageing and lower municipal administration expenses,” chief economist Øystein Dørum said of the NHO’s latest report.

Oslo finished in second place, while Bærum was third in the ranking, which used 19 indicators. Dyrøy, Røst and Lavangen were named the worst municipalities.

‘Spy whale’ skeleton to be donated

Norway’s directorate of fisheries has decided to donate the body of the beluga whale ‘Hvaldimir’ to the Natural Museum and Botanical Garden at the University of Adger after the animal was found dead near Stavnager recently.

“We recognise that this is a special situation, and it is therefore in the public interest that bones and bones are safeguarded for the future,” Frank Bakke-Jensen, director of fisheries, said in a press release.

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