Spitsbergen is the largest island in the Svalbard archipelago. Currently, there are no railways on Spitsbergen. Several industrial railways were operated on the island, built to transport coal from numerous mines.
The most well-known of these was the narrow-gauge railway in Ny Ålesund. The railway was used to transport coal from the mines to the port. The settlement of Ny Ålesund was founded in 1917, and around this year the railway likely began operating. There are discrepancies in dates when the railway suspended operations – it certainly didn’t operate beyond 1963 when coal mining in Ny Ålesund ceased.
The renovated locomotive with coal wagons was placed near the wharf, one of the major tourist attractions in the Svalbard archipelago. According to internationalsteam.co.uk, there is also a small museum with photographs documenting the railway, and remnants of the tracks can still be found in the area. As a monument, locomotive No. 2 from 1909 was brought to Spitsbergen in 1917.
The mentioned railway on Spitsbergen is recognized as the northernmost railway line.
Additionally, there was an eight-kilometer narrow-gauge railway with a track gauge of 600 mm on the island. It connected two settlements, Grumantbyen and Colesbukta, mainly inhabited by Russians working in the coal mines. The railway was built between 1925 and 1932, with most of the track protected by wooden structures to prevent snow buildup from the wind. The railway served to transport coal from the Grumantbyen mine to the newly built port of Colesbukta. Several bridges and a three-meter tunnel were constructed along the route. The line was in use until 1965, and remnants of the tracks can still be seen today.
Various sources mention a network of mining railways in Barentsburg. Barentsburg is a mining settlement mainly inhabited by Russians. It’s more likely a mining railway powered by electric locomotives and mainly operating underground. It’s unclear if the railway is still in operation, as few manage to access the settlement, and the mine itself is inaccessible to outsiders.
An industrial railway also operated on Bear Island, another island of the Svalbard archipelago.
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Railways in Europe by country
Train travel in Norway
