Skøyen Station () is a railway station located at Skøyen in Oslo, Norway. It is situated on the Drammen Line, from Oslo Central Station. It is served by regional trains and the Oslo Commuter Rail, operated by Vy, as well as by the Airport Express Train. The station is elevated and has two island platforms and four tracks.
The station opened along with the Drammen Line on 7 October 1872 with a station building designed by Georg Andreas Bull. The station was originally named Tyskestranden, taking the name Bygdø in 1876, Skøien in 1903 and the current name in 1921. The station received a major upgrade between 1915 and 1922, which included elevating the tracks, a new station designed by Eivind Gleditsch, double track and electrification. The station was further upgraded by plans designed by Arne Henriksen to the current state between 1996 and 1998.
History
Skøyen Station was one of five original stations on the Drammen Line, which opened on 7 October 1872. The line was originally narrow gauge, single track and lot electrified. The station building was designed by Georg Andreas Bull in Swiss chalet style. It was located on the east of Drammensveien. The original building has since been demolished.
There were few houses in the area and the railway felt that it was unnecessary to build more than one station to serve the line through Aker. The station received a significant catchment area including the neighborhood of Bestum. The arrival of the railway made it much easier to commute to the city center, and from the 1870s there was a significant increase in construction of houses along the route. The station was originally named Tyskestranden. This was derived from the contemporary name of the innermost part of the bay of Bestumkilen, along the Bestum side between Vækerø and Sjølyst. The station took the name Bygdø in December 1876. The name change came at the behest of the Bygdøy Royal Estate, which occupied the northern portion of the peninsula south of the station.
Skøyen became a center for railway-related industry. Skabo Jernbanevognfabrikk moved to Skøyen in 1873 and the same year Frognerkilens Fabrikker, later Norsk Elektrisk & Brown Boveri was established there. Thune was established in 1902. It and Skabo both received a spur. Skøyen became a mix of residential and industrial areas, with many of the housing projects being started during the 1930s. The last agricultural land in the area was used for housing during the 1980s. Norges Varemesse opened at Skøyen in 1962.
Train services were at first limited with only some trains calling at the station. Especially in the evenings this was regarded by the residents as a problem, as the last train from Oslo arrived before 20:00. This was later made better by two weekly services calling at Vækkerø at 23:30, allowing the locals to enjoy the city's nightlife. The station changed its name to Skøien on 1 May 1903, named after the farm which had been in the area. The spelling was modernized in April 1921. The Oslo Tramway's Skøyen Line was extended to Skøyen Station in 1903. The suburban Lilleaker Line extension was completed in 1919.
Commuter traffic on the Drammen Line increased substantially and Parliament decided in 1911 to modernize the line from Oslo West Station to Sandvika Station. The entire line was elevated so that roads could pass naturally below the tracks. This made it necessary to demolish the original station building at Skøyen and replace it with one designed by Eivind Gleditsch of NSB Arkitektkontor. Completed in 1916, it was placed west of the bridge over Drammensveien. Standard gauge traffic ran on the northern track from 27 February 1917. A southern track was then built, which was used by narrow gauge trains. However, both were dual gauge. All operations switched to standard gauge from 9 February 1920, although the dual gauge was not removed until 1922. Electric traction became operations from 30 August 1922. From 1922 the station was served every thirty minutes by the Oslo Commuter Rail service between Sandvika Station and Oslo West Station. An interlocking system was installed on 14 July 1924.