NORWAY (News release) -- Norske Skog Saugbrugs, Nortømmer and Viken Skog have together established the company Tømmerterminal Hauerseter, which is a privately owned sideport terminal for loading timber by rail. The Minister of Transport and Communications Jon-Ivar Nygård will officially open the newly established timber terminal at Hauerseter on Wednesday 19 January.

"The terminal, which is located at Hauerseter in Ullensaker municipality, has been established on private initiative. Recently, we have put in place the necessary approvals from both Jernbanetilsynet and Bane NOR to be able to load and transport timber on track," says general manager of Viken Skog Tor Henrik Kristiansen.

The first timber transporters delivered loads of timber at Hauerseter on 23 December, and the first timber train is scheduled to run during January.

Over the timber terminal, between 100,000 and 150,000 m3 of timber will be transported annually, mainly spruce pulpwood to Norske Skog Saugbrugs in Halden. This amounts to somewhere between 2,500 and 3,750 timber bills a year. If the return cars are added, the numbers can be doubled.

"The green shift requires that our inbound and outbound transport from the factories takes place with emission-free transport solutions. At the same time as we get lower carbon emissions and costs, there will now be fewer timber lorries on our roads. A further development of the railway network and the terminal structure until 2050 will be a prerequisite for the implementation of the green shift in the industry and fulfillment of Norway's emission obligations in the Glasgow agreement," says Sven Ombudstvedt, CEO of Norske Skog.

The reason for the establishment of the terminal is to get more timber from the road to the railway. From this geography, today all timber that goes to the industry in Østfold is driven on timber trucks via Oslo.

The terminal at Hauerseter is located just north of Gardermoen. It is thus geographically well located compared to other timber terminals. Hauerseter will relieve the other terminals, contribute to a sharp reduction in the number of timber trucks on the roads and reduce the transport distance from the forest in the area around the terminal.