The Iron Ore Line (Swe: Malmbanan) is a circa 500 km (300 mi) long railwayline on the route Luleå-Gällivare-Kiruna-Riksgränsen in Sweden and to the port of Narvik, Norway. The name of the Norwegian section of the line is Ofotbanen and this section is circa 43 km (27 mi).Actually, the Iron Ore Line begins in Boden, not in Luleå but the Boden-Luleå section is often colloquially included in the ore line since the ore trains do travel to the port of Luleå. The Swedish mining company LKAB is transporting the iron ore from the mines in Kiruna and Malmberget to the ports in Swedish Luleå on the Baltic coast and Norwegian Narvik on the Atlantic coast for export to other countries. The section between Lake Torneträsk and Riksgränsen (close to the Norwegian border) was in 2006 appointed “Sweden’s most beautiful railway section.”.The map shows North Sweden with the Iron Ore Line marked in black. The line runs from Luleå via Gällivare, Kiruna, and Riksgränsen and to the port of Narvik in Norway. A major part of the Iron Ore Line runs north of the Arctic Circle. Image: Wikipedia.Arctic RegionA major part of the Iron Ore Line runs through the arctic region of North Sweden. This also implies arctic weather conditions.
Construction of the Iron Ore Line
In 1882, a concession was granted to a private company to build a railway line from the mines at Gällivare to the port in Luleå at the Gulf of Bothnia. Between 1882 and 1887, the Luleå-Gällivare railway line, “Gällivarebanan”, was constructed. The first iron ore train left the ore fields in Gällivare on 12 March 1888 carrying 1,000 tons of ore. In 1890, the line was nationalized and taken over by the Swedish State Railways (SJ).In 1898, the construction of section between Gällivare and Riksgränsen via Kiruna, “Riksgränsbanan” commenced. About 4,000 navvies (Swe: rallare) were involved in the construction and the line was opened on 15 November 1902. The image shows the construction of the Iron Ore Line between Kiruna and Riksgränsen in 1900. A team of navvies in Luossavaara (later known as the town of Kiruna). In the background, the Kirunavaara Mountain. Image: Tekniska museet.The first electrified railway line of the Swedish State Railways (SJ) was the Kiruna–Riksgränsen section of the Iron Ore Line which was electrified in 1915. The electrification of the entire Iron Ore Line was finished in 1923. In 1965, the maximum axle load was raised to 25 tons on the northern part of the line. In 2003, the section between Kiruna-Riksgränsen-Narvik was upgraded to an axle load of 30 tons. As of 2017, the section Malmberget–Luleå can handle an axle load of 32.5 tons, which is a higher axle load than any other railway line in Europa.Before 1984, there was no road for motor vehicles between Kiruna and Narvik. However, in 1984, the European Route E10 was opened between Kiruna and Narvik. On the section between Björkliden and Riksgränsen, so-called snow galleries are covering the tracks, like tunnels, on exposed stretches. These galleries are made of wood with roofs and walls, constructed for the protection of drifting snow, snow-slides, avalanches, etc.The image shows railway workers clearing a mountain pass at Kopparåsen from snow on the Iron Ore Line in 1903. Photo: Oscar Halldin (1873 - 1948). Image: Tekniska museet, ID: TEKA0124091.
LKAB Mining Company
Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara Aktiebolag (LKAB) is a mining company owned by the State of Sweden. LKAB was founded in 1890 and the company mines iron ore at Kiruna and Malmberget in northern Sweden. The iron ore is processed into pellets and sinter fines, which are transported by ore trains on the Iron Ore Line to the ports of Narvik and Luleå and the SSAB steelworks in Luleå. The LKAB corporate headquarters is located in Luleå. The LKAB production is exported to steelworks around the world. Ore-mining has taken place in Malmberget and Kiruna since the middle of the 1600s.LKAB Malmtrafik AB, previously Malmtrafik i Kiruna aktiebolag (MTAB), is a subsidiary to LKAB that is operating the rail transport of iron ore from the mines in Kiruna and Malmberget to the ports of Luleå and Narvik and to the SSAB steelworks in Luleå. Malmtrafik is also operating the rail transport of pellets between the pellet works in Svappavaara to Kiruna.
Rail Transportation on the Iron Ore Line
Annually, LKAB is transporting several million tons of iron ore from the minefields in Gällivare/Malmberget and Kiruna on the Iron Ore Line to the ports of Narvik och Luleå. About two-thirds of the iron ore is being shipped from Narvik while a third from Luleå.The image shows two double-coupled Of-class electric locomotives, SJ Of 93 & 94, in 1950. An Of-train is returning to Kiruna from the port of Narvik with empty ore hopper wagons, meeting a fully loaded ore train. Photo: Eric Lundquist. Image: Järnvägsmuseet, ID: JvmKBDN00941.The LKAB ore harbor in Narvik was finished in 1903 and the first shipment of iron ore from the harbor was done the same year. The LKAB harbor in Narvik has a capacity of about 30 million tons annually. The port is ice-free all the year-round and is a deep-water harbor, deep enough for ocean-going freight ships. The ore harbor in Luleå is ice-free about 7 months of the year and has a capacity of 8 million tons annually. Daily, between Kiruna and Narvik, goes today (2021) circa 26 ore trains in both directions while it goes 11 ore trains in both directions daily between Malmberget and Luleå. The ore harbor in Narvik is 750 meters long and fully automatized. The unloading station is operated with advanced techniques and an ore train, carrying 6,800 tons of iron ore, is unloaded in 30 minutes. The ore hopper wagons are automatically being opened and emptied when the train has entered the unloading station.
Locomotives
To handle the very heavy iron ore rail transports, the most powerful locomotives were used, initially Sweden’s most powerful steam locomotives and later powerful electric locomotives. When the Swedish State Railways (SJ) took over the Iron Ore Line in 1890 they ordered eight-coupled steam locomotives of two types: Ma-class locos were used on the Kiruna-Riksgränsen section and Mb-class, which were lighter locos, on the Gällivare-Luleå section. The difference between the two variants of the locomotive was the size of the steam boiler. Over time, the ore train became heavier, and heavier and more powerful locomotives were acquired. Between 1908 and 1909, SJ built five ten-coupled R-class steam locomotives, which were at the time Sweden’s most powerful steam locomotives. The electrification of the Iron Ore Line began in 1914 and when the electrification was completed there was no further need for the R-class locomotives on the line. The electrification of the entire Iron Ore Line was finished in 1923. The Oe and Of-class were two series of electric locomotives used by SJ to haul ore trains on the ore line. The Oe locomotives were delivered in 1922 and the Of in 1924. The Oe/Of locomotives were designed as coupling-rod locomotives and built as twin-coupled locos. The last Of (Of2) locomotives were retired in 1972.To further handle the increasing heavy ore transports, even more, powerful electric locomotives were acquired. The Dm and Dm3 locomotives were a special D-class variant developed to haul heavy iron ore trains on the Iron Ore Line. The Dm locomotive, later equipped with a center-section designated Dm3, are two variants of the same locomotive. In the 1960s, SJ ordered 19 new cab-less center locomotives, which were installed permanently between the two halves of a Dm class locomotive; the resulting rebuild being designated Dm3. The Dm-class was three-coupling (coupling-rod) locomotives that were used coupled three-and-three, Dm+Dm3+Dm, nowadays simply designated Dm3. 39 Dm double-locos (2*39) were being built between 1953–1971 and 19 Dm3-locos between 1960–1970. A special powerful variant of the electric Rc-class locomotive, designated Rm, has also been used on the ore line to haul the ore hopper wagons. The old Dm3 locomotives are now replaced by the new double train, IORE, which was developed for the mining company LKAB:s transport division MTAB, and the Iore locomotives have gradually replaced the forme Dm3. With 1,200 kN (kilonewtons) traction, the IORE locomotive is the world's strongest locomotive. It has been in service since 2001. The IORE-locos has been specially designed for extremely heavy transport operations, a single train can transport as much as 6,800 tonnes of iron ore products. LKAB has 17 IORE-locos in service, transporting iron ore all year round. The very impressive Iore train sets are 750 meters long, hauling 68 ore hopper wagons, in total 8,160 tons. The older Dm3 locomotives were able to haul 52 wagons. The Iron Ore Line is very popular among railway and locomotive enthusiasts and the mighty powerful Dm3 and Iore locomotives attract photographers from all over the world. More information about the Locomotives.Images:
•Staten, järnvägarna och den regionala utvecklingen i Sverige 1840–1890, Agaton Sten, 2015, Umeå Universitet.•Den glade rallaren? Norrbottniska rallares syn på sina arbets- och levnadsvillkor, Per-Jonas Pihl 2016, Luleå Tekniska Universitet.•Boken “En rallares levnadsminnen”, av Samuel Magnusson Svanbäck; nedtecknade av Herbert Malmback, 1931. •Boken: “Banbrytare. Äventyr och upplevelser under ett 100-årigt järnvägsbyggande i Sverige”. Manne Briandt. Kristianstad 1959. •Sveriges järnvägars historia, Populär Historia, 13 september 2006 av Niklas Ingmarsson, publicerad i Populär Historia 7-8/2006 .•Rallarna i Sverige banade väg för industrialismen, av Mats Utbult, publicerad i Populär historia 11/2009.•Wikipedia •Järnvägsmuseet (Railway Museum in Gävle, Sweden)•LKAB Mining CompanyTop of page
The Iron Ore Line (Swe: Malmbanan) is a circa 500 km (300 mi) long railwayline on the route Luleå-Gällivare-Kiruna-Riksgränsen in Sweden and to the port of Narvik, Norway. The name of the Norwegian section of the line is Ofotbanen and this section is circa 43 km (27 mi).Actually, the Iron Ore Line begins in Boden, not in Luleå but the Boden-Luleå section is often colloquially included in the ore line since the ore trains do travel to the port of Luleå. The Swedish mining company LKAB is transporting the iron ore from the mines in Kiruna and Malmberget to the ports in Swedish Luleå on the Baltic coast and Norwegian Narvik on the Atlantic coast for export to other countries. The section between Lake Torneträsk and Riksgränsen (close to the Norwegian border) was in 2006 appointed “Sweden’s most beautiful railway section.”.The map shows North Sweden with the Iron Ore Line marked in black. The line runs from Luleå via Gällivare, Kiruna, and Riksgränsen and to the port of Narvik in Norway. A major part of the Iron Ore Line runs north of the Arctic Circle. Image: Wikipedia.Arctic RegionA major part of the Iron Ore Line runs through the arctic region of North Sweden. This also implies arctic weather conditions.
Construction of the Iron Ore Line
In 1882, a concession was granted to a private company to build a railway line from the mines at Gällivare to the port in Luleå at the Gulf of Bothnia. Between 1882 and 1887, the Luleå-Gällivare railway line, “Gällivarebanan”, was constructed. The first iron ore train left the ore fields in Gällivare on 12 March 1888 carrying 1,000 tons of ore. In 1890, the line was nationalized and taken over by the Swedish State Railways (SJ).In 1898, the construction of section between Gällivare and Riksgränsen via Kiruna, “Riksgränsbanan” commenced. About 4,000 navvies (Swe: rallare) were involved in the construction and the line was opened on 15 November 1902. The image shows the construction of the Iron Ore Line between Kiruna and Riksgränsen in 1900. A team of navvies in Luossavaara (later known as the town of Kiruna). In the background, the Kirunavaara Mountain. Image: Tekniska museet.The first electrified railway line of the Swedish State Railways (SJ) was the Kiruna–Riksgränsen section of the Iron Ore Line which was electrified in 1915. The electrification of the entire Iron Ore Line was finished in 1923. In 1965, the maximum axle load was raised to 25 tons on the northern part of the line. In 2003, the section between Kiruna-Riksgränsen-Narvik was upgraded to an axle load of 30 tons. As of 2017, the section Malmberget–Luleå can handle an axle load of 32.5 tons, which is a higher axle load than any other railway line in Europa.Before 1984, there was no road for motor vehicles between Kiruna and Narvik. However, in 1984, the European Route E10 was opened between Kiruna and Narvik. On the section between Björkliden and Riksgränsen, so-called snow galleries are covering the tracks, like tunnels, on exposed stretches. These galleries are made of wood with roofs and walls, constructed for the protection of drifting snow, snow-slides, avalanches, etc.The image shows railway workers clearing a mountain pass at Kopparåsen from snow on the Iron Ore Line in 1903. Photo: Oscar Halldin (1873 - 1948). Image: Tekniska museet, ID: TEKA0124091.
LKAB Mining Company
Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara Aktiebolag (LKAB) is a mining company owned by the State of Sweden. LKAB was founded in 1890 and the company mines iron ore at Kiruna and Malmberget in northern Sweden. The iron ore is processed into pellets and sinter fines, which are transported by ore trains on the Iron Ore Line to the ports of Narvik and Luleå and the SSAB steelworks in Luleå. The LKAB corporate headquarters is located in Luleå. The LKAB production is exported to steelworks around the world. Ore-mining has taken place in Malmberget and Kiruna since the middle of the 1600s.LKAB Malmtrafik AB, previously Malmtrafik i Kiruna aktiebolag (MTAB), is a subsidiary to LKAB that is operating the rail transport of iron ore from the mines in Kiruna and Malmberget to the ports of Luleå and Narvik and to the SSAB steelworks in Luleå. Malmtrafik is also operating the rail transport of pellets between the pellet works in Svappavaara to Kiruna.
Rail Transportation on the Iron Ore Line
Annually, LKAB is transporting several million tons of iron ore from the minefields in Gällivare/Malmberget and Kiruna on the Iron Ore Line to the ports of Narvik och Luleå. About two-thirds of the iron ore is being shipped from Narvik while a third from Luleå.The image shows two double-coupled Of-class electric locomotives, SJ Of 93 & 94, in 1950. An Of-train is returning to Kiruna from the port of Narvik with empty ore hopper wagons, meeting a fully loaded ore train. Photo: Eric Lundquist. Image: Järnvägsmuseet, ID: JvmKBDN00941.The LKAB ore harbor in Narvik was finished in 1903 and the first shipment of iron ore from the harbor was done the same year. The LKAB harbor in Narvik has a capacity of about 30 million tons annually. The port is ice-free all the year-round and is a deep-water harbor, deep enough for ocean-going freight ships. The ore harbor in Luleå is ice-free about 7 months of the year and has a capacity of 8 million tons annually. Daily, between Kiruna and Narvik, goes today (2021) circa 26 ore trains in both directions while it goes 11 ore trains in both directions daily between Malmberget and Luleå. The ore harbor in Narvik is 750 meters long and fully automatized. The unloading station is operated with advanced techniques and an ore train, carrying 6,800 tons of iron ore, is unloaded in 30 minutes. The ore hopper wagons are automatically being opened and emptied when the train has entered the unloading station.
Locomotives
To handle the very heavy iron ore rail transports, the most powerful locomotives were used, initially Sweden’s most powerful steam locomotives and later powerful electric locomotives. When the Swedish State Railways (SJ) took over the Iron Ore Line in 1890 they ordered eight-coupled steam locomotives of two types: Ma-class locos were used on the Kiruna-Riksgränsen section and Mb-class, which were lighter locos, on the Gällivare-Luleå section. The difference between the two variants of the locomotive was the size of the steam boiler. Over time, the ore train became heavier, and heavier and more powerful locomotives were acquired. Between 1908 and 1909, SJ built five ten-coupled R-class steam locomotives, which were at the time Sweden’s most powerful steam locomotives. The electrification of the Iron Ore Line began in 1914 and when the electrification was completed there was no further need for the R-class locomotives on the line. The electrification of the entire Iron Ore Line was finished in 1923. The Oe and Of-class were two series of electric locomotives used by SJ to haul ore trains on the ore line. The Oe locomotives were delivered in 1922 and the Of in 1924. The Oe/Of locomotives were designed as coupling-rod locomotives and built as twin-coupled locos. The last Of (Of2) locomotives were retired in 1972.To further handle the increasing heavy ore transports, even more, powerful electric locomotives were acquired. The Dm and Dm3 locomotives were a special D-class variant developed to haul heavy iron ore trains on the Iron Ore Line. The Dm locomotive, later equipped with a center-section designated Dm3, are two variants of the same locomotive. In the 1960s, SJ ordered 19 new cab-less center locomotives, which were installed permanently between the two halves of a Dm class locomotive; the resulting rebuild being designated Dm3. The Dm-class was three-coupling (coupling-rod) locomotives that were used coupled three-and-three, Dm+Dm3+Dm, nowadays simply designated Dm3. 39 Dm double-locos (2*39) were being built between 1953–1971 and 19 Dm3-locos between 1960–1970. A special powerful variant of the electric Rc-class locomotive, designated Rm, has also been used on the ore line to haul the ore hopper wagons. The old Dm3 locomotives are now replaced by the new double train, IORE, which was developed for the mining company LKAB:s transport division MTAB, and the Iore locomotives have gradually replaced the forme Dm3. With 1,200 kN (kilonewtons) traction, the IORE locomotive is the world's strongest locomotive. It has been in service since 2001. The IORE-locos has been specially designed for extremely heavy transport operations, a single train can transport as much as 6,800 tonnes of iron ore products. LKAB has 17 IORE-locos in service, transporting iron ore all year round. The very impressive Iore train sets are 750 meters long, hauling 68 ore hopper wagons, in total 8,160 tons. The older Dm3 locomotives were able to haul 52 wagons. The Iron Ore Line is very popular among railway and locomotive enthusiasts and the mighty powerful Dm3 and Iore locomotives attract photographers from all over the world. More information about the Locomotives.Images:
•Staten, järnvägarna och den regionala utvecklingen i Sverige 1840–1890, Agaton Sten, 2015, Umeå Universitet.•Den glade rallaren? Norrbottniska rallares syn på sina arbets- och levnadsvillkor, Per-Jonas Pihl 2016, Luleå Tekniska Universitet.•Boken “En rallares levnadsminnen”, av Samuel Magnusson Svanbäck; nedtecknade av Herbert Malmback, 1931. •Boken: “Banbrytare. Äventyr och upplevelser under ett 100-årigt järnvägsbyggande i Sverige”. Manne Briandt. Kristianstad 1959. •Sveriges järnvägars historia, Populär Historia, 13 september 2006 av Niklas Ingmarsson, publicerad i Populär Historia 7-8/2006 .•Rallarna i Sverige banade väg för industrialismen, av Mats Utbult, publicerad i Populär historia 11/2009.•Wikipedia •Järnvägsmuseet (Railway Museum in Gävle, Sweden)•LKAB Mining CompanyTop of page
