Kystekspressen was launched on 6 June 1994 to take over operations of the fast ferries between Trondheim and Kristiansund. Until then, the services had been operated by Fosen Trafikklag in Sør-Trøndelag and by Møre og Romsdal Fylkesbåtar in Møre og Romsdal. The company was organized as a joint venture, and a through route between Trondheim and Kristiansund was established. The company had five ferries:
Hertugsbusssen,
Agdenes,
Lauparen and
Ternen were used in regular service, while
Kongsbussen was reserve.
Hertugsbussen was sold in 1996. In 2002, the two new ferries
Mørejarl and
Ladejarl were delivered; the rest of the fleet was sold, except
Agdenes that was kept as a reserve as well as serving the route to Sula. The company is owned 51% by Fosen Trafikklag and 49% by
Fjord1 Nordvestlandske (former Møre og Romsdal Fylkesbåtar), with Fosen Trafikklag responsible for operations. Since January 2008 the two main ferries have had wireless Internet access on board, in a solution provided from
Telenor. From 1 October 2008, the public transport digital ticketing system
t:kort has been valid on Kystekspressen. In 2008, the company announced that they wanted to reduce the speed to save diesel usage, but the county municipalities said no to the proposal that would increase travel time by 20 minutes. ==Service==