Bull's station Proposals for a railway between
Oslo and
Drammen were launched in 1864 and planning commenced two years later. This involved deciding upon the location of the stations. Although the idea of placing one at the municipal centre of
Sandvika was not met with protest, there was not consensus regarding the other and both Østre
Stabekk and Lysaker were proposed. The latter was selected by the municipal council because of its vicinity to the
Oslofjord and being located next to a waterfall. The original station building at Lysaker was designed by
Georg Andreas Bull. Lysaker Station and the Drammen Line opened on 7 October 1872. It had an immediate impact on the surrounding area, stimulating both commerce and construction of private dwellings.
Kielland's station Bull's station building burned down in 1914 and was replaced two year later by a new. By then it was decided that the line past Lysaker would be upgraded and Lysaker became the first of many stations on the line to be designed as an elevated station. The tracks were thereby placed elevated with an island platform with the station on the side, as the first station in Norway designed for double-track operation. One year later the wooden bridge over
Lysakerelven was replaced by a stone bridge. The line from Sandvika to Oslo was substantially upgraded between 1917 and 1922. From 27 February 1917 a
passing loop was built at Lysaker and standard gauge traffic was carried out on the northern track. A southern track was then built, which was used by narrow gauge trains. However, both were
dual gauge. All–standard gauge operations commenced on 9 February 1920, although the dual gauge was not removed until 1922. Electric traction started operation on 30 August 1922. An
interlocking system was installed on 29 July 1924. During
World War II Lysaker Station was hit by five sabotage missions by the
Norwegian resistance movement, in which tanks of gasoline, attached or not attached to railroad cars, were blown up. The sabotages took place on 16 December 1944 and 9, 10, 12 and 13 January 1945. On 13 January a tanker truck was attacked as well. There were three additional attacks on Lysaker in 1944 and 1945, two of them against factories and workshops. Also, the
Lysaker Bridge sabotage took place in the immediate vicinity of the station.
Henriksen's station A full upgrade of the station was carried out in 1987. A main incentive was that the
Norwegian Public Roads Administration wanted the station building removed to make room for a new interchange towards
Jar. Therefore, Kielland's station building was demolished in 1987. NSB changed their scheduled so all InterCity Express and long-distance trains on the Drammen Line started stopping at Lysaker. The Lysaker/Fornebu name was in use until 9 January 2000. The zoning plan for the station was passed in 1998 and demands for
accessibility were laid down in 2003, causing a contrast between these goals and the curved platforms. This would particularly be a challenge for the
Class 70 trains, which would have a wide gap. Part of the dispute centered on the Vollsveien Bridge, whether or not it had a heritage status and whether or not its demolition would allow for a straight station.
Minister of Transport and Communication Torild Skogsholm stated that she laid the blame on director of the National Rail Administration,
Steinar Killi. Her successor,
Liv Signe Navarsete, announced in July 2006 that the construction would continue following the curved design, though minor functional changes would be made. During the late 1970s there arose plans to build a branch line from the Drammen Line to Oslo Airport, Fornebu. Initial plans called for it to split from the Drammen Line some east of Lysaker and then pass under Lysaker Station. It would then continue to the airport, but without the possibility for stopping at Lysaker. Later the plans were reformulated and for a while a
people mover was a preferred mode. By 2007
Ruter had changed their opinion in the matter and instead wanted to operate a
light rail to Fornebu. The Rail Administration therefore decided to remove the station hall for a people mover from the Lysaker Station plans. Because the people mover was canceled after construction of the station had started, the National Rail Administration has claimed the county for NOK 31 million to cover losses incurred. The work stretched over a segment of of line. Construction started in February 2006 with work on expanding Granfoss Bridge, both lengthening it and building one parallel to it to allow four tracks. From May work commenced on the first new platform, which was completed in February 2007 and all traffic moved to the new tracks and platform. Then the old platform was demolished and a second new platform built, which was completed in 2009. The work took 776,000 man-hours and cost NOK 1.2 billion. The station was brought into use on 3 August 2009, being officially opened on 1 September 2009. The Bærum Tunnel opened on 26 August 2011. To allow more trains to terminate at Lysaker, a suitable place to turn trains needed to be built.
Høvik Station was chosen and received three new tracks. With its completion on 14 December 2014 almost all trains previously terminating at Skøyen were extended to Lysaker. ==Facilities==