Norwegian State Railways (NSB) Class 70 on the Vestfold Line . Photo: Peter Fiskerstrand from Norway, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

A train ran into large objects lying in the track on the Vestfold Line in Larvik on Tuesday evening. No one was injured in what could have ended in a disaster.

Among other things, there was a fire extinguisher and concrete blocks with rebar in the track, says press officer Harry Korslund in Bane Nor to NTB.

These are not pranks, says operations manager Trond Egil Groth in the Søreast police district.

According to Korslund, the train driver must have observed a person with a headlamp in the area.

We take this seriously. Large and heavy objects have the potential to injure third parties, and things can go really wrong. Such things in the track can lead to derailments when the train arrives at high speed,

It is serious to try to sabotage the train. This is not boyish pranks, it is far more serious than that, says operations manager Groth.

Logs, a gas bottle and a stone slab placed in the rails, two trains ran over these objects causing the closure of the line. The Vestfold line was closed between Larvik and Sandefjord for a period on Tuesday evening, but train traffic eventually resumed.

The police are involved in the case.

“The train is still stationary. We want to get in touch with any witnesses – this happened in the Elveveien area. There is no doubt that the objects were deliberately placed there,” writes Sør-Öst police district on Twitter.