Birgit Skarstein proposed as Labour mayoral candidate

The Oslo news of the past 48 hours is dominated by a political turn: Birgit Skarstein has been proposed as the Labour Party’s candidate for mayor of Oslo by its nomination committee. On the transport front, the delivery of the new trains has once again been postponed, with no date set, and rail traffic was severely disrupted on Friday at Oslo S. The municipality has also confirmed funding for a seawater pool open all year round at Sukkerbiten and begun work on a record-breaking cycle path in Maridalen.

Oslo News: Birgit Skarstein, the surprise Labour Party candidate for mayor

The Oslo Labour Party nomination committee met on Friday evening and agreed on former para-athlete Birgit Skarstein as its candidate for mayor in the municipal elections this coming autumn (NRK Oslo). Skarstein, 37, ended her career in 2025 after winning, among other honours, Paralympic gold and silver in rowing.

The return is unexpected: as late as October, she had ruled out running for mayor for the Labour Party (NRK Oslo). However, she is familiar with local politics, having served as a deputy representative for the Labour Party on Oslo City Council between 2015 and 2019.

It also became clear on Friday evening that Marthe Scharning Lund is withdrawing from the race for the top of Oslo Labour, after the youth wing Oslo AUF announced its support for the rival candidate Usman Mushtaq (NRK Oslo). Oslo AUF has 99 votes out of around 300 at the party’s nomination meeting this Sunday.

New trains and traffic: 2 issues causing problems in Oslo county

2 transport issues have dominated the Oslo news over the past 48 hours. The 36 new regional trains, financed to the tune of 4.2 billion kroner, were supposed to enter service in 2025. Their launch had already been postponed to April 2027; it is now delayed with no set date, confirms Norske Tog and the Jernbanedirektorat to NRK (NRK Oslo). TV 2 broke the news first.

“It is a fairly large disaster,” says commuter Synnøve Lone Knutsen, who travels to Oslo S from Grua in Hadeland on the Gjøvikbanen (NRK Oslo). According to her, the line currently has adequate capacity, but the delay mainly penalises passengers on the busiest services, who face old trains and a higher risk of technical breakdowns.

Friday 13 November was also a difficult day. Part of Oslo S was initially closed after a derailment late on Thursday night. A ground fault then halted all traffic on Friday morning during the rush hour (NRK Oslo). The fault resolved itself, but it returned 4 times during the morning, according to Bane Nor, which has not yet identified the cause. “We want to apologise to rush-hour passengers,” says Henning Bråtebæk, Bane Nor’s director of operations and maintenance. Around 1 100 trains pass through Oslo S every day, and delays and cancellations continued on Friday.

Open-air sea bathing all year round at Sukkerbiten

The municipality of Oslo is allocating 3 million kroner to the Sukkerbiten outdoor bathing project, designed to operate in winter. “It’s not every day that the municipality of Oslo gets to help make a year-round bathing facility possible by setting aside 3 million kroner,” says the mayor of the municipal executive, Eirik Lae Solberg (H) (NRK Oslo).

The scale is nevertheless markedly smaller than the ambitions that were announced. The idea of a year-round open floating pool, modelled on Helsinki, dates back to 2018 and was championed by Venstre and Frp. An architecture competition was launched in 2024. The solution presented by the Oslo Badstuforening association is based on a converted barge, with its large cargo hold forming the pool (NRK Oslo).

Maridalen: 45 years of waiting and a cycle path at 99,000 kroner per metre

A two-metre-wide path will be built on each side of Maridalsveien between Brekke and Hammeren, covering 3.2 kilometres on the west side (NRK Oslo). The cost per metre amounts to 99,000 kroner, making it the most expensive cycle path in Oslo.

“Maridalen is probably the most used area in Oslo for cycling training and roller skiing,” says environment and transport councillor Marit Vea (V) (NRK Oslo). She points out that the road is narrow and carries buses and cars. Lyn Ski president Geir Moe describes it as a “much-anticipated new addition”.

📌 Local briefs

On Thursday evening, numerous flights were cancelled at Oslo lufthavn Gardermoen, with long queues at the information desks; Anne Beth Tofte, arriving from Malaga and due in Karmøy, and Robert Forshaug, who was supposed to travel to Ålesund at 14:30, were among the affected passengers (NRK Oslo).

Rail disruptions affected part of Friday, with delays and cancellations at Oslo S after a derailment and a grounding fault in Oslo county (NRK Oslo).

Sources: NRK Oslo, Aftenposten, The Local Norway — Period: 13 November 2026 and 14 November 2026