Translating Train Management to Norway
Translating Train Management to Norway Lasse Gullvåg Sætre Master thesis at the Center for Technology, Innovation and Culture Supervised by: Tone Druglitrø and Helge Ryggvik University of Oslo Norway, May 2017 I, Lasse Gullvåg Sætre, confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. Abstract This thesis explores the transition of Norwegian rail signaling from me- chanically to digitally based systems, delving into the translations of the European standard ERTMS to Norwegian railways. Through digital, tech- nical and bureaucratic informants, this study investigates the preparations and makings of what promises to be one of the biggest revolutions in the technology to date. The ERTMS is a railway signaling technology, an EU political technology, and a case of digitalized European information infrastructures, known by many names, such as smart cities or intelligent services. Studied through the Norwegian railway system’s digital integra- tion towards Europe during the last 20 years, this thesis inquires into the material semiotic production of rail governance in the Norwegian context, as well as what it means to be an EEA member. From expert informers from the Norwegian infrastructure manager Jernbaneverket and its partial successor Bane NOR, through documents and field studies/interventions, the ways in which key players of the Norwegian and European railway sectors change are explored, mapping out the issue of signaling, and how players prepare for a transition that was always part of larger ideas of mo- bility, machines and governance, extending far out from rail space.
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