Majorstuen station upgrade in Oslo achieves BREEAM Infrastructure Outstanding

Majorstuen is a busy public transport interchange in central Oslo, Norway. NCC upgraded the station for Sporveien to remove a bottleneck on the metro network and increase train capacity. The construction work achieved a BREEAM Infrastructure Outstanding rating of 90.31%, with full marks for Communities and Stakeholders, Resilience and Pollution. 

Sporveien runs the metri and tram network in Oslo. It appointed NCC Norge AS to deliver the upgrade. Two assessors from NCC carried out the BREEAM Infrastructure assessment of the construction works, and an independent verifier checked it.

Sporveien required a BREEAM Infrastructure Ecxellent rating. The station design had already been assessed separately and rated Excellent (84.3%), so sustainability targets were in place before construction began. Client, contractor and key subcontractors then spent three months planning together before the closure. They wrote the BREEAM Infrastructure targets into contract annexes and the project control plan.

The works took place in a busy city centre, on a metro network in daily use. The station closed for three months , and all metro traffic was suspended from 5 to 30 July 2025. Most of the work had to fit inside that shutdown, with crews working 22-hour days, so there was no room for delay. The team also had to remove soil contamined by invasive species and keep neighbours informed while work ran almost around clock. Its aim to run fully electric plant was limited by what the Norwegian market could supply.

BREEAM Infrastructure gave the team one framework to test decisions against and to record the evidence.

• Site operations ran on 100% renewable electricity, with electric plant as standard and strict anti-idling rules. Sustainable fuels were used only where electric machines were not available.
• The team used One Click LCA to track embodied carbon in real time against the client’s greenhouse gas budget. Procurement was led by Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs).
• Dedicated waste zones, QR-coded signage and short online training made correct sorting easy. A reuse organisation visited the site to find materials that could be donated.
• Stormwater is now managed with nature-based drainage, permeable surfaces and rain gardens. The system is sized for a 1,000-year flood with a 50% climate allowance.
• Environmental site rounds every two weeks brought in the client and subcontractors and turned observations into actions.
• The team kept neighbours informed with signage and logged complaints. Work windows were adapted, and some residents were offered hotel stays.

The project team recorded these results:

• The station reopened on schedule, and the project had no serious environmental incidents.
• Embodied carbon of 2,008 tCO₂e for materials and transport to site (stages A1 to A4), 41% below the client's greenhouse gas budget.
• 99% of construction waste sorted on site, against a target of 95%.
• About 690 tonnes of soil contaminated with invasive species removed.
• A net biodiversity value above 110%.
• 93% of stormwater infiltrated on site.

The construction works were first certified Excellent (86.7%) in December 2025. After the team resubmitted the assessment, the rating was raised to Outstanding (90.31%) in June 2026. Aiming beyond the required rating led the team to add measures it would not otherwise have taken. These included preserved tree stumps and stricter requirements on suppliers.

• Client: Sporveien
• Contractor: NCC Norge AS
• Assessor: Kayleigh Smith and Martin Werner Pedersen, NCC Norge AS
• Verifier: Kate Cairns, Cairns Consultancy
• BREEAM Infrastructure rating: Outstanding (90.31%)