and regular operations started the next day. Operation Maintenance was originally organized with under two track masters, one in Åndalsnes and one in Dombås, and subdivided into 17 divisions. Each division had two employees, a platelayer foreman and a platelayer, in addition to four seasonal workers during the summer. Each division had a railway-owned house for the family of the two platelayers. Later the areas were merged to a single track master in Åndalsnes. During the Second World War, the line was bombed by Germany. This caused among other things the restaurant at Bjorli to burn down. In 1923, parliament voted to expend the line to Ålesund, but did not follow up with any grants. The decision was annulled in 1935, but local interests continued to pursue an expansion. However, there was no local consensus for any one line; there was a conflict between the three areas of Sunnmøre, Romsdal and Nordmøre, each who wanted a different branch to their city, and a conflict between building railways and roads. In 1953, the proposals were finally discarded by regional politicians. However, proposals have since regularly been made. The line played an important role in the World War II in 1940, when Germany attacked Norway ("Operation Weserübung"). Bergen and Trondheim and with a little delay Oslo, were quickly occupied by Germany, but not Åndalsnes, Ålesund and Molde. This allowed British forces to land in this area, and the king, government and the gold reserve could be sent to the United Kingdom. Regular use of steam locomotives in passenger trains was terminated from 1 June 1958, when Di 3 locomotives were taken into use. From 1 June 1965, steam locomotives were no longer used for freight trains. In 1960, Ålesund Airport, Vigra was opened, and in the following decade also Molde Airport, Årø and Kristiansund Airport, Kvernberget opened. This resulted in a reduction of passengers on the railway, although the rail fares remained considerably lower than air fares. The infrastructure was upgraded between 1973 and 1983 for NOK 70; this included replacing all wooden sleepers with concrete sleepers, and replacing the sand with ballast. In 1996, the government had proposed closing the night train service, after suggestions from NSB. The railway company was losing money on operating the night services, and stated that they needed a subsidy of , or NOK 400 per passenger, to retain the service. That year, the line had