at Stjørdalshalsen, on the north shore of the river. Locally, there were many protests against the line bypassing such a large town, but the cost of the bridge made parliament choose the southern alternative. This gave residents in Stjørdal a considerably longer route to the train, since they had to cross the river to get access to the railway. This decreased the railway's ability to compete with the steam ships and thus the overall profitability of the line. The first blasting was performed during a ceremony in 1875, but the real work did not start until 1876. Construction of the last section into Trondheim, along with the station, did not start until 1878, due to disagreements about the plans. By 1878, tracks were laid from Leangen to the border between Nedre Stjørdal and Øvre Stjørdal (). On 27 August 1879, the first train ran from Rotvoll Station, just outside Trondheim, to the national border. Before the line was finished in Sweden, the Norwegian State Railways operated a train once per week from 11 February 1880. Full service was introduced on 17 October 1881, though the line was not yet completed to Östersund; nor did Trondheim Central Station open until 1882. The official opening was on 22 July 1882. The work paid well, and attracted many navvies to the area. Land-owners were compensated NOK 50–200 per hectare (2.5 acres) for cultivated land, and NOK 10 per hectare for forest. Many local farmers made good money offering transport of cargo for the construction, as well as renting out annexes for navvies; others made money as traders. As with all such construction areas, many legal and illegal pubs and brothels were established. After construction was completed, some moved on, while others settled in the area; many of these received jobs with the railway company. Hell–Sunnan In 1872, Ole Tobias Olsen proposed in Morgenbladet that a railway be built between Mo i Rana via Haparanda, Sweden, to Saint Petersburg, Russia. He was inspired by Scottish railways and hoped to use the line to export fresh fish. The engineer succeeded the following year at gaining a public grant to investigate a route to Gulf of Bothnia. Om 1875, Olsen proposed that a railway be built from Trondheim via Steinkjer and Namsos to Vestfjorden. That year, Nord-Trøndelag County Council established a committee to plan a railway from Stjørdal to Namsos, while Nordland County Council established a