large railway projects, including the Dovre Line, the Rauma Line, the Sørlandet Line and the Nordland Line. On 10 June 1908, Parliament unanimously passed these lines in the Railway Plan of 1908, which included the long section from Sunnan via Snåsa to Grong, albeit without a branch to Namsos. The county stated that they would not grant any district funding to the line unless a branch to Namsos was also passed. This was a high-stake game, as Parliament could as a counter-measure decide to not built the line to Grong. In 1912, the Norwegian Directorate of Mining proposed a branch of the Nordland Line from Grong to Tunnsjøen, where pyrite mining was planned. The decision to build the Namsos Line was taken by Parliament in 1913. Work started in 1916 and it was opened in 1934. The main train service became a daily round trip from Trondheim to Namsos, using four and half hours to Grong. Grong–Mo i Rana Politicians in Nordland started work to get a railway to Nordland upon decision to build the Hell–Sunnan Line. The line from Grong to Bodø was passed as part of a national railway plan approved by Parliament on 17 November 1923. This involved first building the section from Grong to Mosjøen. The detailed plans were split between two routes, the first from Storforsen til Mosjøen approved the following year and the rest of the line in 1926. Due to high unemployment, work on sections at Spelruem and Gullsmedvik started in late 1923. The main route discussion involved where to run the line immediately north of Grong, where a detour was rejected which would have cut the length of the Medjå Tunnel. Grong received a station above the town in order to avoid clay deposits. Also in Brekkvasselv there were two route alternatives. Construction of the tunnel commenced in 1926. Due to the line running through many sparsely populated areas, many of the guard houses were built early in construction to be used to house workers. By 1933 there were 869 men working on construction, rising to 1,744 three years later. Laying of track started around Brekkvasselv and Mosjøen in 1936. The line was built in NSB's highest standard, with 35 kg/m (70 lb/ft) tracks. The line as far as Mosjøen was planned to be opened in the fall of 1940, and to Elsfjord in November. The German occupation of Norway in April