to operate with maximum capacity. Ofotbanen AS was founded on 20 March 2001. In November, it bought five used Di 3 for NOK 250,000 each, well under market price, from NSB. In 2003, NSB announced that they wanted to discontinue their operations in Narvik, hoping they could leave operation of passenger trains on the Ofoten Line to Ofotbanen. In May, NSB signed an agreement with Ofotbanen, where the latter would take over NSB's responsibilities to operate trains from Narvik Station to Riksgränsen Station. The initial contract would last until 2006, and NSB paid NOK 13 million for the service. From 15 June, Ofotbanen took over all passenger transport on the line, including employing all former NSB employees in Narvik. On the same day, Connex Tåg (later Veolia) took over the operations on the Swedish side of the border after winning a public service obligation contract with the Swedish Government, and dismissing SJ of the right to offer the service. In 2003, Narvik Municipality and the Port of Narvik both became minority shareholders in Ofotbanen. In April, Ofotbanen received a permit to operate in Sweden, and started offering charter trains between Narvik and Kiruna in Sweden, primarily for cruise ship passengers. The Northern East West Freight Corridor was an initiative by the International Union of Railways aiming to establish a freight corridor from the Far East to North America. The route would use the Ofoten Line and transship from rail to ship at Narvik. The main report for the project was made in 2004, but since there had been limited funding for the project. In 2005, Ofotbanen entered the container freight market, with a train running from Narvik via Sweden to Oslo, both via the Meråker Line and via the Kongsvinger Line. The trains would continue to Drammen when necessary. In 2008, the public service obligation contract on the Ofoten Line was won by SJ. This included a subsidy of NOK 3.0 million from the Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications for the section on the Norwegian side of the border. Therefore, SJ started operating trains all the way to Narvik, and Ofotbanen lost the contract of operating the trains on the Norwegian side of the border. Ofotbanen had been receiving NOK 4.5 million in subsidies from NSB for the operation from 15 June. Ofotbanen ceased operations on 29 July 2008, and filed for bankruptcy on 24 October. On 23 August