NSB completed the Nordland Line to Mosjøen in 1940. Following the German occupation of Norway, construction of the line was accelerated. On 11 December 1940, the Reichskommissariat Norwegen requested that NSB submit their plans. The plans north to Narvik were sent 21 March 1941 and the plans to Kirkenes on 20 January 1942. NSB had three different proposals for the route between Fauske and Narvik. The first—the Ferry Line—was a railway from Fauske to Korsnes on Tysfjorden and onwards to Narvik by train ferry. It would also include a ferry terminal at Tjeldsundet, where there would be a connection northwards towards Kirkenes. The second alternative—the Fjord Line—would run via Tømmerneset, Innhavet and Musken, around the southern end of Tysfjorden and then followed the shoreline to Ballangen to Narvik. The third—the Mountain Line—would follow an inland route from Kobbvatnet up Gerdalen and then through a long tunnel to Tysfjorden. The Fjord Line was longer than the Mountain Line, but considerably cheaper to build. A fourth proposal, launched by the Wehrmacht, was to build a ferry crossing of Tysfjorden, but otherwise build closely to that of the Fjord Line.
