On 10 July 1908, the Norwegian Parliament - Stortinget - decided to build a railway line between Myrdal and Flåm. The work was not begun until 1923, and only in 1946 was the railway line completely finished. Many people were involved in building the steepest railway line in Norway in a very difficult terrain. Over a distance of 20 kilometres there are 20 tunnels. In the period between 1924 and 1949 6.165.350 man-hours in all were carried out. For close to 20 years the valley of Flåmsdalen was the workplace for several hundred people.