Train service in Norway was disrupted by a failure in the railway communication system on Tuesday morning, the Norwegian railway authority said on its Twitter account.

Also known as NSB, the Norwegian State Railways said that a software error of the GSM-R system used for communication between trains and control centers, brought down the railway network in many parts of the country, including the speed train running in and out of the Oslo airport.

According to NSB, reports of the problem came in at about 9 a.m. local time (0700 GMT).

All affected trains have either stopped immediately or ran to the nearest stations for further notice, said NSB spokesman Arvid Baardstu.

Emergency steps have been taken to resume train communication but it is hard to know how long it would take to solve the problem.

"Right now we are working to provide buses and other forms of transportation to carry passengers to their destinations," an NSB manager, Erik Loedding, was quoted by local newspaper Verdens Gang as saying.

"We ask passengers to understand that this will take time as the problem is so comprehensive and it covers the whole country," said Loedding.