Kristiania Elektriske Sporvei
Encyclopedia
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. It opened the first electric tramway in Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
in 1894, and remained in service until 1924 when it was merged into the municipal owned Oslo Sporveier
Oslo Sporveier
Kollektivtransportproduksjon AS is a municipal owned public transport operator of Oslo, Norway, the name meaning simply "public transportation producer". It operates the trackage and maintains the stock of the Oslo Metro and Oslo Tramway, as well as owning eight operating subsidiaries...
.
History
Tram transport in OsloOslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
(at the time called Kristiania) started in 1875 with horsecar
Horsecar
A horsecar or horse-drawn tram is an animal-powered streetcar or tram.These early forms of public transport developed out of industrial haulage routes that had long been in existence, and from the omnibus routes that first ran on public streets in the 1820s, using the newly improved iron or steel...
services provided by Kristiania Sporveisselskab
Kristiania Sporveisselskab
AS Kristiania Sporveisselskab or KSS, nicknamed the Green Tram , was the first tram operator in Oslo, Norway. Founded in 1874, it started operation of horsecar services the following year and electric tram services in 1899...
(KSS). Economically this was an inferior operating method, and Christiania (later Kristiania) Elektriske Sporvei was founded to establish an electric tram service. The initiative came from H. E. Heyerdahl, A. Fenger-Krog and L. Samson and KSS immediately attempted to buy the company, but the purchase failed, and on 2 March 1894 the first line, from the Eastern Railway Station (Østbanen) via Briskeby to Majorstuen
Majorstuen (station)
Majorstuen is a subway station on the Oslo Metro and a light rail station on the Briskeby Line of the Oslo Tramway. It is located in the Majorstuen neighborhood in the Frogner borough....
was established, along with a branch line to Skillebekk
Skillebekk (station)
Skillebekk is a light rail station on the Oslo Tramway.Located at Skillebekk, it was opened by Kristiania Elektriske Sporvei on 2 March 1894 as a part of the first stretch of what would become the Skøyen Line. It is served by line 13....
(today part of the Skøyen Line
Skøyen Line
The Skøyen Line is a tramway line running from Slottsparken to Skøyen in Oslo, Norway. It is served by line 13 of the Oslo Tramway. It connects the Briskeby Line at Slottsparken to the Lilleaker Line at Skøyen....
). At first a shuttle service was provided on the branch line, but by April a through service was offered to Østbanen. The Skillebekk Line was extended on 31 December 1894 to Nobels Gate
Nobels gate (station)
Nobels gate is a light rail station on the Oslo Tramway.Located at Frogner, it was opened by Kristiania Elektriske Sporvei on 31 December 1894 as an extension of the Skøyen Line. It is served by line 13.-References:...
, to Thune
Thune (station)
Thune is a light rail station on the Oslo Tramway.Located at Skøyen, it was opened by Kristiania Elektriske Sporvei as an extension of the Skøyen Line 1901. It is served by line 13....
in 1901 and to Skøyen
Skøyen Station
Skøyen is a railway station located in Oslo, Norway and is part of Drammen Line. The station serves commuter trains, some regional trains and the Flytoget airport express train service. Skøyen station is owned and operated by the Norwegian National Rail Administration.Though some continue on, the...
on 21 June 1903.
The last street line was opened in 1902 from Østbanen to Frogner Plass—known as the Frogner Line
Frogner Line
The Frogner Line is a section of the Oslo Tramway which runs between Solli and Majorstuen, serving the neighborhood of Frogner. The line is served by tram number 12, and the Frogner section makes up the westernmost part of this line...
. It was extended to Majorstuen, where the depot was located, on 15 May 1914, along with a line from Frogner Plass to Skarpsno on the Skøyen Line. From 1909 the company introduced numbered services, and had the following lines:
- Østbanen–Briskeby–Majorstuen
- Østbanen–Frogner–Majorstuen
- Østbanen–Skøyen
The company bought 78 cars and 66 trailers; 20 of the cars were later rebuilt to trailers. The main manufacturers were Herbrand, Falkenried
Falkenried
Falkenried is a defunct tram manufacturer based in Hamburg, Germany.In 1897, the company made a delivery of fifteen horsecars to Kristiania Sporveisselskab of Oslo, Norway. They were long and remained in service until 1939, although they were used as trailers most of their life...
and Skabo
Skabo Jernbanevognfabrikk
Skabo Jernbanevognfabrikk was a mechanical workshop focusing on design and construction of railcars. It was established by Hans Skabo in Drammen, Norway in 1864; it became the first rail car factory in the country when it took delivery of the cars for Kongsvingerbanen...
, delivering a continual stream of stock to the company until 1914, after which only ten units were delivered. The second delivered unit, number 102, has been preserved and can be found at the Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology
Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology
The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology is a science museum located in Oslo, NorwayThe museum as an institution was founded in 1914 as a part of the commemoration for the 100th anniversary of the Norwegian Constitution, but it was not until 1932 that the museum was first opened, in the...
.
From 1912 a number of connections were built between the KES and KSS networks, and the two companies started cooperating on certain lines. On 9 May 1919 the company extended the Skøyen Line to Lilleaker
Lilleaker (station)
Lilleaker is a light rail station on the Oslo Tramway.Located at Lilleaker in Ullern, it was the terminus of the Lilleaker Line when it was opened in 1919 by Kristiania Elektriske Sporvei as an extension of the Skøyen Line...
as a suburban tramway
Light rail
Light rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...
, now called the Lilleaker Line. In 1924 the concession
Concession (contract)
A concession is a business operated under a contract or license associated with a degree of exclusivity in business within a certain geographical area. For example, sports arenas or public parks may have concession stands. Many department stores contain numerous concessions operated by other...
of both the street tram companies expired, and they were taken over by the municipal owned Oslo Sporveier
Oslo Sporveier
Kollektivtransportproduksjon AS is a municipal owned public transport operator of Oslo, Norway, the name meaning simply "public transportation producer". It operates the trackage and maintains the stock of the Oslo Metro and Oslo Tramway, as well as owning eight operating subsidiaries...
. The section from Skøyen to Lilleaker was not located in Oslo, but in Aker
Aker, Norway
Aker is a former municipality in Akershus, which lends its name to a municipality and a county in Norway. The name originally belonged to a farm which was located near the current Old Aker Church...
, and the municipality was not interested in operating it. Instead the ownership was transferred to the company Bærumsbanen
Bærumsbanen
A/S Bærumsbanen was a tram company that operated the Lillaker-, Kolsås and Østensjø Line of the Oslo Tramway, Norway, from 1924 to 1971 when the company became part of Oslo Sporveier.-History:...
, with the same owners as KES.