The Vippetangen Line or the Grain Tram is an abandoned line of the Oslo Tramway, Norway

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...

, that ran from Tollbugata in the city center to Vippetangen

Vippetangen

Vippetangen is the southern point of the peninsula Akersneset in central Oslo, Norway, located southeast of Akershus Fortress. It is surrounded by the Oslo Fjord and has served as an important section of the port in Oslo...

 between 1900 and 1967. It was built by Kristiania Kommunale Sporveie

Kristiania Kommunale Sporveie

Kristiania Kommunale Sporveie or KKS was a municipal owned company that operated parts of the Oslo Tramway from 1899 to 1905. It had 20 tramcars that served the three branch lines Rodeløkka Line, Vippetangen Line and Sagene Ring...

 (KKS).

History

The line was built as the third and final by the municipal Kristiania Kommunale Sporvei, opening on 28 August 1900. The service went through the city center to Anetheum to St. Hanshaugen

St. Hanshaugen

St. Hanshaugen is a borough of the city of Oslo, Norway.-Area:It has a triangular shape, with its northern border just north of the buildings of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation and Ullevål University Hospital, and south of the University of Oslo campus at Blindern...

. The track was transferred to 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) when it bought KKS in 1905, and again to 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...

 in 1924 when it took over KSS. Just after the KSS takeover the line was extended from Festningsbryggen to Vippetangen on 8 November 1905. The Vippetangen area is an important ferry quay and port

Port

A port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbors where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land....

 that grew up, and both domestic and international ships provided the basis for passengers. Passenger transport was terminated in August 1964 as part of the plan to abandon the tramway network in Oslo

Oslo

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...

.

From 1918 KSS started operating freight trams transporting grain

GRAIN

GRAIN is a small international non-profit organisation that works to support small farmers and social movements in their struggles for community-controlled and biodiversity-based food systems. Our support takes the form of independent research and analysis, networking at local, regional and...

 from the silos at Vippetangen to the mills in Grünerløkka

Grünerløkka

Grünerløkka is a borough of the city of Oslo, Norway. Grünerløkka became part of the city of Oslo in 1858.Grünerløkka was named after Friedrich Grüner who bought a mill in the area from king Christian V of Denmark in 1672 . During the 19th century, Grünerløkka became a working class area...

 and Sandaker

Sandåker

Sandåker is a village in Dønna municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located on the island Løkta, and has the postal code 8813 Kopardal, named after the neighboring village Koppardal....

. Four passenger cars were rebuilt to carry the cargo, but in 1932 two specially built freight cars were built; the service was very profitable, and the mill company Bjølsen Valsemølle wanted to continue the service after, but road construction forced the tram line to be pulled up after the last service ran on 15 February 1967.

Future plans

Though the old tracks have been razed, plans exist to build a new tramway to serve Vippetangen. The new line, that would be part of the Fjord Line

Fjord Line

Fjord Line is a Norwegian ferry operator offering services between Norway and Denmark. In addition to passenger transport, Fjord line operates cargo transport through its cargo division in Norway and Denmark.-History:Fjord Line was founded in 1993...

 would follow around the edge of the peninsula, instead of running through it. There are no specific dates for this expansion that is to become the main transport corridor through the urban renewal project named the Fjord City

Fjord City

The Fjord City is a urban renewal project for the waterfront part of the center of Oslo, Norway. The first redevelopment was at Aker Brygge during the 1980s. Bjørvika and Tjuvholmen followed up during the 2000s, while the remaining parts of the Port of Oslo will be developed in the 2010s. The port...

.