From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A/S Graakalbanen was a private company that built and operated the tramway Gråkallbanen in Trondheim, Norway between 1924 and 1971, when it was merged with Trondheim Sporvei.
The company was established in 1916 with the purpose to build a tramway from the city center via the new residential areas of Byåsen to the recreational areas of Bymarka and the mountain Gråkallen. Work on the line started in 1917 and in 1924 the tramway opened to Munkvoll, with expansions to Ugla in 1925 and Lian, the final terminus in 1933. The last stretch was financed through a separate company A/S Ugla-Lian, that finance the track and got 5 øre per ticket until that company was bought by A/S Graakalbanen. In the city the company rented track from the city trams on Ilalinjen between Ila and the companies terminus at St. Olav's Gate.
In 1966 the City of Trondheim bought the company and merged it with the municipally owned tram company Trondheim Sporvei in 1971, that merged with Trondheim Bilruter to form Trondheim Trafikkselskap in 1974. Today this company is part of Team Trafikk, a subsidiary of Nettbuss. In 1990, two years after the closure of the Trondheim Tramway, a new private company called Gråkallbanen AS started operating Gråkallbanen.
