Gråkallbanen

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Gråkallbanen
One of the Gråkallbanen trams at the St. Olavs Gate terminus
Info
Type	Tramway
System	Trondheim Tramway
Terminals	St. Olavs Gate Lian
No. of stations	21
Operation
Opened	1924
Owner	Municipality of Trondheim
Operator(s)	Gråkallbanen AS
Technical
Line length	8.8 km
No. of tracks	Single (double in the city streets)
Gauge	1,000 mm (3 ft 3⅜ in)
Electrification	Overhead DC

Gråkallbanen

Legend to city centre St. Olavs Gate (1924) Dronningens gate Tordenskjolds gate Hospitalkirka Kalvskinnet Skansen Ila (1924) turning track Ilevollen loop streetcar to here onwards as suburban rail Bergsligata (1924) Nyveibakken Nyveibakken (1924) Bygrensen (1924) Belvedere Belvedere (1998) Thaulowbakken Breidablikk (1924) Breidablikkveien (ca. 20 m) Nordre Hoem (1924) Bøckmans veg (ca. 90 m) Søndre Hoem Rognheim (1924) Munkvoll (1924) turning loop Selsbakkvegen side track to depot Byåsveien (ca. 50 m) Ferstad (1933) Ferstadbakken Ugla (1925) Gamle Oslovei (ca. 12 m) Kyvannet (1933) Sigrid Johansens veg Vestmarka (1933) Herlofsonløypa (1933) Uglavegen Lian (1933) turning loop

Gråkallbanen is a tram line located in Trondheim, Norway. It is the only tram line remaining in the city, following the termination of the rest of the tram line system in the city in 1988. The line is designated Line 1 since 1974. Before this the line was privately operated.

The line is the northern-most tramway line in the world. It runs from the street St. Olav's Gate, through the districts of Byåsen up to Lian Station, a distance of 8.8 km. It serves as a transportation to the large recreation area of Bymarka. The line was constructed in 1924, and is unusual by using 2.6 metre wide cars on metre gauge, and that its upper section is single track. Located at Munkvoll Station is the Trondheim Tramway Museum.

[edit] Service

The operating company Gråkallbanen AS own six trams, of which four are needed for daily operation on the line and two are kept in reserve. The trams operate on a fixed 15 minute headway with a reduced 30 minute headway in the evenings and in the weekend. Heritage trams are operated irregularly, usually only on holidays and mainly summer (when the tramway museum are open), from the museum to the city.

[edit] History

Though there had been a municipally owned tram company in Trondheim, Trondhjems Elektricitetsværk og Sporvei, since 1901, the first steps to building a tramway in Byåsen were taken in 1916 when A/S Graakalbanen was founded to build a tramway from the city centre via Byåsen to the mountain Gråkallen. The first stretch to be opened was from St. Olav's Street to Munkvoll on July 18, 1924, after construction work lasting seven years. The line was extended to Ugla on May 30, 1925 and in 1933 to the present terminus at Lian. The financing of the first two stretches of the line was done through the company purchasing land from along the line and selling it for housing with a profit. The last stretch was financed through a separate company, A/S Ugla-Lian, that built the line and got 5 øre per rider on the line, but had no operating responsibility. The peak of Gråkallbanen was during World War II when the line had 2 million passenger annually, since the trams where the only transport systems that were operational during the war. After the war new investments were made, including loops in the city (1946) and at Lian (1947), double track from Breidablikk to Nordre Hoem (1948) and a new depot and workshop at Munkvoll in 1953. A/S Grakalbanen was bought by the city in 1966 and in 1974 merged with Trondheim Sporvei and Trondheim Bilruter to form Trondheim Trafikkselskap.^[1]

[edit] Closing and reopening

During the 1980s there was a lot of political debate about the future of the tram in Trondheim, and in 1983 the city council decided to close down Elgeseter Line, and keep only one line between Lian and Lade. At the same time 11 new trams were ordered and a new depot built at Munkvoll, costing in access of NOK 100 million. But in 1988 the city council changed their minds and closed the tramway in Trondheim. The tracks between St. Olav's Street and Lademoen were removed, but the tracks at Lade were kept, as were the tracks between St. Olav's Street and Lian. The latter was because enthusiasts had plans of operating veteran trams as a heritage railway.

But fate had other plans for Gråkallbanen. The Trondheim tramway is one of only two in the world, along with the Cairo Tramway, to use the combination of meter gauge and 2.6 metre wide cars. This made it practically impossible to sell the trams and finance the 20 new Scania buses that Trondheim Trafikkselskap needed to operate the bus route to Lian and Lade. In the end the 11 trams were not sold and instead a company owned by 1400 enthusiasts, Gråkallbanen AS, was created to operate the tram route on the only remaining line, that started in 1990. In 2004 Veolia Transports division in Norway, Veolia Transport Norway, bought the company and have announced they will invest another NOK 10,7 million, after the purchase in improved infrastructure on Gråkallbanen.

[edit] Stations

• St. Olavs Gate
• Dronningens gate
• Hospitalskirka
• Kalvskinnet
• Skansen
• Ila
• Bergsligata
• Nyveibakken
• Bygrensen
• Belvedere
• Breidablikk
• Nordre Hoem
• Søndre Hoem
• Rognheim
• Munkvoll
• Ferstad
• Ugla
• Kyvannet
• Vestmarka
• Herlofsonløypa
• Lian

[edit] Plans

This article or section contains information about a planned or expected public transportation infrastructure. It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change dramatically as the construction and/or completion of the infrastructure approaches, and more information becomes available.

Gråkallbanen is working on a number of plans as of 2006. These include an extension of the line to the harbor area via Olav Trygvasons street and Trondheim Central Station. A short stretch from St. Olavs gate to nearby Prinsenkrysset, regarded as part of this plan, was given the green light in 2006, the building supposed to start in 2009, when the Nordre Avlastningsvei is due to open and supposedly relieve the city centre from car traffic.

It is stated by Gråkallbanen that they seek to modernize their fleet of six vehicles to low-floor, to allow wheelchair users to enter the trams. However, as the current operation require additional funding from the municipality, these plans are not currently financed. The municipality are to create a report on the funding of the line and its future projects.

As well, there have been several calls for an additional light rail scheme based upon the current railway lines running through the town. Lately, connecting this light rail project with Gråkallbanen to form a tram-train system have been suggested but the different track widths (Gråkallbanen uses 1000 mm and the NSB lines 1435 mm) might be a problem. A connecting PRT system in town have also been suggested.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Trams in Trondheim

• AS Gråkallbanen Company web site (Norwegian)
• Trondheim Trams with extensive background and many photos
• Sporvognsrejser: GråkallBanen