| Bergen Tramway | |
|---|---|
The tram depot at Møhlenpris. Now housing the technical museum. |
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| Info | |
| Locale | Bergen, Norway |
| Transit type | Tramway |
| Number of lines | 5 |
| Operation | |
| Began operation | 29 June 1897 |
| Ended operation | 31 December 1964 |
| Operator(s) | Bergen Sporvei |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) |
Bergen Tramway was a tramway in Bergen, Norway, which was in operation from 1897 to 1965. The first three lines were opened on 29 June 1897. Starting in 1950, tramway lines were gradually replaced with bus and trolleybus routes. The last line was closed in 1965. Since 1993, a heritage tram operates in Møhlenpris by the association Bergen's Electric Tramway. A light rail system was proposed in 1995, adopted in the 2000s and started operating in 2010.
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In 1882, a horse coach service for Bergen was proposed; it started operating in 1893. This mode of transportation did not gain much success, and was ceased a few years later.[1] The construction of a tramway was decided in 1894, and started one year later, with the German company Union-Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft (UEG, later AEG) as the major shareholder.
The Bergen Tramway opened on 29 June 1897, and was operated by the newly established Bergens Elektriske Sporvei.[1] In the beginning, three lines ran through the city centre; one line ran from Bradbenken to Sukkerhusbryggen over Torget, the second ran from Småstrandgaten to Nygårdsbroen, and the third ran from Småstrandgaten to Kalfaret.[2]
In 1898, the tram from Nygårdsbroen was merged with the tram to Sandviken.[3] Thereafter, the line from Kalfaret to Småstrandgaten was merged with the tram to Sukkerhusbryggen. In 1901, the branch line from the Sandviken line was closed, which happened to be the first tram closure in the history of Norway. In 1910, the line to Sukkerhusbryggen was closed. However, in 1911, a new tram line to Møhlenpris was established.[3] Nordnes also received a new tram line five years later, which was expanded to Bergen Railway Station in the 1920s. There were plans to create a correspondence between the tramway and the Fløibanen funicular with a tram stop, but this did never happen.[4]
The Bergen city fire in 1916 turned out to have a positive impact on the Bergen Tramway. Large areas of the city centre burned to ashes and made space for additional tram lines, double tracks and more spacious tram stops.[1] However, many of the tram depots burned down as well.[1]
In 1916, Shipowner Håkon J. Wallem purchased AEG's share of the tram company. He let the municipality of Bergen overtake the tramway, and from September 1917, the public-owned company Bergen Sporvei was responsible for the operation of trams.[5]
Many of the lines were extended during the 1920s,[note 1] and in 1932 the Bergen Tramway had its largest extent ever.[1] In the 1930s many tram lines were replaced and supplemented with bus lines put up by Bergens Sporvei.[6] The buses' share of the Bergen traffic grew larger during the 50s and 60s, and in December 1963,[7] the Bergen City Council decided to close the city's tram network.[8] The last tram traveled to Møhlen 31 December 1964.[9] All of the wagons, except from one, were thereafter scrapped and lowered into Puddefjorden.[10][11]
In 1974, The "Association for the Technical Museum in Bergen" was established, aiming at creating a heritage tram service running on the tracks of the former tramway. In 1991, a rental agreement of the tram depot at Møhlenpris was put in place, and in 1993 did the first tram wagon run on the newly created heritage line.[12] The line is now served with five tram wagons; the one not scrapped in 1965, one old wagon from the Oslo Tramway painted yellow (pictured),[13] and three wagons from Berlin built in 1969.[14]
In 1995, it was decided that a light rail system from the city centre to Bergen Airport, Flesland would be constructed.[15] The Bergen Light Rail started operating in 2010,[16] with Variotrams delivered from Stadler Rail going on a stretch from Nesttun to the city centre.[17][18] The stretch will be continued from Nesttun to Rådal in August 2010.[19][20]
In the start, the trams did not have line numbers.[21] Instead, there were different colours on the front light. The application of line numbers started back in 1923, which is why the line between Sukkerhusbryggen and Bradbenken never had any line numbers.[22]
The Line between Småstrandgaten and Nygårdsbroen was opened on 3 July 1897, while the line between Sukkerhusbryggen and Sandviken was opened 27 days later.[3] On 21 February 1898, the lines were merged. In 1905, the line was in the north extended from Sandvikskirken to Sandvikstorget, in 1911 to the north end of the Reeperbahn and in 1928 to Munkebott gate.[23] In 1947, in association with the introduction of one-way trams in Bergen, turning loops were built in Sandviken. In the south, the line was, in 1919, extended over the Nygård Bridge to the former railway station in Solheimsviken, in 1924 to Inndalen and in 1928 to the balloon loop at Minde.[23] The tram line received additional double track until the whole stretch was double-tracked by 1938. Line 1a went from line 2's new turning loop at Engen to Minde, and when the line to Sandviken was closed down in 1961, this became line 1.[23] As the line was completely shut down, it was replaced with a diesel bus line in 1965.
The line between Småstrandgaten and Kalfaret opened on 3 July 1897,[24] and was in 1898 extended to Olav Kyrres gate, and further to Sukkerhusbryggen in 1900.[23] In 1910, the tram stretch to Sukkerhusbryggen was closed and line 2 was reduced to only serve Småstrandgaten. In 1911, the line was extended to Møhlenpris, and in 1912 to Haukeland University Hospital. The line was in 1919 split, and while the line to Møhlenpris later would become line 3, the end station for the line to Haukeland was moved to Torgallmenningen.[25] In 1922, this line was moved to C. Sundts street. In 1950, the end stop was replaced with a balloon loop at Engen. In the opposite end, the line was extended to another loop at Fridalen, in 1924. Apart from a minor branch to the city centre, did the line not become doubletracked before 1922. The line 2a was created in 1943 from Nordnes to Fridalen, in connection with the closing of line 4, but existed for only a single year. 1 December 1957, the entire tram line was replaced with a trolleybus service.[23] This trolleybus line was later extended to Birkelundstoppen and is today Norway's only operating trolleybus line.[23]
The line between Møhlenpris and Torgallmenningen was created when the line 2 was split in 1919.[3] After some time, the end station in the city centre was moved to Ole Bulls plass. After numerous changes it was, in 1923, extended to Tyskebryggen ("the German Dock").[23] In 1950, the line was replaced by Bergen's first trolleybus line, which did not follow the old tram line from Møhlenpris over Nygårdshøyden to city centre, but instead ran through the newly constructed street from Dokken to Nøstet.[23] It thereupon continued onwards to Bryggen and Mulen, where it replaced the petrol-driven bus route from Nøstet to Mulen.[21] This bus section was replaced by diesel bus in 1994 as it was started to build a western approach and split into two different lines, Mulen-Solheimslien (Line 5) and Møhlenpris-Nygårdshøyden-Starefossen (Line 11).[23] In connection with another restructuring the line 11 had its route changed to Nordnes instead of Møhlenpris, and Southern Møhlenpris lost its bus connection in 2000. The stretch between Møhlenpris and Engen is still in operation, but only as a museum tram.[14][26]
The line from Torgallmenningen to Nordnes was started in 1915, primarily as a separate tram, but was sometimes also used as a amplification to line 1 and 2.[27] The Nordnes Line was the line that was influenced the most by the reconstruction after the city fire in 1916. After numerous relocations the end stop was determined to be in the intersection between Strandgaten and Chr. Michelsens gate. In 1924, the line was extended to the train station. However, it was closed down in 1926, mostly because of strike and also because of poor demand. In 1943, the line was shut down as a separate line, and the traffic to Nordnes was replaced by line 2a, which continued to Fridalen.[23] In October 1944 the line 2a was closed, together with the Nordnes line.[3] Since 1945, this part has been served by bus, and since 2000, by the line 11 Nordnes-Starefossen.[28]
The line between Sukkerhusbryggen and Bradbenken was opened 3 July 1897.[3] However, the demand for a line there was poor. In 1900, the section between Sukkerhusbryggen and Engen was replaced by the line to Kalfaret, and in the opposite end the tram was replaced by another between Mariakirken and Bradbenken. This was actually a beside track to the Sandviken Line. The demand was also poor here. Since the Sandviken Line's tracks were placed in Øvregaten, it often took more time to take the tram from Torget to Bradbenken than to walk. It was therefore shut down the same year. The intersection between Engen and Sukkerhusbryggen was served by the Line 2 until it was closed down in 1910.[23]
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Bergen Technical Museum (Norwegian: Bergen Tekniske Museum) has, since the 1990s, maintained the remaining overhead wires and tracks from the Bergen tramway, bought new wires from the Trondheim Tramway,[29] and new tram wagons from East Berlin.[30] These trams travel in the summer vacations—mainly as a nostalgic tourist attraction—from Møhlenpris towards Engen.[31] This museum tram has served since 1994,[32] and there are branches towards Damsgård, Nordnes and Bryggen that are being planned.[26]
The system operated 70 trams and 48 trailers, which were delivered between 1897 and 1948. All but the last class of trams were two-axled, making Bergen the last tramway in Norway to take delivery of bogie trams in 1947. This class was also the first to be built by a Norwegian manufacturer, with all former classes being delivered by German manufactures.[33]
| Class | Quantity | Manufacturer | Motor | Length (m) |
Length (ft) |
Power (kW) |
Power (hp) |
Seats | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BS 1897 | 16 | Falkenried | UEG | 6.40 | 21.0 | 24 | 32 | 16 | [34] |
| BS 1910 | 6 | Unknown | AEG | 7.50 | 24.6 | 50 | 67 | 16 | [35] |
| BS 1913 | 8 | Nordwaggon | AEG | 9.40 | 30.8 | 70 | 94 | 24 | [36] |
| BS 1915 | 10 | P. Herbrand & Cie | AEG | 8.54 | 28.0 | 52 | 70 | 18 | [37] |
| BS 1921 | 19 | Nordwaggon | AEG | 9.50 | 31.2 | 78 | 105 | 24 | [38] |
| KES 1909 | 1 | P. Herbrand & Cie | Siemens | 9.60 | 31.5 | 70 | 94 | 24 | [39] |
| KSS 1913 | 1 | Falkenried | Siemens | 10.47 | 34.4 | 84 | 113 | 16 | [40] |
| BS 1947 | 10 | Strømmen | Norsk Elektrisk og Brown Boveri | 12.20 | 40.0 | 76 | 102 | 23 | [41] |
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