Kristiania Elektriske Sporvei
Company type | Private aksjeselskap |
---|---|
Industry | Tramway |
Founded | 1892 |
Defunct | 1924 |
Fate | Merger |
Successor | Oslo Sporveier Bærumsbanen |
Headquarters | Oslo, Norway |
A/S Kristiania Elektriske Sporvei or KES, nicknamed the Blue Tramway (
KES was established as the second tram operator in
History
Establishment
The Oslo Tramway was established as a horsecar network in 1875 by Kristiania Sporveisselskab. In 1887 it rejected a proposal for L. Samson, a real estate developer, to build a line to Majorstuen to serve his projects. He therefore contacted engineers H. E. Heyerdal and A. Fenger-Krog, the latter who had studied tramways abroad.[1] They sent an application that year to the municipality, at a time when there were no other electric tramways in operation in Europe. However, the application did not explicitly state that the company would use electric traction.[2] KSS retained it priority in laying new lines.[2]
The group received permission for two lines, one from
Shares worth 800,000
Early operations and expansion
Test runs started on 10 January 1894.[5] The official opening of the first Nordic electric tramway took place on 2 March 1894 and ordinary operation commenced the following day. It was the seventh electric tramway to open in Europe. Amongst the concerns in the public debate was that horses, such as those from the competing KSS, would not be able to cope with seeing a tram running without being pulled by a horse. The competitor's labor union proposed that KES used stuffed horses in front of their trams, but the horses soon learned to cope with the autonomous vehicle.[6] At first the trams ran every six minutes, but this proved difficult to operate and it was reduced to an eight-minute headway.[7]
Initially the motormen were to both drive and sell tickets, but this was found to be too much work for one person to do efficiently. Conductors were therefore introduced almost immediately.
The original network was entirely
The company gradually expanded its fleet and by 1898 it had taken delivery of twenty-one Class A trams and twelve trailers. A year later a further six trailers were delivered.
The company's next task was extending the Skøyen Line and building a route via
Later operations
Leading up to the 1909 right of the municipality to buy the tramway, KES was evaluated at NOK 3 million in 1908. The issue was debated in light of the 1899 establishment of the municipal-owned Kristiania Kommunale Sporveie and the 1905 sale of it to KSS. There was no similar high-profile debate about munisipalization in 1908 as there had been in 1905. This was in part because there was by then a strong Conservative majority in the city council—a party who were opposed to municipal a tramway. Instead the municipality negotiated an agreement, whereby it secured itself four percent of the company's gross revenue, increasing to five percent from 1914.[19]
The power station was upgraded in 1909, cutting the coal usage from 4.0 to 1.3 kilograms (8.8 to 2.9 lb) per kilowatt hour. The company decided, mostly of concern for its employee's wellbeing, to cover up the tram's open platform bays.[18] This was in part sorted out through the purchase of new rolling stock. The final five Class U trains were delivered in 1909, bringing the total to twent-four.[20] Trams were at the time limited by the belief that they could not have a wheelbase exceeding a tenth of the minimum curve radius. This was proven wrong, allowing the tramway to order new and larger trams.[21] The first eight Class SS trams were delivered the same year. Deliveries resumed in 1912 and in the following two years a further twenty-six Class SS units were delivered.[20]
Numbered services were introduced in 1909. KES was the first of the two tramways to introduce numbered lines and secured the lowest digits. The Briskeby Line was numbered 1, the Frogner Line 2 and the Skøyen Line 3.
The third connection opened in 1915, linking Jernbanetorget to the
From the company's opening it had charged 10 øre for a ride,[27] but this was raised to 15 øre in 1918, a price which would remain unaltered for the rest of its history.[28] To ease management of such an odd amount, token coins were popular. They were sold with a quantity discount and were commonly used in Oslo as a conventional coin worth 15 øre.[29] During this period the country was experiencing inflation. KES and the labor union could not reach an agreement for wage increases and the company was hit by a strike from 11 January to 22 March 1920. It was resolved through the municipality offering to reduce its charges.[30] As part of the agreement, the 5 øre commuter prices in the morning and afternoon were abolished.[29]
The company started looking into a further extension of the Skøyen Line in 1912, intending to reach
Municipalization
KES and KSS both had concessions which expired on the same date, in March 1924. At this point the municipality was free to purchase the companies at par value. A municipal committee was appointed in 1922 to look into the matter. KES was valuated at NOK 9 million, while KSS was worth NOK 12.5 million. Oslo Municipality was not interested in taking over the Lilleaker Line, as it was situated in the neighboring municipality of Aker. The committees majority proposed a merger and that KSS received a prolonged concession, while the minority recommended that the tramways be bought by the city. A third option, a jointly public and privately owned company, was also proposed, where the municipality would own fifty-one percent.[33]
The issue was considered by the council's executive board, which supported the joint public–private proposal with eleven against nine votes. The argumentation was largely ideological: the left side accused the right for bringing economical advantages for private investors, while the right accused the left of insufficient financial investigations of municipal operations.[33] The issue was voted on in the municipal council in December, with 43 against 41 councillors supporting the joint model. The latter were members of the Communist Party and the Labor Party, who both were in favor of a municipal take-over. The new company, Kristiania Sporveier, was incorporated in May 1924 and took over all street tram operations. The city changed its name to Oslo on 1 January 1925, as did the tram company.[34]
With the municipalization, most of the assets were transferred to Oslo Sporveier. The exception was the Lilleaker Line, which was kept by the private company. That part was changed into a new tram company, Bærumsbanen. The street trams were transferred to Oslo Sporveier, although a few were kept until 1 July, when the Lilleaker Line was extended to
Network
KES operated a network consisting of a common line through the city center, three branches, a suburban line and three connections to KSS's network. The street tram network consisted of the
The Briskeby Line branches from the common section to Parkveien, where it took off onto Riddervolds gate and continued along Briskebyveien, Holtegata and
The company operated one depot—Majorstuen Depot.[37] It consisted of three buildings, the largest of which had room for 75 vehicles.[24] It also featured the coal-fired thermal power station used to generate the electricity for the tramway.[18] Majorstuen was the site of the company's administration, as well as the depot for Holmenkolbanen. Most of KES facilities have been demolished, but one hall remains and is used by the Oslo Tramway Museum.[37]
Rolling stock
The company bought a total 78 motor cars and 66 trailers; 20 of the motorized vehicles were later converted to trailers. The deliveries were from various manufacturers, most of which were German. The sole Norwegian body manufacturer was Skabo. The trams were of three generations, each with their own class designation.[20] Many of the trams were of the same class as those delivered to KSS.[38] KES's trams were painted blue, hence giving rise to their nickname, the "Blue Tramway".[39]
The first class of trams, Class A, were manufactured by Allgemeine Elektrizitäts Gesellschaft (AEG) and P. Herbrand & Cie., both of Germany. The undercarriages were built by Bergische Stahlindustri. They featured open platform bays and a cabin. Twenty units were built, with nearly the same specifications. The trams were 6.5 meters (21 ft) long and 2.0 meters (6 ft 7 in) wide. They weighed 6 tonnes (5.9 long tons; 6.6 short tons) and were equipped with two NB80 motors with a combined effect of 12 kilowatts (16 hp). The exception was three units, no. 118 through 120, which had more powerful VBN120 motors, with a combined 36 kilowatts (48 hp). They had seating for sixteen and standing room for twelve. The company also had thirty-two similar trailer units built by Herbrand. One of the trams, no. 117, was a prototype built by Skabo with motors from Norsk Elektrisk & Brown Boveri.[40]
Twenty-four
KES took delivery of thirty-four Class SS motorized trams and twenty-two trailers between 1909 and 1914. They had electrical components from Siemens-Schukertwerke and were variously built by Herbrand, Falkenried and Skabo. Their main innovation was that the wheelbase was increased from 180 to 360 centimeters (71 to 142 in), allowing for a lengthening of the body. The first eleven were 9.69 meters (31.8 ft) long, while the rest were 11.47 meters (37.6 ft) long. The first eight units had two D72v motors, giving a combined power output of 72 kilowatts (97 hp). Later units had a power output of 84 kilowatts (113 hp).[43]
The second delivered unit, no. 102, has been preserved by the Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology.[44] Two SS motor units, no. 307 from 1913 and no. 322 from 1918, and one trailer, no. 347, have been preserved by the Oslo Tramway Museum.[45]
References
- ^ Fasting: 41
- ^ a b Fasting: 42
- ^ a b Fasting: 43
- ^ a b Fasting: 44
- ^ a b Fasting: 45
- ^ a b c Fasting: 48
- ^ a b Fristad: 27
- ^ Fristad: 26
- ^ a b c Fristad: 25
- ^ a b Fasting: 51
- ^ Fasting: 52
- ^ a b Fristad: 29
- ^ Fasting: 55
- ^ Fristad: 32
- ^ Fasting: 63
- ^ Fasting: 59
- ^ a b c d e Aspenberg: 7
- ^ a b c Fasting: 70
- ^ a b Fasting: 69
- ^ a b c Aspenberg: 43
- ^ Fasting: 71
- ^ Fasting: 72
- ^ a b Fristad: 52
- ^ a b Fristad: 82
- ^ Fristad: 54
- ^ Fasting: 83
- ^ a b Fristad: 62
- ^ Fristad: 64
- ^ a b Fristad: 65
- ^ Fasting: 89
- ^ Bærumsbanen: 3
- ^ a b Gaarder, Håkon Kinck (2001). "Bærumsbanen". Lokaltrafikk (in Norwegian). 44: 4–19.
- ^ a b Fasting: 91
- ^ Fasting: 92
- ^ a b Strandholt: 10
- ^ Fristad: 28
- ^ a b Aspenberg: 37
- ^ Aspenberg: 45
- ^ Fasting: 50
- ^ Andersen, Bjørn (1997). "De første "electrikkene"". Lokaltrafikk (in Norwegian). 34: 4–12.
- ^ Andersen, Bjørn (1995). "Unionvognenes historie". Lokaltrafikk (in Norwegian). 25: 10–22.
- ^ Budmiger, Roy (1995). ""To rom og kjøkken"". Lokaltrafikk (in Norwegian). 29: 17–19.
- ^ Andersen, Bjørn (1994). "SS-vognene". Lokaltrafikk (in Norwegian). 21/22: 4–29.
- ^ Aspenberg: 44
- ^ "Sporveismuseets vognsamling" (in Norwegian). Oslo Tramway Museum. Archived from the original on 27 February 2017. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
Bibliography
- ISBN 82-91448-03-5.
- Bærumsbanen (1944). Bærumsbanen 1919–1944 (in Norwegian).
- Fasting, Kåre (1975). Sporveier i Oslo gjennom 100 år: 1875–1975 (in Norwegian). Oslo: Grøhdal & Søn. ISBN 82-504-0116-6.
- Fristad, Hans Andreas (1990). Oslo-trikken – storbysjel på skinner (in Norwegian). Oslo: Gyldendal. ISBN 82-05-19084-4.
- Hartmann, Eivind; Mangset, Øistein (2001). Neste stopp!: Verneplan for bygninger (in Norwegian). Oslo: Baneforlaget. ISBN 82-91448-17-5.
- Strandholt, Thorleif (1990). A/S Kristiania elektriske sporvei : Lilleakerbanen åpnet 9. mai 1919 overtatt 1924 av A/S Bærumsbanen ; A/S Akersbanene stiftet 7. juni 1917 ; Østensjøbanen, åpnet 18. desember 1923 som opphørte/overtatt 1949 av A/S Bærumsbanen, stiftet 1. mai 1924 som ble overtatt 1971 av A/S Oslo Sporveier (in Norwegian). Copenhagen: Sporvejshistorisk Selskab. ISBN 8787589311.