Kristiania Kommunale Sporveie

Infobox Defunct company
company_name = Kristiania Kommunale Sporveie
company_
slogan =
company_type = Municipal owned
fate = Acquisition
Predecessor =
successor = Kristiania Sporveisselskab
foundation = 1899
defunct = 1905
location = Oslo, Norway
industry = Transport
products =
key_people =
num_employees =
parent = City of Oslo
subsid =

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. The company was sold to Kristiania Sporveisselskab after it failed to make a profit.cite web |url=http://ruter.no/Miljo-og-kultur/Tidslinje/ |title=Tidslinje |author=Ruter |accessdate=2008-08-19 |language=Norwegian]

History

Kristiania (now Oslo) got its first tramway, Kristiania Sporveisselskab (KSS) in 1874, followed by Kristiania Elektriske Sporvei (KES) in 1894. Both these companies were making good money, so the city council decided to also start a service—the first municipal owned tram operator in Norway. The first line opened on 24 November 1899 when they opened their tracks from Sagene to Aker Street (the Sagene Ring), connecting onwards to the Eastern Railway Station (Østbanen) using KES tracks. On 26 January 1901 a connection line was built from Tollbu Street to Kirkeristen to avoid running on KES tracks.cite book |author=Aspenberg, Nils Carl |title=Trikker og forstadsbaner i Oslo |publisher=Baneforlaget |location=Oslo |year=1994 |isbn=82-91448-03-5 |pages=9]

The second line was opened on 27 March 1900 from Nybrua via Trondheim Street to Rodeløkka (the Rodeløkka Line, parts that have become the Sinsen Line). From Nybrua to the city center KSS track was used. The depot was located at Rodeløkka. The third line opened on 28 August 1900 from Tollbu Street to Festningsbryggen at Vippetangen—the Vippetangen Line. Again KSS track was needed to connect the line into the city core. Twenty cars and twelve trailers were bought from Busch with electric components delivered from Schuk. There were all convert|7.8|m|ft long with 50 kW effect. The cars weighed 9.3 tonnes while the trailers weighed 6.4 tonnes. They remained in service until 1967. [Aspenberg, 1994: 45]

The company had three operating lines:
* Sagene–Atheneum–Østbanen
* Egertorvet–Stortorvet–Rodeløkka
* St. Hanshaugen–Atheneum–Festningsbryggen

The company failed to make any profits, and in 1905 it was sold to KSS. The municipality returned as a tram operator in 1924 when the concession for KSS and KES expired, and they were both merged into the municipal owned Oslo Sporveier.

References