Gråkall Line

Infobox rail line
name = Gråkall Line
nativename = Gråkallbanen

---

caption = One of the Gråkallbanen trams at the St. Olavs Gate terminus
type = Tram
system = Trondheim Tramway
status =
start = St. Olavs Gate
end = Lian
stations = 21
open = 1924
close =
owner = Municipality of Trondheim
operator = Veolia Transport Bane AS
character =
stock =
linelength = 8.8 km
tracklength =
notrack = Single (double in the city streets)
gauge = RailGauge|1
el = Overhead DC
speed =
elevation =

BS-table|

The Gråkall Line ( _no. Gråkallbanen) is a convert|8.8|km|mi suburban tram line located in Trondheim, Norway. It runs from the city center at St. Olav's Gate via the suburban area Byåsen to Lian Station in the recreational area Bymarka. The only remaining tram line of the Trondheim Tramway, it is served by articulated trams and is designated Line 1. The line is the northern most remaining tramway in the world, and is unusual in combining 2.6 meter wide cars wth meter gauge, and that its upper section is single track.

The line was opened in 1924 by the company A/S Graakalbanen and extended to the current terminus in 1933. The line operations became part of municipal Trondheim Sporvei in 1971, and was closed along with the rest of the tramway in 1988. In 1990 it was resurrected and operated by the private Gråkallbanen AS, that has since been taken over by Veolia. Located at Munkvoll is the Trondheim Tramway Museum.

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 with the hotel Ugla Gjestgiveri as the attraction.

After the extension to Ugla in 1925, the company even tried other market ideas: Each winter, the lake Kyvannet is covered with ice. A new company "Graakallbanens isforretning A/S" took out large ice blocks from the lake during the winter, and stored the blocks in a shed just below the lake. During the summer the ice were transported to the city, and sold to hotels, restaurants, and ships which at the time had no refrigerators available. A side track "Ishussporet" (The ice house track) was built from the Ugla station to the shed at the lake to accomplish these transports. The business continued from sometime in the 20's to sometime in the 40's.

In 1931 the Ugla Gjestgiveri was destroyed in a fire. After this, the line was extended with 2 km tracks to the present terminus at Lian. The new line was opened October 28, 1933. At the same time the new Lian Restaurant was opened at the terminus.

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 (1947) 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. [cite web |url=http://www.graakallbanen.no/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=22&Itemid=0 |title=Graakalbanen – 80 år siden åpningen |author=Gråkallbanen AS |language=Norwegian]

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. July 1, 2008 the company name changed from AS Gråkallbanen to Veolia Transport Bane AS.

ervice

The operating company Gråkallbanen AS own nine trams, of which four are needed for daily operation on the line and one is 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 available for chartred tours.

Plans

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.

References

External links

* [http://www.graakallbanen.no AS Gråkallbanen] Company web site no icon
* [http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/T_Trondheim.html Trondheim Trams] with extensive background and many photos
* [http://sporvognsrejser.dk/norge/trondheim/ Sporvognsrejser: GråkallBanen]