A/S Holmenkolbanen was a company that owned and operated part of the

Oslo Tramway The Oslo tram network ( no, Trikken i Oslo, short from ', 'electric') is the tram system in Oslo, Norway. It consists of six lines with 99 stops and has a daily ridership of 132,000. It is operated by , a subsidiary of the municipally-owned who ...

and

Oslo Metro The Oslo Metro ( no, Oslo T-bane or or simply ) is the rapid transit system of Oslo, Norway, operated by Sporveien T-banen on contract from the transit authority Ruter. The network consists of five lines that all run through the city centre, wit ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

from 1898 until 1975 when services were taken over by the majority owner

Oslo Sporveier AS Oslo Sporveier is a defunct municipal owned company responsible for public transport in Oslo, Norway. It was created in 1924 to take over the city's two private tram companies. In 1927 its started with bus transport, including from 1940 to 19 ...

. Holmenkolbanen opened the

Holmenkoll Line The Holmenkollen Line ( no, Holmenkollbanen) is an Oslo Metro line which runs between Majorstuen and Nordmarka in Oslo, Norway. Operating as Metro Line 1, it is the route with the fewest passengers and the only one still to have level crossi ...

in 1898, and expanded it to become the first Nordic underground railway in 1928. The company took over operations of the

Smestad Line Smestad may refer to the following locations: *Smestad, Oslo in Oslo, Norway **Smestad (station) Smestad is a station shared by the Røa Line (line 2) and the Kolsås Line (line 3) on the Oslo T-bane system. Although the two lines continue to ...

in 1933, the Sognsvann Line in 1934. The company was merged into Oslo Sporveier in 1992.

History

The company was founded on 17 February 1896 by H. M. Heyerdahl and Albert Fenger Krog as the leading executives. The goal was to build a suburban tramway—the

—from the

Holmenkollen Holmenkollen () is a mountain and a neighbourhood in the Vestre Aker borough of Oslo, Norway. It goes up to above sea level and is well-known for its international skiing competitions. Overview In addition to being a residential area, the are ...

neighborhood in northwestern Oslo to the end of the street tramway at

Majorstuen Majorstuen is a particularly affluent neighbourhood in the Frogner borough in the inner part of Oslo, Norway. Majorstuen is known for its vibrant downtown and especially its shopping area. The area has several elegant townhouses c. 1880–1890. T ...

. The line opened first to Besserud (at the time called Holmenkolen) on 31 May 1898 and then to

Frognerseteren Frognerseteren is a neighborhood of Oslo, Norway, located within Nordmarka. It is a popular starting point for recreational hiking and skiing in Oslo. Frognerseteren Station is the terminal station of the Holmenkollen Line of the Oslo Metro. Fro ...

on 15 May 1916. The second part of the line was constructed by its subsidiary A/S Tryvandsbanen, and included a

single track Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

cargo line to Tryvandshøiden. It was established on 4 January 1912 and disestablished on 1 January 1920. To offer direct services into the city center, the company started the construction

Common Tunnel The Common Tunnel ( no, Fellestunnelen), sometimes called the Common Line (), is a long tunnel of the Oslo Metro which runs through the city center of Oslo, Norway. The name derives from the fact that all five lines of the metro use the tunnel, ...

(') to the underground Nationaltheatret Station. Construction started in 1912, but had to stop in October 1914 after about thirty properties had received massive damage from the construction; some even had to be razed. A settlement was not reached until 1925, and construction started again in 1926, with the line opening on 28 June 1928. However, the real estate owners were not satisfied with the settlement and it ended in court, with the property owners gaining additional claims. The cost of the tunnel was too high for the company to bear, and by 1932 it could not handle its interest. To save the company, the municipal owned Akersbanerne agreed to a merger between A/S Holmenkolbanen and two of Akersbanerne's three lines—the

and the under construction Sognsvann Line that would both share the tunnel into the center, with the transaction taking place on 16 November 1933. In 1942 the

Kolsås Line The Kolsås Line ( no, Kolsåsbanen) is a line of the Oslo Metro. It branches off from the Røa Line at Smestad Station and runs through western Oslo and Bærum to Kolsås Station. It serves the neighborhoods of Ullernåsen, Øraker, Jar, Bek ...

was rebuilt to terminate through the Smestad Line, and in 1944 the owner

Bærumsbanen A/S Bærumsbanen was a tram company that operated the Lillaker-, Kolsås and Østensjø Line of the Oslo Tramway, Norway, from 1924 to 1971 when the company became part of Oslo Sporveier. History In 1924 the two street tram operators in Oslo, Kr ...

was bought by

. After the municipal merger between Aker and Oslo on 1 January 1948, the two municipal tram companies Akersbanerne and Oslo Sporveier merged; due to this the operation of all the four western lines were collected in A/S Holmenkolbanen. Operation was transferred to Oslo Sporveier on 1 August 1975, after it had bought almost all the shares in the company, and it had been delisted from the

Oslo Stock Exchange Oslo Stock Exchange ( no, Oslo Børs) (OSE: OSLO) is a stock exchange within the Nordic countries and offers Norway’s only regulated markets for securities trading today. The stock exchange offers a full product range including equities, deriv ...

. A/S Holmenkolbanen remained a separate company until 6 May 1992, when it was fully merged with Oslo Sporveier.

Historic gallery

1421 Smestad. Røabanen - no-nb digifoto 20150916 00079 bldsa PK05227.jpg, Motorcar leaves Smestad Station (postcard from 1930s) 130 Skogen station Tryvandsbanen - no-nb digifoto 20151005 00110 bldsa PK05174.jpg, Motorcar leaves the then Skogen Station (from between 1916 and 1923) 126 Voxenkollens Hospitz, Voxenkollen - no-nb digifoto 20150914 00097 bldsa PK09377.jpg, Motorcar on the way up at Voksenkollen. Unknown date. 809 Oslo. Undergrunnsbanen. Majorstuen st. - no-nb digifoto 20151020 00066 bldsa PK04015.jpg,

Majorstuen Station Majorstuen is a subway station on the Oslo Metro and a tram stop on the Briskeby Line of the Oslo Tramway. It is located in the Majorstuen neighborhood in the Frogner borough. Majorstuen is shared by all the subway lines, and, being located just ...

in 1928 or 1929 53 Kristiania. Fra Majorstuen - no-nb digifoto 20151020 00063 bldsa PK04010.jpg, Majorstuen Station. Unknown date. Kolsåsbanen 6.jpg, Hauger Station in 1982 Hauger 2006.jpg, Hauger Station in 2006

References

* {{Authority control Defunct railway companies of Norway Companies formerly listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange Companies based in Oslo Railway companies established in 1896 Railway companies disestablished in 1992 Oslo Tramway operators