The Vippetangen Line or the Grain Tram ( no, Korntrikken) is an abandoned line 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 ...

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 ...

, that ran from Tollbugata in the city center to

Vippetangen Vippetangen is the southern tip of the Akersnes peninsula in central Oslo, Norway, located southeast of Akershus Fortress and bounded on three sides by the Oslofjord. It has in the past served as an important part of the port of Oslo. The area is ...

between 1900 and 1967. It was built by

Kristiania Kommunale Sporveie Kristiania Kommunale Sporveie or KKS, colloquially known as the Red Tramway ( no, Rødtrikken) was a municipal owned company that operated parts of the Oslo Tramway from 1899 to 1905. KKS built and operated three lines, Sagene Ring, the Rodelø ...

(KKS).

History

The line was built as the third and final by the municipal Kristiania Kommunale Sporvei, opening on 28 August 1900. The service went through the city center to Athaeneum to

St. Hanshaugen St. Hanshaugen (Norwegian for St. John's Hill) is a borough of the city of Oslo, Norway. Area It has a triangular shape, with its northern border just north of the buildings of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation and Ullevål University Hos ...

. The track was transferred to

Kristiania Sporveisselskab A/S Kristiania Sporveisselskab or KSS, nicknamed the Green Tramway ( no, Grønntrikken), was an operator of part of the Oslo Tramway from 1875 to 1924. The company was established in 1874 and started with horsecar operations on the Ullevål Hageb ...

(KSS) when it bought KKS in 1905, and again to

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 ...

in 1924 when it took over KSS. Just after the KSS takeover the line was extended from Festningsbryggen to Vippetangen on 8 November 1905. The Vippetangen area is an important ferry quay and

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

that grew up, and both domestic and international ships provided the basis for passengers. Passenger transport was terminated in August 1964 as part of the plan to abandon the tramway network in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

. From 1918 KSS started operating freight trams transporting

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legum ...

from the silos at Vippetangen to the mills in

Grünerløkka Grünerløkka is a borough of the city of Oslo, Norway. Grünerløkka became part of the city of Oslo (then Christiania) in 1858. Grünerløkka was traditionally a working class district; however, since the late 20th century the area has increasi ...

and Sandaker. Four passenger cars were rebuilt to carry the cargo, but in 1932 two specially built freight cars were built; the service was very profitable, and the mill company Bjølsen Valsemølle wanted to continue the service after, but road construction forced the tram line to be pulled up after the last service ran on 15 February 1967.

Future plans

Though the old tracks have been razed, plans exist to build a new tramway to serve Vippetangen. The new line, that would be part of the "Fjord Line" would follow around the edge of the peninsula, instead of running through it. There are no specific dates for this expansion that is to become the main transport corridor through the urban renewal project named the

Fjord City The Fjord City ( no, Fjordbyen) is an urban renewal project for the waterfront part of the centre of Oslo, Norway. The first redevelopment was at Aker Brygge during the 1980s. Bjørvika and Tjuvholmen followed up during the 2000s, while the r ...

References

;Bibliography * * {{coord, 59.9029, N, 10.7419, E, source:wikidata, display=title Oslo Tramway lines Railway lines opened in 1900 1900 establishments in Norway