Holmenkollen Line
| Length: | Starts: | Ends: | Status: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14 km | Stortinget Station | Frognerseteren Station | In service |
The Holmenkoll Line is the metro line 1 which runs between Stortinget and Frognerseteren in Oslo. It opened in 1898 as an electric railway and rebuilt as a metro line in 2010.
Photos
Movie
Majorstuen Station. Photo: Marthinius Skøien/Norsk Folkemuseum
The stations
The Holmenkollen Line opened with ten stations: Frøen, Blindernveien (Vinderen), Gaustad, Riis, Slemdal, Gråkammen, Greveveien (Vettakollen), Skådalen, Frognerseterveien (Midtstuen), and the terminus Holmenkollen (Besserud), located 242.2 metres above sea level. They were all designed by the architect Paul Due. Coffee, soft drinks and tobacco were sold here as well as tickets. There were tram services every 15 minutes from 6.30 in the morning to midnight. In 1901 the stretch between Slemdal and Besserud was rebuilt with double tracks.
Extension to Tryvann
The transport company A/S Tryvandsbanen was founded on 27 November 1911 to extend the line to Tryvannshøgda. This part was built with double tracks except the last 800 metres between Frognerseteren and Tryvannshøyden. On 15 May 1916 the Tryvann Line opened with the following stations: Holmenkollen Sanatorium (Holmenkollen), Voksenlia, Skogen, Lillevann, Voksenkollen, and Frognserseteren, which became the new terminus 469 metres above sea level. Even though Tryvannshøyden station was never built, freight trains were running on the last part during the construction of antenna masts in the area. This track was demolished in 1939, and on 1 January 1920 the remaining line was transferred to A/S Holmenkolbanen.
New tunnel
On 13 February 1912 A/S Holmenkolbanen decided to construct a new tunnel between Majorstuen and the city centre to increase the ridership. Five months after the construction work started in May, parts of the street Valkyriegata was damaged due to an enormous slide. The work stopped until it was resumed in 1926. A/S Holmenkolbanen almost got bankrupted after the company was sued by the many property owners along the affected street. The company was soon merged with an another transport company, A/S Akersbanerne, where Aker Municipality owned the majority of the shares. The tunnel was officially opened on 27 June 1928. It was extended to Sentrum station in 1977, which closed in 1983 after a leak. The station reopened as Stortinget on 8 March 1987.
Metro line
Oslo Municipality Council voted to upgrade the Holmenkollen Line to a metro line on 18 June 2008. It was closed the year after and reopened with a third rail on 6 December 2010. Holmenkollen station was also upgraded with an extended platform at the same time.