Kolsås Line
| Length: | Starts: | Ends: | Status: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17 km | Stortinget Station | Kolsås Station | In service |
The Kolsås Line, previously known as the Bærum Line, is the metro line 4 in Oslo which runs between Stortinget and Kolsås. It used a section of the Lilleaker Line between Skøyen and Jar until a new route was opened via Sørbyhaugen in 1942.
MX3000 at Gjettum Station. Photo: Sita Jacobsen
New corridor
After a new tunnel opened between Majorstuen and Nationaltheatret in 1928, the rail company A/S Bærumsbanen wanted to construct a new corridor between Jar and Sørbyhaugen on the Røa Line. The construction work started in the end of 1938 and was completed when the line opened on 15 June 1942. The new corridor, including the stretch to Kolsås, was now named the Kolsås Line, and the old corridor the Lilleraker–Østensjø Line.
The material
20 new trams was set into service on the Bærum Line between 1938 and 1939. These were so-called Type B, also known as "Goldfish", and replaced the old set (a motor couch with a trailer), known as Type A. After the new corridor opened from Sørbyhaugen in 1942, Type C was set into service on the Kolsås Line. These couches were of steel and coloured dark blue. When the metro line opened in Oslo in 1966, metro trains were also running on the Kolsås Line. These trains received electricity from both overhead line and third rail.
Metro standard
From 1 July 2006 the Kolsås Line was closed for maintenance. A third rail was laid and the overhead line dismantled. Many stations were closed and some were moved to allow longer train sets. On 18 August 2008 the stretch between Montebello and Åsjordet reopened. The line was further modernised westwards and reopened to Bjørnsletta on 17 August 2010, to Bekkestua on 15 August, to Gjønnes on 8 October 2012, to Avløs on 15 December 2013, and finally to Kolsås on 12 October 2014.