Gråkallen Line

Historie

The Gråkallen Line is an 8.8km suburban tram line located in Trondheim, Norway. As the only remaining part of the Trondheim Tramway, it runs from the city centre at St. Olav's Gate, via the suburban area Byåsen to Lian. It is designated Line 1, and is served by nine Class 8 articulated trams. After the closure of the Arkhangelsk tramway in 2004, it became the world's northernmost tramway system.The line was opened as the only private tramway in Trondheim by A/S Graakalbanen in 1924. At first it was built to Munkvoll, but extended to Ugla in 1925, and to Lian in 1933. Operations were taken over by the municipal Trondheim Trafikkselskap in 1972, but it was closed along with the rest of the tramway in 1988. In 1990, the private initiative AS Gråkallbanen opened the line, later known as Boreal Bane. Located at Munkvoll is the tramway museum and depot.ServiceThe operating company Boreal Bane owns nine Class 8 trams out of the eleven delivered in 1984-5 for the then longer route. Four of these are needed for daily operation on the line and one is kept in reserve. The trams operate on a fixed 15 minute headway, though reduced to 30 minutes in the evenings and on the weekends. Heritage trams are available for chartered tours.