Holmenkollen Line - History

History

The line was opened on 31 May 1898 as a tram line between Majorstuen and Besserud. The line was extended to Frognerseteren on 16 May 1916, and the tunnel between Majorstuen and Nationaltheatret, now part of the shared downtown subway stretch, was opened 6 June 1928, which was the first subway line in Scandinavia.

On 22 October 1987, the line suffered a fatal accident when a train suffered a catastrophic failure in the braking system and rolled down the line, finally tipping over at Midtstuen. The accident killed one person and seriously injured four others. The accident led to scrutiny of the safety of the old teak cars which were used on the line. The old trains were pulled from service, but reintroduced after some refits of the cars until new trains were delivered in 1993.

Until 1991, A/S Holmenkolbanen was the company responsible for the operations of the line, but the company was then merged with Oslo Sporveier. In a cost-saving measure between 2002 and 2004, the line was taken off the downtown shared stretch and ran only between Majorstuen and Frognerseteren.