Intermesso
The change of schedules was changed from the winter routes in 1982. Both had a 12-minutes headway during rush hour, while line 1 (Lian–Lade) had a 20-minute headway in the evening, and line 2 (Elgeseter–Voldsminde) had 24 minutes. Line 2 did not operate on Sundays. 11 June 1983 was the last day with line 2 in service. The cities newest depot was razed, and Dalsenget had all depot service from 2 May 1983. The city's tramway network was reduced to 13.2 km (8.2 mi), but the headway changed to 10 minutes. 1983 gave an operating deficit of NOK 18.4 million. The first year after line 2 was closed, traffic sank 41%, from 4.3 to 2.5 million passengers.
With the delivery of new trams, operational costs would be reduced. A new washing hall would replace cleaners; combined with reduced maintenance on new trams, it would give a reduction from 40 to 13 depot employees. Line employees would be reduced from 27 to 5–6 after the upgrade to concrete sleepers was finished on the Gråkallen Line. The articulated trams would not need conductors used in the trailers, and an additional 20 jobs could be removed.
Due to errors in the decision documents regarding the cost of the new depot. Instead of a net cost of NOK 21 million, it increased to NOK 40 million—several costs had been forgotten, and NOK 9.7 million in new machinery had to be dropped. This showed that it would have been cheaper to keep the depot at Dalsenget, and just use the tracks to Elgeseter for transport to the depot. However, on 16 August 1984, the city council decided to transfer Dalsenget to a municipal property company, and develop it as a "techno stable" for new ventures. Therefore the possible sales price would not go to reducing the debt to finance the new depot at Munkvoll. Combined with the unwillingness to use the parking funds, this resulted in 100% loan financing of the depot and the trams, the most expensive method. The new depot at Munkvoll opened 6 June 1984.
The first articulated tram came to Trondheim on 29 July 1984. It was stored at Voldsminde, while part of the track through the city center was removed for maintenance. The first test run was on 22 August, and the last tram was delivered on 4 January 1985. The track on the Gråkallen Line was replaced, and a new packing machine was bought. The platforms on the Gråkallen Line had to be rebuilt to a lower platform height. On 28 March 1985, the city council voted to transform TT into a limited company. In 1986, tram ridership increased by 2.4%.
Read more about this topic: Trondheim Tramway Controversy