Oslo Page Coming Soon
A new page featuring Oslo, Norway will be added to this site shortly. Unfortunately, due to a short stay and limited time in the evening before the sun sets at this time of year, the photographs are limited in number. Any contributions would be greatly appreciated (email here). Fortunately, I did get to travel over most of the system, even after it was too dark to take photos, in order to make notes. It also looks like I may be returning in May, so more additions will occur at that time.
One interesting thing in Oslo is that there is one station that saw shared service on the same tracks by both the trams and the T-bane (metro/subway) system (Cleveland is another example of this, as there are three stations used by the metro Red Line as well as the LRT Blue and Green Lines) . The ROW of the west end of tram route 13 merged with the ROW of T-bane line 6 just east of Jar station. Originally, the T-bane system on the west side of Oslo used overhead power instead of third rail. Jar and the next four stations to Bekkestua had both high level platforms for T-bane operation and low level platforms for tram operations. In this photo taken at Jar, the ramp up to the high level platform can be seen in the lower right corner:
Just beyone Jar, there is a turning loop that straddles the main tracks. Instead of the whole loop on one side of the tracks, the loop branches off the north track to the north side about half the width of a turning loop, the curves back and crosses both tracks at a near 90-degree angle to finish its loop on the south side of the main tracks before merging with the south track.
During the mixed operation at Jar, the T-bane service on the line beyond that point did not operate late evenings and service was provided by trams as far as Bekkestua. Hence the need for low level platforms at these stations. Only the double-ended fleet of SL95 vehicles could provide this service as only a crossover beyond Bekkestua exists to turn anything back.
In 2006, this part of the T-bane line was closed down beyond several stops east of Jar. The T-bane system has adopted a “metro standard” that will see third-rail electrification and six-car stations on totally isolated ROWs. This line was not to this standard as the platforms were only three cars long and the line used overhead electrification. There is a possibility that this line will be upgraded to the standards over the next few years, but for now the connection of the T-bane tracks have been removed from where they merge with the tram line.
In the meantime, Trikken started operations as far as Bekkestua on its route 13 beginning on December 2, 2007. This service is only every 20 minutes, with more frequent service being provided to Jar with the use of SL79 vehicles that need the loop to turn around.