The Oslo trolleybus system was a

trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...

network operated by

Oslo Sporveier AS Oslo Sporveier is a defunct municipal owned company responsible for public transport in Oslo, Norway. It was created in 1924 to take over the city's two private tram companies. In 1927 its started with bus transport, including from 1940 to 1 ...

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

between 15 December 1940 and 15 February 1968. The system measured at the most 26.1 km on four lines.

History

While

Drammen Drammen () is a city and municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the south-eastern and most populated part of Norway. Drammen municipality also includes smaller towns and villages such ...

had got the Drammen trolleybus, the first in

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

in 1909, Oslo had relied on the

Oslo Tramway The Oslo tram network (, short from ', 'electric') is the tram system in Oslo, Norway. It consists of six lines with 99 stops and has a daily ridership of 132,000. It is operated by , a subsidiary of the municipally-owned who maintain the trac ...

since 1875. In 1927 Oslo Sporveier started their first bus route, and on 28 September 1931 they sent an application for operation of a trolleybus in Oslo between Oslo and

Grorud Grorud is a borough of the city of Oslo, Norway. The borough contains the Ammerud, Grorud, Kalbakken, Rødtvet, Nordtvet and Romsås areas. To the north of the borough is the forest of Lillomarka. The borough is the smallest in Oslo, with ...

. But the application met a lot of resistance.

Schøyens Bilcentraler Nobina Norge AS is a Norwegian bus company, owned by Nobina, that operates in the counties of Vestland, Akershus and the cities of Oslo and Tromsø. History It was established in 1921. Its name was Ingeniør M.O. Schøyens Bilcentraler AS, bra ...

route 30 went from Grorud to

Skøyen Skøyen is a neighborhood of Oslo, Norway. It is located in the western part of the city, in the borough of Ullern. The district has an increasing share of business activities, a development started in the 80s. Skøyen is the site of Skøyenpa ...

, and if Oslo Sporveier were to operate a route on the same line they would have to pay compensation to Schøyens. To avoid this, Oslo Sporveier changed their applied

terminus Terminus may refer to: Ancient Rome *Terminus (god), a Roman deity who protected boundary markers Transport *Terminal train station or terminus, a railway station serving as an end destination *Bus terminus, a bus station serving as an end des ...

Majorstuen Majorstuen or Majorstua is a particularly affluent neighbourhood in the Frogner borough in the inner part of Oslo, Norway. Majorstuen is known for its vibrant downtown and especially its shopping area. The area has several elegant townhouses c. 1 ...

. But while the City Council of Aker wanted the other solution, and was pressing Oslo Sporveier to go to Skøyen, and the Norwegian National Road Administration felt that if Oslo Sporveier wanted to build a trolleybus route to Grorud, they would have to pay for part of the upgrade of Trondheimsveien, a term not acceptable for the company. After a one-year trial run in Drammen in 1939 the first trolleybus route in Oslo opened in 1940. This was line 17, a 1.6 km feeding line at

Rodeløkka Rodeløkka is a neighborhood in Grünerløkka in Oslo, Norway. History From 1900 to 1961, it was served by the Rodeløkka Line of the Oslo Tramway. The name The property was bought by the dean ''Frederik Rode'' in 1854. The last element is t ...

. This line only used one bus, that didn't run on Sundays so it could be maintained. Then came

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

with fuel shortage, resulting in the trolleybus being quite popular, as Norway had ample

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

. But there were other problems, including material shortage and the fear of the German forces confiscating any

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

that would be used in the wires. But after the war the network was expanded onwards, with three new lines in 1946. The lines were constantly expanded until 1955 when the network was at its largest. The end of the trolleybuses started in 1960 when the sale of cars in Norway was deregulated. This resulted in an enormous reduction in

public transport Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whic ...

ridership, and the same year the Oslo City Council decided to close both the trolleybus and tramway networks. In 1961 the first line was decommissioned, followed by another the next year. Excess buses were sold to Drammen. The last lines were closed in 1968. The plan was to replace all the electrical powered tram and trolleybus routes with the

diesel bus Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine ...

, a strategy that would prove fatal when the oil crisis (

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

and

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

) hit in the 1970s. Unlike the trolleybus network, the Oslo Tramway still exists.Aspenberg, op. cit., p. 78

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oslo Trolleybus

Trolleybus transport in Norway Oslo Sporveier Public transport in Oslo Bus transport in Oslo