page_title: Kristiania Kommunale Sporveie
section_title: Operating history
hierarchical_section_title: Kristiania Kommunale Sporveie / History / Operating history
caption_attribution_description: English: Kristiania Kommunale Sporveie tram in Akersgata Norsk bokmål: Kristiania Kommunale Sporveie. Trikk motorvogn 212 kommunal type S (Schuckert) ved Sagene kirke. Barn i Arendalsgata.
context_page_description: Kristiania Kommunale Sporveie or KKS, colloquially known as the Red Tramway was a municipal owned company that operated parts of the Oslo Tramway from 1899 to 1905. KKS built and operated three lines, Sagene Ring, the Rodeløkka Line and the Vippetangen Line. The three were connected by means of lines of Kristiania Sporveisselskab and Kristiania Elektriske Sporvei. KKS bought twenty motorized trams from Schuckert & Co. and twelve trailers, designated as Class S. It built two depots, Sagene and Rodeløkka.
  The company was created after a political shift whereby the municipal council decided to start operating trams. The company operated a mix of line services, most of the lines operating every ten minutes. KKS failed to make a profit. After the 1904 elections the majority in the municipal council shifted. The company was privatized in May 1905 and sold to KSS after the municipal council had rejected purchasing the very same company.
context_section_description: Construction of the Sagene Line commenced in early 1899. The final line, from Storgaten to Festningsbryggen, was approved by the city council in May 1899, at a cost of NOK 200,000. At about that time the construction of the Rodeløkka Line started. The Sagene Line line was somewhat delayed and operations started on 24 November. It initially received a ten-minute headway because the power company was not able to supply sufficient power to run additional trams. This was later increased to five minutes. The company had not had capacity to straight out all aspects of operations, including that of procuring uniforms. The lack of such attire was criticized by the press. At first the service ran from Sagene to Athenæum, with additional services from St. Hanshaugen to Athenæum.
  The Rodeløkka Line was completed by January 1900. However, there was not sufficient electricity available to power the tramway. Operations did not commence until March, when the power use for lighting was reduced. It also initially received a ten-minute headway, limited by the amount of available power. The route ran from Rodeløkka to Nybrua, when it connected to KSS's Grünerløkka–Torshov Line and ran to the latter's main downtown terminal of Egertorget. From June an agreement was reached with KES, allow the Sagene services to run along their Skøyen Line from Athenæum to Jernbanetorget, serving Oslo East Station.
  At the annual meeting in April 1900 the company was criticized for having less comfortable trams than the competitors, and that the announced progress in construction to Fæstningebryggen on Vippetangen had not been carried through. The same month construction commenced on the Vippetangen Line and it was inaugurated in August. With the opening of the line, the extra trains on from St. Hanshaugen were extended to Fæstningebryggen.
  In 1900 KKS presented plans for an expansion of the Sagene Line through Arendalsgaten, Bentse Bridge, Hegermannsgate and Vogts gate to Grefsen Station (then known as Sandaker Station). This was found by the municipal council to be too extensive and the instead supported that the line be built as an extension of the Grünerløkka–Torshov Line. Operation were slightly shifted in 1901. Work trams were introduced in the morning before 07 hours, whereby anyone could travel for 5 øre. At first the trams would stop at any location that passengers signaled. From 1901 the company introduced regular stations for boarding and disembarkment.
  From early 1901 KSS terminated its track sharing agreement, hindering the trams from running to Jernbanetorget. The Vippetangen Line was extended northwards to Kirkeristen on the Grünerløkka–Torshov Line. In 1902 the tracks were rearranged so they could run through Stortorvet. This resulted in two services: from Sagene via Egertorget and Stortorvet to Rodeløkka, and from St. Hanshaugen via Egertorget and Stortorvet to Fæstningebryggen. KKS lost NOK 150,000 through its operating history. In 1904, its final full financial year, it had a revenue of NOK 306,000.
caption: Tram at the terminus at Sagene Church
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