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The tram stops smiled from ear to ear as they opened a new tram line through Bjørvika on Monday. But some are losing their trams at the same time and three old stops have been closed.
Tram traffic through Bjørvika was already underway when Transport Agency councilor Lan Marie Berg (MDG) cut the cable on Monday morning. Here with Ruter director Bernt Reitan Jenssen (from left), Cato Hellesjø (Sporveien) and Gerd R. Kjørven (Urban Environment Agency). Karen gjetrang
– These are strange times: you should have an opening party, but you want as few people as possible to show up, said Bernt Reitan Jenssen, CEO of Ruter.
What should have been a public holiday was due to the wreath being reduced to a small thread-cutting ceremony outside the new main library in Bjørvika.
It’s been 21 years since Oslo got a new tram route. Then the tram was extended to Rikshospitalet in Gaustad.
The opening of the new route through the Dronning Eufemias gate in Bjørvika takes place a few days after the first of 87 new trams arrived in Oslo.
Both parts are the result of the city council’s decision five years ago to invest in the tram also in the future.
Faster travel to the city center
Although the official opening was on Monday, Sporveien had already started the day before and started using the new route.
Lines 13 and 19 cover the 1 km long section. There are two new stops: Bjørvika and Middelalderparken.
– This is a great day for Oslo. Now it will take nine minutes to get from Holtet to Bjørvika. We are considerably improving the tram offer. The target is 100 million tram passengers a year in a few years, compared to 50 million today, said Transport Agency councilor Lan Marie Nguyen Berg (ODM).
He added that there is a tram every five minutes between the Nordstrand Plateau and the city center.
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Has closed three stops
But not everyone wins.
Previously, the Ljan, Nordtrand and Ekeberg trams ran through the old town and then down the Schweigaards gate.
Two tram stops in the old town have been closed. In addition, thousands lose their direct connection to the Oslo bus terminal at the Schweigaards gate, where the stop has also been closed.
When Aftenposten stopped at the “Munkegata” stop on Monday morning, some passengers stopped and waited in vain for a tram that never arrived.
Now the tram through the Oslo gate is history. Trams from the Nordstrand Plateau now run through Bjørvika. Karen gjetrang
– I think it sucks that the tram no longer runs here, it comes spontaneously from a school student when Aftenposten says the tram has moved.
– I live in Grorud and go to Kongshavn Upper Secondary. It is a long and winding school road. Now it gets even more complicated. I have to go to the Oslo hospital, he sighs before approaching.
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Expensive rails
In Bispegata, the tram route in Bjørvika is connected with the old tram network to the south. Here, the rails are placed on a bridge over the new route to Follobanen, which is under construction.
More than 100 construction workers have worked three shifts to prepare it. Now that the rails are in place, the municipality is working on sidewalks and bike lanes. They open at the end of this year. The new section has cost NOK 436 million.
– A lot is happening now. This winter we will test the first new trams with passengers. If all goes well, we will get two new trams a month until all new trams are in Oslo in 2024, says Cato Hellesjø, CEO of Sporveien.
Councilor for the Transport Agency Lan Marie Berg on a historic tram ride through Bjørvika on Monday. She was dressed appropriately. Karen gjetrang
– Moving the tram to Bjørvika is part of a larger urban development project. Several thousand new jobs and many houses have been built here in recent years, and construction is still going on here, says Councilor Berg.
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So it was when Ruter’s observers checked the use of face masks on trams and subways.
He wants the tram and the bus separate
In Bjørvika, the new route has not been used for several years, with buses occasionally lining up on the road next door. There will be many times more buses than trams serving the route, but there is no plan to allow them to share routes.
– This is something we have considered for several years, before choosing this solution with its own route for the tram and public transport for buses. Many people think that it is good that the tram has its own route and can avoid being delayed by the other queue. But nothing is blocked. We will always look for opportunities for change, Berg responds.
