Photos exclusively for www.draemmli.info by © Samuel Maurer

The Gråkallen Line (Norwegian: Gråkallbanen) is an 8.8-kilometre (5.5 mi) suburban tram line located in Trondheim, Norway. As the only remaining part of the Trondheim Tramway, it runs from the city center at St. Olav's Gate, via the suburban area Byåsen to Lian. It is designated Line 1, and served by nine Class 8 articulated trams. The line was opened as the only private tramway in Trondheim by A/S Graakalbanen in 1924. At first it was built to Munkvoll, but extended to Ugla in 1925, and to Lian in 1933. Operations were taken over by the municipal Trondheim Trafikkselskap in 1972, but was closed along with the rest of the tramway in 1988. In 1990, the private initiative Gråkallbanen opened the line. Sine 2008 it has been operated by Veolia Transport Bane. Located at Munkvoll is the tramway museum and depot.

During the 1980s there was a lot of political debate about the future of the tram in Trondheim, and in 1983 the city council decided to close down Elgeseter Line, and keep only one line between Lian and Lade. At the same time 11 new trams were ordered and a new depot built at Munkvoll, costing in access of NOK 100 million. But in 1988 the city council changed their minds and closed the tramway in Trondheim. The tracks between St. Olav's Street and Lademoen were removed, but the tracks at Lade were kept, as were the tracks between St. Olav's Street and Lian. The latter was because enthusiasts had plans of operating veteran trams as a heritage railway.

But fate had other plans for Gråkallbanen. The Trondheim tramway is one of only two in the world, along with the Cairo Tramway, to use the combination of meter gauge and 2.6 metre wide cars. This made it practically impossible to sell the trams and finance the 20 new Scania buses that Trondheim Trafikkselskap needed to operate the bus route to Lian and Lade. In the end the 11 trams were not sold and instead a company owned by 1400 enthusiasts, Gråkallbanen AS, was created to operate the tram route on the only remaining line, that started in 1990. In 2004 Veolia Transports division in Norway, Veolia Transport Norway, bought the company and have announced they will invest another NOK 10,7 million, after the purchase in improved infrastructure on Gråkallbanen. July 1, 2008 the company name changed from AS Gråkallbanen to Veolia Transport Bane AS.

Gråkallbanen is working on a number of plans as of 2006. These include an extension of the line to the harbor area via Olav Trygvasons street and Trondheim Central Station. A short stretch from St. Olavs gate to nearby Prinsenkrysset, regarded as part of this plan, was given the green light in 2006, the building supposed to start in 2010, when the Nordre Avlastningsvei (northern bypass) is due to open and supposedly relieve the city centre from car traffic. To be continued.