Kristiania Elektriske Sporvei
In 1887 it rejected a proposal for L. Samson, a real estate developer, to build a line to Majorstuen to serve his projects.
[2] The group received permission for two lines, one from Jernbanetorget, the square outside Oslo East Station, to Majorstuen.
[4] User of overhead wires had been discouraged by the city engineer, but he later changed his mind after a trip to Germany.
[5] The official opening of the first Nordic electric tramway took place on 2 March 1894 and ordinary operation commenced the following day.
[6] At first the trams ran every six minutes, but this proved difficult to operate and it was reduced to an eight-minute headway.
[7] Initially the motormen were to both drive and sell tickets, but this was found to be too much work for one person to do efficiently.
Thus from April KES introduced direct services from Skillebekk on the Skøyen Line to Jernbanetorget.
The direct trams led to increased traffic and in 1896 KES therefore applied for permission to lay double track from Parkveien to Jernbanetorget.
[10] As part of the permit, the municipality bought newly issued shares for NOK 200,000 to become shareholder of a fifth of the company.
[11] Work commenced in 1898, which also included moving the tracks from Parkveien to Inkognitogaten and from Bogstadveien to Valkyriegaten.
[7] The company gradually expanded its fleet and by 1898 it had taken delivery of twenty-one Class A trams and twelve trailers.
[13] The same year the Holmenkollen Line opened and at Majorstuen there was a transfer between the trams of KES and Holmenkolbanen.
[15] The company's next task was extending the Skøyen Line and building a route via Frogner plass to Majorstuen.
KSS had originally been given a permit to extend its Vestbanen Line to Frogener, but they were required to start construction within 1901.
The issue was debated in light of the 1899 establishment of the municipal-owned Kristiania Kommunale Sporveie and the 1905 sale of it to KSS.
This was in part because there was by then a strong Conservative majority in the city council—a party who were opposed to municipal a tramway.
[19] The power station was upgraded in 1909, cutting the coal usage from 4.0 to 1.3 kilograms (8.8 to 2.9 lb) per kilowatt hour.
The company decided, mostly of concern for its employee's wellbeing, to cover up the tram's open platform bays.
[20] Trams were at the time limited by the belief that they could not have a wheelbase exceeding a tenth of the minimum curve radius.
They were sold with a quantity discount and were commonly used in Oslo as a conventional coin worth 15 øre.
KES and the labor union could not reach an agreement for wage increases and the company was hit by a strike from 11 January to 22 March 1920.
[29] The company started looking into a further extension of the Skøyen Line in 1912, intending to reach Bestum and Øraker.
The committees majority proposed a merger and that KSS received a prolonged concession, while the minority recommended that the tramways be bought by the city.
[33] The issue was considered by the council's executive board, which supported the joint public–private proposal with eleven against nine votes.
[33] The issue was voted on in the municipal council in December, with 43 against 41 councillors supporting the joint model.
The street trams were transferred to Oslo Sporveier, although a few were kept until 1 July, when the Lilleaker Line was extended to Bekkestua.
[17] The company's common section of track originated at Jernbanetorget, the square outside Oslo East Station.
[9] The Briskeby Line branches from the common section to Parkveien, where it took off onto Riddervolds gate and continued along Briskebyveien, Holtegata and Bogstadveien before reaching Majorstuen.
However, it proved prone to derailment in poorly banked S-curves and was never put into revenue service.
[42] KES took delivery of thirty-four Class SS motorized trams and twenty-two trailers between 1909 and 1914.
