The Røa Line () is a rapid transit line of the Oslo Metro, Norway, which runs from Majorstuen in Oslo to Østerås in Bærum. It serves neighborhoods such as Smestad, Hovseter, Huseby and Røa in northwestern Oslo, and Grini, Øvrevoll and Østerås in northeastern Bærum. The line is served by Line 2 of the metro, which connects to the city center via the Common Tunnel and onwards along the Furuset Line. The lowest part of the Røa Line, consisting of two stations, is shared with the Kolsås Line, and thus also served by Line 2 of the metro. The Røa Line is owned by Kollektivtransportproduksjon, and operated by Oslo T-banedrift on contract with the public transport agency Ruter.
The first part of the line, originally a light rail, was from Majorstuen to Smestad, and opened in 1912. It was built as a cooperation between the Municipality of Aker and the company Holmenkolbanen, and connected to the Holmenkoll Line's terminus. In 1928, the line received a connection to the city center when the first part of the Common Tunnel was completed. In 1935, the first extension of the Røa Line proper was made, when the line was extended to Røa. In 1942, the Kolsås Line became a branch. Additional extensions to the Røa Line were made in 1948 to Grini, in 1951 to Lijordet and in 1972 to Østerås. By then, the line had become an integrated part of the municipal Oslo Sporveier. The line was upgraded to rapid transit in 1995, became part of the metro and started running through the city center.
History
Establishment
Construction of housing in the Smestad area started after Kristiania Elektriske Sporvei (KES) established a tramway from the city center to Majorstuen in 1894. Four years later, fund-raising started to build the Aker Avenue towards Smestad, but the recession made fund-raising difficult. The plans were launched again in 1904, and subsequently revised in 1908, by which time they including a tramway along the avenue. In 1910, A. S. Guldberg, Iver Lycke, W. Munthes-Kaas and H. A. Mørk applied for a concession to build a tramway along the route. This was granted by the municipal council in Aker on 26 May. The four individuals then transferred their rights to the municipality, who started negotiating rights with KES, and Holmenkolbanen—the latter who had a suburban tramway running from Majorstuen, the Holmenkollen Line.
An arrangement was made with Holmenkolbanen, where the municipality would expropriate the necessary land and build the bed, while Holmenkolbanen would lay the tracks, the wires and operate the trams. The line would remain owned by the company A/S Smedstadbanen, which was again owned by Aker Municipality. The agreement had a duration of 50 years, but the municipality retained the right to purchase the line if work to extend the line from Majorstuen through the Common Tunnel to the city center had not started by 1917, or had not been completed by 1922. Government approval was granted on 7 July 1911, and the construction was completed on 7 November 1912. The long line was single tracked, with passing loops at Borgen and Smestad, which were the only stations in addition to Majorstuen. Holmenkolbanen used a single tram, with departures every 20 minutes. There were extra departures from Borgen to Majorstuen during the afternoon rush-hour.
Nationaltheatret expansion
The process of extending the Holmenkollen Line from Majorstuen to the city center had started in 1901. The process had been delayed several times because of disagreements between the city and the company, in part because the two could not agree if it should be classified as a railway or a tramway. Construction started in 1912, but stopped again in 1914 because the municipality and the company could not agree on the location of the terminus. The municipality wanted it at Ruseløkkveien, but this would make it difficult for the company to build the tunnel through the city center to connect to the suburban tramways east of the city center. Construction was stopped in October 1914.