Background The first public transport in Bergen was the
Bergen Tramway, which operated between 1897 and 1965. It was limited to the inner parts of the city and did not reach the suburbs. In deciding to close it, the city council argued that the future lay in private cars, diesel buses and
trolleybuses. However, later in the 1960s, the removal of a restriction on car sales created more traffic than the roads could handle, and consequently both buses and cars began increasingly being stuck in
rush-hour queues. The municipality and the
Norwegian Public Roads Administration started looking at means to rectify the problem by building a ring road around the city, and by alternative means of public transport. Prior to the shortening of the main
Bergen Line railway with the
Ulriken Tunnel, the
Bergen–Nesttun Line was an important commuter rail service, feeding suburban residents from
Fana into the city center. In 1917, the section was the most heavily trafficked railway in the country, with a travel time between 20 and 27 minutes. There were up to 27 trains per day, of which five continued to
Garnes. In 1918, the line was proposed for
doubling and
electrification: the latter was completed in 1954. The same year, annual ridership had fallen to 870,000 passengers. After the opening of the Ulriken Tunnel, commuter trains were retained for six months, and the last trip occurred on 31 January 1965. Later, Bergen Sporvei's successor,
Gaia Trafikk, proposed building a
bus rapid transit system.
Political process The plans launched by the city administration most closely resembled the Environmental Tram, with slight changes. The initial plans involved a line from the city center via Nesttun to the airport at
Flesland. It became part of a political compromise, the Bergen Program, which ensured a number of road investments at the same time as the light rail system, all financed through the toll ring. However, a lack of funds made it necessary to build the line to Nesttun only, instead of all the way to the airport. The initial decision was taken by Bergen City Council on 13 March 2000, in the
Parliament of Norway in 2002, and with the financing secured, by the city council in 2005. Only the
Progress Party and the
Pensioners' Party voted against light rail. Forty per cent is financed by the state, the remainder by the county, the municipality and through the toll ring. Arguments for light rail were mainly related to the
environment,
urban development and reduction in road congestion. Light rail was expected to increase the use of public transport from Fana, reducing both local and global pollution. The roads do not have capacity for further expansion, and any increase in public transport would need to be taken along the light rail routes using buses, which would mean higher operating costs for public transport or higher investment costs for roads. It was also argued that around stations, high-density commercial and residential centers could be established. Opposition to the project argued it was unfair that public transport be funded by car drivers through tolls. Protests from people in northern and western areas of the city arose, since they would be paying for the system but would not receive any benefits. Another concern was speed: the line to Nesttun was designed with 15 stops in , giving an average speed of . For people living south of Nesttun, this meant a longer travel time to the city center than with direct buses that do not make intermediate stops. The naming of the stations also caused local debate. A draft list of names was compiled by the municipal administration and sent to the borough councils in Fana,
Årstad and
Bergenhus. Four names were changed:
Nonneseteren from Jernbanen,
Florida from Strømmen,
Brann stadion from Nymark and
Hop from Troldhaugen. Brann station and Troldhaugen were afterwards considered by the municipal administration, because they could be in violation of the
Place Name Act. The general rule is to use the place name where the station is located, and naming after institutions or facilities nearby is not permitted unless they are in the immediate vicinity. Brann stadion, named for the
football venue, was declared a borderline case, but within the rules, while
Troldhaugen was not permitted because the area is not in the vicinity of the station.
Construction Initial works commenced in August 2007, when Pastasentralen, the central railway station, was demolished to make room for a temporary bus terminal that would allow Kaigaten to be closed for construction. Contracts for building the line were awarded to Svein Boasson,
NCC Construction, Fyllingen Maskinstasjon and
Veidekke Entreprenør. The contract for laying the tracks was awarded to
Baneservice. By June 2008, the first tracks had been laid. On 3 April 2009, the public transport agency Skyss announced that Fjord1 Partner, a joint venture between
Fjord1 AS and
Keolis, had won the tender competition. Fjord1 Partner received 324 applications for their 26 jobs as drivers and 10 jobs as traffic controllers. In 2014 Fjord1 AS sold their shares in Fjord1 Partner to Keolis, and the company changed its name to Keolis Norge AS. Along with the establishment of the light rail service, public transportation in Bergen underwent other changes. Skyss was established in 2007 to administer the public transport system, manage routes and market public transport, which would be operated by private companies based on public service obligations. At the same time, a new
electronic ticketing system was introduced. On 22 June 2010, the first part of the line was officially opened by
Queen Sonja of Norway. Because of delays from Stadler's subcontractors, only five instead of eight trams were available when the line opened. Skyss had planned to operate with a ten-minute headway until August, but ran a 15-minute headway instead. To compensate, parallel bus routes continued to operate until then. On 7 June, two trams collided at low speed at Byparken, causing a
derailment and the two trams had to be repaired. This caused the summer schedule to be reduced to a 30-minute headway. Beginning on 1 November 2010, the line started running every six minutes during the rush hour. ==Route==