Bergen had an electric tram network from 1897 to 1965, when it was scrapped like so many others in Europe. What happened next was less common: most of the trams were sold to a scrap dealer, and several were simply dumped in the fjord at Knektholmen off Askøy. Two of them are still lying on the bottom at thirty metres depth, intact. These were perfectly functional vehicles, not even that old, thrown away because the city had decided buses were the future.
In the 1990s, a group of volunteers began restoring the old tram depot at Møhlenpris and the surviving cars. Since 2022 they have been running a scheduled museum tram service on 1.5 kilometres of the original Line 3 tracks, which date from 1911. The route goes from the depot at Møhlenpris through the university area to Øvre Ole Bulls plass in front of Den Nationale Scene, Bergen's main theatre. You can still see the old tram tracks embedded in the streets around Johanneskirken.
The museum tram has no connection to Bybanen, Bergen's modern light rail. Despite both using standard gauge, they are completely separate systems with no shared tracks or stops.
The tram runs on weekends from spring to autumn, roughly every half hour between noon and four. The depot itself houses Bergens Tekniske Museum, which has a working ship steam engine and the oldest operating printing press in Norway.
There are plans to extend the line further towards Bryggen, Mariakirken, and Nordnes. Whether the volunteers and the city can pull that off remains to be seen, but the ambition is there.
In the 1990s, a group of volunteers began restoring the old tram depot at Møhlenpris and the surviving cars. Since 2022 they have been running a scheduled museum tram service on 1.5 kilometres of the original Line 3 tracks, which date from 1911. The route goes from the depot at Møhlenpris through the university area to Øvre Ole Bulls plass in front of Den Nationale Scene, Bergen's main theatre. You can still see the old tram tracks embedded in the streets around Johanneskirken.
The museum tram has no connection to Bybanen, Bergen's modern light rail. Despite both using standard gauge, they are completely separate systems with no shared tracks or stops.
The tram runs on weekends from spring to autumn, roughly every half hour between noon and four. The depot itself houses Bergens Tekniske Museum, which has a working ship steam engine and the oldest operating printing press in Norway.
There are plans to extend the line further towards Bryggen, Mariakirken, and Nordnes. Whether the volunteers and the city can pull that off remains to be seen, but the ambition is there.