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From tram to bus
Københavns sporveje, january 1970
KS in b rie f 1863 to 1970
A re a s e r v e d by K 0ben h av ns s p o rv e je (KS)
Number' of jo u rn e y s in G r e a t e r C openhagen 1969:
about 300 m ill.
D istrib u tio n by tr a n s p o r t c o m p a n ie s : KS 55 %
U rb a n and su b u rb a n e le c tr ic ra ilw a y 25 %
S u b urban bus c o m p a n ie s 20 %
KS tr a n s p o r t a re a
Suburban m u n ic ip a litie s
1863 O pening of the f i r s t h o r s e - d r a w n tr a m r o u te - 1867-95
Founding of 8 tr a m and bus c o m p a n ie s - 1897-1902 Merger' of
the c o m p a n ie s to "De kjø b en h av nsk e S p o rv eje Ltd. ", " F r e d e
r ik s b e r g S p o r v e js - Og e le k t r i c i t e t s L t d ." arrd " T u b o r g -K la m -
p e n b o rg e le k tr is k e S porvej L t d ." (la te r c alled NESA) - 1899
C h an g e o v e r to e le c tr ic tra c tio n - flat f a r e 10 ø r e - 1911 "De
kjø ben h av n sk e S p o rv eje L t d ." a r e taken over- by the m u n ic ip a l
ity as "K øbenhavns s p o rv e je " - 1913 M otorbus o p e ra tio n s c o m
m en ce - 1915 C lo se down of h o r s e - d r a w n tra m o p e ra tio n s -
1917 C lo se down of h o r s e - d r a w n bus o p e ra tio n s - 1919 T ak in g
o v e r of " F r e d e r i k s b e r g S p o r v e js - og E l e k tr ic i te t s L td ." by KS
a fte r a g re e m e n t -
1919-39
E x ten sio n of n etw o rk by new tr a m
and bus ro u te s -
1936
In tro d u ctio n of the tr a n s f e r tic k e t (fre e
t r a n s f e r s within one hour) - 1939 C om bined tick et K S -U rb an
e le c tr ic ra ilw a y is in tro d u c e d - 1940-45 H eavy i n c r e a s e in
n u m b e r of p a s s e n g e r c a r r i e d - no re n e w a l of ro llin g slock,
d e p o ts and g a r a g e s - 1950-61 O pening of new bus r o u te s -
c lo sin g down of a few tr a m r o u te s - 1962 A plan for the m o d e r n
ization of KS followed up by a new plan in 1965 su g g e s ts
c h a n g e o v e r to bus o p e ra tio n on all ro u te s by 1975 - la t e r a d
vanced to 1972.
T h e y e a r s of w a r
D u rin g th e Second W orld W ar KS had a lm o s t a m onopoly of
tr a n s p o r t in C open h ag en r e s u ltin g in an e n o rm o u s i n c r e a s e in
the n u m b e r of p a s s e n g e r s c a r r ie d : f r o m about 160 m ill, p a s -
g e r s in the f i r s t y e a r a fte r the w a r. It w as im p o s s ib le to in
c r e a s e s e r v ic e s p ro p o r tio n a lly and co n se q u e n tly the v e h ic le s
w e re o v e rlo a d e d d u rin g the w a r. E q u ip m en t w as s u b jec t to
h a rd w e a r and it w as difficult to p r o c u r e m a t e r i a l s fo r r e p a i r s
and quite im p o s s ib le to get anything new. C on se q u e n tly the
ro llin g sto ck , the t r a c k s and the o v e rh e a d lin e s w e re in a v e ry
bad condition at the end of the w a r.
The r e p e r c u s s i o n s of the w a r could be felt in all fie ld s fo r
m a n y y e a r s a fte r 1945, but to w a rd s the end of the fifties
th in g s im p ro v e d again. P r iv a t e c a r s c o m m e n c e d ro llin g again
- and in an in c re a s in g n u m b e r - and a lot of b ic y c le s w e re r e
p la c ed by s c o o te rs .
F o r public t r a n s p o r t it tu rn e d out d ifferently .
The v e h ic le s of K øbenhavns s p o rv e je w e re s till old and w o rn
out - m an y of th e m dating b ack to about 1900.
D epots and w o rk s h o p s w e re a lso out of date. Many of th e p a s
s e n g e r s fr o m the y e a r s of w a r w e re lo s t a gain and at the s a m e
tim e tra ffic co n g estio n m a d e o p e ra tio n s m o r e and m o r e d iffi
cult.
P la n n in g the fu tu re.
It w as n e c e s s a r y to m a k e an e ffo rt to change the situ a tio n and
e s ta b lis h a m o d e rn , effective t r a n s p o r t com pany able to p e r
f o r m the ta s k s given by the in h a b ita n ts of the cap ital.
T h e b a s is of the m o d e rn iz a tio n w as two p la n s fo r the a c tiv itie s
in the fu tu re p u b lish ed in 1962 and 1965 r e s p e c tiv e ly , a d ra ft
p la n and a long t e r m plan.
T h e m a in point of th e p lan s w as to r e p la c e th e old t r a m c a r s by
m o d e rn b u s e s . T h e o ld -fash io n e d t r a m and bu s d ep o ts had to
be r e p la c e d by new bus s e r v ic e s ta tio n s a d ju sted to ra tio n a l
m e th o d s of w ork.
F r o m the beginning it w as obvious th at the b u s e s had to be one
m a n o p e ra te d as it is the c a s e in o th e r c itie s in E u ro p e and
USA. An a b so lu te condition fo r this w as the in tro d u ctio n of a
new sim p lifie d fa re s y s te m p a r tly b a se d on s e lf - s e r v ic e .
New b u s e s , m o d e rn bus s e r v ic e s tatio n s and a s im p le f a r e s y s
te m w e re the e le m e n ts w hich m a d e it p o s sib le in the y e a r s
sin c e 1963 to c o n v e rt an o u t-w o rn tra m w a y s y s te m to a m o d
e r n tr a n s p o r t com p an y b a se d on bus s e r v ic e . P a s s e n g e r s a re
b e tte r s e r v e d than fo r m e r ly , the e conom y of the u n d e rta k in g is
im p ro v e d by la rg e sav in g s and a b e tte r fitting of s e r v ic e s into
tra ffic is p o s sib le . T h is will be of g re a t im p o rta n c e d u rin g the
fo rth c o m in g building of m o to rw a y s and an u n d e rg ro u n d ra ilw a y .
The follow ing p a g es will te ll m o r e about the c o n v e r s io n f r o m
t r a m c a r s to b u s e s and the r e s u l t s achieved.