Gotlands Järnvägsaktiebolag
| Gotlands Järnvägsaktiebolag | |
|---|---|
| legal form | Aktiebolag |
| founding | November 30, 1875 |
| resolution | July 1, 1948 |
| Seat |
|
| Branch | Railway companies |
The Gotland Järnvägsaktiebolag (GJ) was a Swedish corporation . It was the first and largest railway company on Gotland Island . The company was founded to plan and build the Visby hamn – Hemse railway line . Over the years, the line extensions for the entire Lärbro – Burgsvik railway line were carried out by this company.
history
The first talks about building a railway on Gotland were held in the 1870s. The first proposal dealt with a route between Visby and Havdhem and was the result of a private initiative by Claes Adolf Adelsköld . This proposal was rejected by the provincial parliament. The subject became more specific on October 26, 1875, when the Visby City Council decided to provide 500,000 crowns for the construction of a railway between Visby and Hemse . Gotlands Järnvägsaktiebolag (GJ) was constituted on November 30, 1875 from a working group . The first managing director was Ernst Leijer. The statutes were passed on January 18, 1876 and the license for the company applied for.
The Visby hamn – Hemse line was the first to be planned and built by Gotlands Järnvägsaktiebolag . The secondary lines to Ronehamn and Klintehamn included in the concession of May 5, 1876, were canceled during a revision. After approval of a state loan of 500,000 crowns on November 14, 1876, construction of this line began in May 1877.
In the early 1890s, CA Sylvan planned to extend the eleven kilometer stretch from Visby to Väskinde . The cost was estimated at 132,000 crowns. The concession was granted on May 1, 1896. The work was started immediately by a private consortium and only later transferred to the GJ.
The next extension concerned the 13-kilometer section from Väskinde to Tingstäde , which was planned by August Bååth. The license was granted on June 17, 1898. On November 29, 1899, goods and passenger services were opened. The plans for a continuation from Hemse to Havdhem were carried out by Johan Danielsson. The license was granted on April 7, 1899.
The permit for the 15-kilometer section between Havdhem and Burgsvik was granted on October 26, 1906 and work on the line began. The official opening was on August 30, 1908, after the first freight trains had already run in October 1907. The last section of the route, the twelve-kilometer section between the two towns of Tingstäde and Lärbro, was given a license that expired during the First World War . CJ Insulander made new plans in 1919. The construction work for the new concession, which was granted on January 16, 1920, was carried out under the direction of the State Forestry Administration, which hired unemployed people especially for this purpose. The opening took place on December 17, 1921.
The route network had thus grown from 57 to 117 kilometers between 1878 and 1921. The total construction costs amounted to around 2.7 million crowns. In the 1940s there were plans for further expansion in the north to Fårösund , which were not implemented.
nationalization
The economic situation deteriorated so much in 1947 that nationalization was seen as the only way to continue operations. On July 1, 1947 Gotlands Järnvägsaktiebolag was converted into a state company under the same name on the basis of the general nationalization of the railways in Sweden . The name was retained until July 1, 1948. Then the railway company was integrated into the Swedish State Railways (SJ).