Ever since I was a child, I have been fascinated by tramcars plying the streets of Calcutta. I have always gazed at them with wonder, eagerly waiting for the crackling blue spark where the trolley pole touched the overhead wire, the rattle of its wheels in my ears, the conductor ringing its bell, ting-ting, and people getting on and off. The tram clanked, jerked and moved on, and I lingered until it ebbed into the distance. Even today, as the rare ageing trams trundle by making a racket, my heart swells with joy. I wish to hop onto its footboard and travel without a fixed destination in mind—somehow escape. The unhurried pace of the bygone era somehow comforts me compared to the chaotic rush of the present.
Since the mid-19th century, there has been a dire need to connect the primary transportation hubs of Calcutta. Free movement of people and goods was essential between the railheads—Sealdah in the east and Howrah in the west, just across the river. The River Hooghly was also an important transit point for people and goods, with large warehouses located on the riverfront to access the ships and boats. This necessity led to the proposition of a tramway. It was the most economical solution, and in early 1873, the city got its first horse-drawn tram service connecting Sealdah and Armenian Ghat. However, the operation proved to be loss-making and was shut down by the end of that year.Â
Nevertheless, a few enterprising promoters took up the project again, and in the autumn of 1880, ushered in a new phase. The Calcutta Tramways Company (CTC) was registered in London as the tram services were re-established. This time there were no setbacks, and by the end of that century, the company had laid out an extensive network all across the city, connecting important localities—Sealdah, Dalhousie, Park Street, Kumartoli, Shyambazar, Khiderpore, Kalighat…
It was the age of innovations. The citizens of the city had just been introduced to an inconceivable new technology—electricity. So when the agents to the Indian Electric Co. Ltd, soon to be renamed the Calcutta Electric Supply Co. Ltd (CESC), submitted its proposal to electrify the tramways, everyone was excited, especially the horses who had long suffered the oppressive working conditions. The electrification of all eight routes was completed by November 1902. In the subsequent years, the tram network witnessed phenomenal growth as many routes and extensions were added—Shyambazar was extended to Belgachia; Hatibagan and Shobhabazar were connected; the Kalighat route was extended south to Tollygunge and west to Behala… Trams were also introduced in Howrah. But this route could not be connected to Calcutta as the pontoon bridge across the river was incapable of such strain. This, however, became a reality when the new Howrah Bridge was opened during the Second World War, and the tram networks of Howrah and Calcutta were linked.
The country became independent in 1947, and with it came new challenges. The city now had millions of refugees to shelter. The transport system was overwhelmed. The influx of so many people also gave rise to socio-political tensions. The government sought to nationalise the CTC. But even during those tumultuous times, the tram fleet grew, as did the ridership. However, by the 1960s, the tramways needed a revamp. Tracks were in utter disrepair. Although the fleet size of the CTC had increased, the number of trams plying the streets was down.
Elsewhere in the country, the tram networks had shut down by the mid-1960s. Nasik and Kanpur were the first to go in 1933. The tram company in Madras went bankrupt in 1953. Delhi and Bombay shut down their operations in the following decade. This sorry state of the tram was not just in India. It was playing all over the world.
After the Second World War, governments across the globe considered trams as inferior—an antiquated technology that had no place in the future. The number of automobiles, especially private-owned grew, and the streets became clogged. The automobile manufacturers lobbied viciously, and the government found a scapegoat in the tram. The governments began projecting buses as a superior, faster and more comfortable means of transport. Therefore for mass transportation, buses were prioritised over trams. The tram networks were dismantled to make way for the future.
Trams in Old Delhi from the early 1950s. Source: HT file photos – https://zikredilli.com/f/travelling-delhi-through-tram
A street view of Mount Road, Madras, 1938. Source: https://www.past-india.com/
The start of the 1970s witnessed the closure of the tramways in Howrah and the section between Howrah Bridge and Nimtala to ease congestion. However, the announcement of new routes like Behala-Joka, Maniktala-Bidhannagar-Saltlake, and Tollygunge-Jadavpur kept the hopes alive. Towards the end of the decade, the construction of the North-South Metro shut down the stretch between Hazra Crossing and Birla Planetarium and the routes via Bentinck Street. Though in the popular narrative, the rise of the metro rail is often blamed for the tram’s undoing, in reality, no other routes were affected than those mentioned earlier. However, around the same time, another venture by the government led to a drop in ridership. It was the construction of the flyover in front of the Sealdah Railway Station. Even though the tracks were shifted above the flyover, the shutting down of the tram terminus right in front of the railway station made commuters now prefer buses. The space underneath the flyover was taken over by hawkers.
On the occasion of its centenary in the 80s, the CTC received funds from the World Bank, which were utilised to buy, renovate and refurbish its fleet. The extensions; Behala-Joka and Maniktala-Bidhan Nagar were opened. However, this spurt in morale was negated in the following decade when the Howrah Station Terminus was shut down in 1994. Howrah Station had always been the most significant transportation hub of Calcutta, the busiest railhead of the country, serving around a million passengers daily. The reason for the closure was that the Howrah Bridge was now considered too old for trams. In hindsight, however, the real motivation was that the government was betting big on buses, which had been introduced a couple of years earlier. However, for the city’s tramways, this event served as the final nail in the coffin as the revenues of the CTC plunged overnight.
The next major jolt came with the suspension of services between Ballygunge Railway Station and Gariahat Tram Depot due to the construction of the Gariahat Flyover. However, once the flyover was completed, the government decided against laying the tracks under it. This permanently severed the Ballygunge-Park Circus route, and those deboarding the suburban trains at Ballygunge were now left with no alternative other than taking a bus if they wished to go towards Park Circus.
Severing connection with three important railheads that carry a large number of passengers from the suburbs to the city was not wise. It seemed the government was praying for the trams to fail so that removing the entire network would be easier. For any political system to function, one needs a scapegoat. The city’s tramways became such; a scapegoat for any traffic-related complication.
The government have always been limited in their approach. With the opening of the Circular Railway in the mid-80s and later the North-South Metro, it would have been fantastic if the railway stations were integrated with the tram network to enable a seamless light-rail connection. Such a planned transportation grid would not only have eased congestion but also would have increased the ridership and the profitability of the tram company, thus rendering it possible to maintain and upgrade the network. Instead, the government made one poor decision after another to relegate the trams to the history books while the rest of the world was busy reviving their modernised avatar. The government must understand that, just like any other business, a well-managed transportation system will attract commuters and bring in profits. When neglect is the norm, the commuters shy away from the service, leading to a slump in revenue, which leaves the government with no other option than to neglect it further, thus starting a vicious cycle from which there is no escape.
The mindset of the government and the closure of the 90s was just a forewarning. Starting in 2004, the government spent a lot to de-reserve and concretise the tracks. De-reservation meant the removal of the exclusive passageway for trams, thus allowing other vehicles to share the road space. This gave rise to three major problems; it slowed down the trams, increased the noise of the already outdated carriages, and left the passengers with no safe place to embark and disembark. The ridership was affected since the commuters now had to battle several lanes of traffic, risking their lives to board a tram. This, when done alongside the introduction of auto-rickshaws, pushed the passengers towards opting for the safer choice.
On the other hand, the auto-rickshaws proved to be a boon for the government as they generated a lot of employment, effectively guaranteeing the auto drivers’ vote in future elections. The auto-rickshaws, however, escalated the problem of congestion to a whole new level. The website of the CTC claims that a two-coach tramcar has a seating capacity of 54, although it can comfortably ferry 120 passengers during rush hours. Alternatively, an auto-rickshaw or a small car carries 4 passengers. Thus, it is elementary to understand what creates more congestion. A simple calculation reveals that it would require 13.5 to 30 auto-rickshaws for the same number of people. The other reasons for congestion can be attributed to vehicles parked legally and illegally on the roadsides and the hawkers who set up shop on the pavement, forcing pedestrians onto the street. Adding to this is the fact that the city has only 6% of its total land area as roads, which is the worst compared to other metropolises like Delhi or Mumbai.
The start of construction of the Purple Line Metro shut down the already segregated Behala-Joka stretch. The Mominpur-Behala route had been closed earlier for the Taratala Flyover. The Baghbazaar Terminus was shut down in 2012, while a pillar of the Maa Flyover left the Park Circus Depot defunct. It appeared that the government was now more interested in turning the tram into a heritage icon of the city. Two air-conditioned trams were introduced for tourists. A tram museum was inaugurated. It was followed by a tram restaurant, and more recently, a tram library. Even these efforts seemed half-hearted. If the government was genuinely eager to use the tramways for endorsing tourism, they should have identified a route connecting the major tourist attractions and modernised it instead of these superficial changes. In reality, the government was diverting the money they got from selling land and other assets of the former CTC to pay off bank loans and into other projects, they deemed fit.
As the construction of the East-West Metro picked up, all routes from the B. B. D. Bag Terminus were suspended. The Esplanade Terminus was also affected. Then, the collapse of the Mahjerhat Bridge in 2018 led to the stoppage of all tram routes passing over other bridges. Meanwhile, the city’s mayor flew to Copenhagen to receive the C40 award for green mobility. There, he emphasised the critical role the trams were to play in achieving the city’s goal of complete electric mobility by the year 2030. The government’s Electric Vehicle Policy 2021 stresses the adoption of electric vehicles, the establishment of EV charging/ battery swapping stations, and hydrogen generation/ fueling stations. It boasts that the city was a pioneer in Asia for introducing an electric public transport system in 1902, referring to the tramways, but somehow forgetting to mention the word tram in the rest of the document. This leaves us with no doubt regarding the government’s ignorance in grasping how trams can completely transform the mass transportation system of the city.
The city’s current population is about 15.1 million, which is expected to rise to 19.5 million by 2035. Meanwhile, as the nation develops, the middle class is set to grow at a tremendous pace. The growth of an aspiring middle class means more discretionary income, which in turn means more private cars, leading to further congestion. The air pollution, which is currently appalling, is set to reach critical levels.
Currently, the government is working on expanding the metro network. They are introducing electric buses, and private use of electric vehicles is being encouraged. It is a good start, but more needs to be done since the city’s mass transportation system desperately needs a complete overhaul. Building an extensive metro network is both time-consuming and extremely expensive. Also, it can not penetrate narrow, secondary roads. Electric buses may seem like a low-investment option, but they have a shorter life span. Trams, on the other hand, may appear expensive initially—although it is nothing compared to the metro—but is more economical in the longer run, with low maintenance cost and a longer life span. It can connect localities along the secondary roads and act as a feeder system between various metro and suburban railway stations, ensuring a seamless connection between different modes of transport. The government must not look at the tram as a separate entity but in conjunction with the metro and electric buses. The tram can be the last piece of the puzzle for an efficient public transport system for the city.
However, proper planning must be undertaken to build the tramways of the future, like reserved tracks with dedicated stoppages or low platforms for passengers to embark and disembark safely. It should be taken care that other vehicles don’t hinder the movement of trams. Maybe the government should allot particular routes only for trams, where other forms of public transport are barred. It might be unpopular, but the government can also consider privatising the tramways. Perhaps, they could start by choosing a segregated route and modernising it to see how it fares.Â
Many cities that had abandoned the good old tramcar have reintroduced them in recent decades. The last thirty years have witnessed the revival of light rail and tramways in over four hundred cities all across the globe. So, why not us? Does marching forward into the future mean we abandon everything dear to us? Does it mean we don’t look back at our past, learn from our mistakes and make amends but only concentrate ahead like a horse with blinders? Why uproot the infrastructure we already have and watch it decay? Well, there is no denying that new things or technologies can be exciting, but as a society, we have forever been frugal. We have continually innovated ways and methods to reuse old, discarded objects like an empty tin can or a glass jar. All we need is to simply adjust our perspective about the trams. It does not belong in the history books. It belongs now, in the present, and more so in the future.
To join the movement to save trams of our city, check out CALCUTTA TRAM USERS ASSOCIATION, an apolitical organization that aims to actively engage with the West Bengal Transport Department and the Govt. of West Bengal to secure the future of Kolkata’s Tramways.
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I love reading your blogs and have been reading them as and when you write. The words are lovely, deep, and moving. I hope you keep bringing up such stories every time.
Thank you so much…😀 Your encouragement means a lot….