An integral part of Kolkata’s landscape and British-Indian history, trams featured in many movies, including Satyajit Ray’s Mahanagar
Kolkata’s electricity-driven trams, started by the British in 1873 and shut down in 2024 under the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government, except on two routes, may make a comeback under the Bharatiya Janata Party, transport minister Arjun Singh said on Sunday.
“We want to revive the environment-friendly public transport system. RITES (Rail India Technical and Economic Service) has been asked to conduct a survey,” Singh said.
Transport department officials said the state plans to renovate the old tracks first and then develop a model to operate modern carriages, similar to those seen in Australia and some European cities, to promote tourism in addition to serving as a daily mode of transport.
A public sector undertaking (PSU) under the ministry of railways, RITES offers engineering and consultancy services in transport infrastructure, including roads, airports and railways.
“There used to be 40 routes during the Left Front government but only a limited number of trams currently operate on two routes: one from Gariahat to Esplanade via Park Circus in south Kolkata, and another from Shyambazar to Esplanade in the north. The feasibility study will determine if some of the old routes can be revived through modernisation,” a transport department official said, requesting anonymity.
The West Bengal Transport Corporation Limited (WBTCL) has run the tram services since 2016 when it took over the original Calcutta Tramways Company (CTC), which the British government formed and registered in London on December 20, 1880.
According to WBTCL records, the first horse-drawn tram was launched on February 24, 1873, running 3.9km between Sealdah and the Armenian Ghat (jetty). It shut down in November that year and returned with metre gauge tracks on the Sealdah-Bowbazar-Dalhousie-Armenian Ghat route in November 1880.
In 1882, steam engine driven trams were introduced and were replaced by the electricity powered trams in 1900. CTC built its own power station at the Nonapukur tram depot, which is still operational, however, Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation, Kolkata’s sole power supplier to date, started powering the trams in 1927.
