Kolkata and Melbourne have two rare surviving tramways system outside Europe. Both cities have a love for trams and kept trams running against the trend of the 1960s to abandon them.The Kolkata tram is a tram system in Kolkata, India, run by the Calcutta Tramways Company (CTC). It is currently the only operating tram network in India and the oldest operating electric tram in Asia, running since 1902. Around the world there has now been a tram renaissance to combat urban air pollution and traffic congestion. Cities in France, England, Canada, Brazil, Turkey, Tunisia, the United States and others have rebuilt, or are currently building tramways often called light rail. So Melbourne and Kolkata made the correct decision to retain trams many years ago.
On a cold January night at the Kalighat tram depot in south Kolkata, an elderly man in khaki, sitting in a stationary coach was reading a newspaper in the dim light of a 40-watt bulb. A few people asked him about the next tram to Tollygunge and left as soon as they were told the wait would be for 30 minutes.Ten years ago, the Kalighat depot used to be one of the busiest in Kolkata. Trams would ply on three routes covering about 16 km. Now a lone tramcar rattles along the 3 km track between Kalighat and Tollygunge. Years ago Kolkata trams—ran on lines embedded in large grass patches reserved for trams. These patches were ripped away in 2004 to make space for cars and buses. Trams now run in the middle of the road and passengers have to get past speeding traffic to catch a tram, risking their lives.
These tram cars fell into extreme neglect during the uninterrupted 34-year rule of a communist coalition in West Bengal, of which Kolkata is the capital. Today, the oldest tram car in the city is 75 years old. On my last stint with tram in 2007, I was told by local trammies that there was not much time left. I was glad this changed after local and international pressure and by the time I had returned to Calcutta in June, 2013 with a revived tram scenario there was more hope that trams would have a future in this congested and air polluted metropolis. So in October, when service resumed on Route 29 after eight years, many commuters found themselves overjoyed that they could once again travel from Kalighat, known for a famous temple to the Hindu goddess Kali, to downtown Esplanade, the city center, for a mere five rupees. The trams are known to be the most affordable mode of transport in Kolkata, less than the minimum bus fare by one rupee.
There has been some good work done and cause for optimism. The Nonapukur Tram Workshop has skilled engineers and tradesman and have built in the last few years more than 25 modern looking fibreglass trams with high capacity seating. Catching Calcutta trams in the 1990s and early 2000s was a bumpy affair with tram tracks having many broken rail joints. Crunch crunch was the often heard and felt sound as the metal wheel navigated an uneven and windy monsoon worn track.
“We once thought of importing new trams but the idea was abandoned because we had no funds. Recently, though, the cars have got a transparent polycarbonate body,” says Swarup Kumar Pal, the company's Chief Operating Manager . But the new look—at a cost of Rs 14 lakh per tram—has not found much favour from commuters. Funding is drying up. The last capital infusion for the tramways came from the World Bank-sponsored Calcutta Urban Transport Project in 1982. With a Rs 108 crore assistance, 200 trams were purchased and 10 km of tracks added to the existing network. In other words, restoring routes is all well and good, but without the dedicated lanes they used to enjoy, the trams will have trouble competing with the city’s other modes of transportation. The government’s true goal is to kill the tram system by rendering it ineffective. “If ridership comes down, it will be easy for the government to say that trams are not viable and hence should be abolished from the streets.” Kolkata builds costly highway flyovers and elevated metro railways, refurbished trams could solve the city’s transit woes more cheaply and with fewer displacements. The CTC already has the infrastructure in place to run the trams, and the Nonapukur workshop for trams in Kolkata is a unique factory in and of itself.“I think the tram survived in Kolkata despite the apathy of the government because there is a genuine demand among people for its presence”.
Anecdotal evidence suggests trams have been sacrificed to buses and private cars, a deep well of affection for the old technology still exists. The Bollywood film industry, based in Mumbai, frequently comes to Kolkata to shoot in the trams. And many like us, who sent out the silent prayer for the trams, pine for the day when they’ll be returned to full service.
(Revival and maintenance of old trams at CTC Workshop, Nonapukur).
I believe Kolkata needs a tram museum so visitors are given the opportunity to see the history of Calcutta’s trams. An audit is urgently required so the CTC can preserve the last of the British wooden bodied trams and beautifully built Hati Gari trams. Rabindranath Tagore’s tribute tram, Gitanjali was a Hati Gari tram number 498 built in the early 1940s at Nonapukur. I am confident that tram enthusiasts would come to Kolkata to see a display of CTC trams in one of the world’s great cities. Kalighat Tram Depot would make a great Tram Museum located near Kalighat Metro stop and Kali Temple.
(A Heritage Tram Named 'Banalata' used for promotional purposes).
(A modern day Fibre glass tram under last minute inspection at CTC Workshop, Nonapukur).
