Trams in Kolkata


The tram system in the city of Kolkata, West Bengal, India, operated by West Bengal Transport Corporation after Calcutta Tramways Company was dissolved, is the only tram network operating in India. Started in 1902, it is the second oldest electric tramway in India.
The network initially had up to 25 lines or more but has gradually reduced over the years with only six lines currently operating due to financial struggles, poor maintenance, low ridership, addition of road flyovers, expansion of the Kolkata Metro, slow tram speed and views that the trams are outdated and occupy too much road space. Due to these issues, there have been occasional talks of either shutting down the network permanently or limiting the operations of the system. However, the system is also considered environmentally friendly and an icon of Kolkata, so there have also been recent efforts to sustain the system with newer trams.

History

1873–1901: Horse-drawn trams

The first horse-drawn trams in India ran for between Sealdah and Armenian Ghat Street on 24 February 1873. The service was discontinued on 20 November of that year. The Calcutta Tramway Company was formed and registered in London on 22 December 1880. Metre-gauge horse-drawn tram tracks were laid from Sealdah to Armenian Ghat via Bowbazar Street, Dalhousie Square and Strand Road. The route was inaugurated by the Viceroy, Lord Ripon, on 1 November 1880. In 1882, steam locomotives were deployed experimentally to haul tram cars. By the end of the century, the company owned 166 tram cars, 1,000 horses, seven steam locomotives and 19 miles of track.

1900–1951: Electric trams

In 1900, the electrification of the tramway and conversion of its tracks to began. The first electric tramcar in Calcutta ran from Esplanade to Kidderpore on 27 March 1902, with service from Esplanade to Kalighat introduced on 14 June of that year. The Kalighat line was extended to Tollygunge, the Esplanade line to Belgachia, and the Esplanade to Sealdah route opened the following year. In 1904, the Esplanade to Bagbazar route through College Street opened. In June 1905, the Howrah Station to Bandhaghat route opened and the electrification project was completed. In 1906, the Bowbazar Junction to Binay Badal Dinesh Bag and the Ahiritola Junction to Hatibagan Junction routes opened.
Two years later, lines to Shibpur via G.T. Road were laid and the Esplanade to Sealdah station, Moula Ali Junction to Nonapukur, Wattganj Junction to Jatin Das Park Junction and Mominpur Junction to Behala routes opened. The Sealdah Station to Rajabazar route opened in 1910. In 1915, the Mirzapur Junction to Bowbazar Junction and Sealdah Station to Lebutala Junction routes opened. Five years later, the Strand Road Junction to High Court route opened. In 1923, the S. C. Mallik Square Junction to Park Circus route opened. The Kalighat to Ballygunge route opened in 1928. In 1930, the Park Circus line was extended to Garhiahat Junction. The Rajabazar line was extended to Galiff Street in 1941. In February 1943, the Calcutta and Howrah sections were connected by the new Howrah Bridge. With this extension, total track length reached.

1951–1990: Nationalisation

In 1951, the government of West Bengal entered an agreement with the Calcutta Tramways Company and the Calcutta Tramways Act of 1951 was enacted. The government assumed the tramways, reserving the right to purchase the system with two years' notice on 1 January 1972 or at any time thereafter. In 1967, the Government of West Bengal passed the Calcutta Tramways Company Act and assumed management on 19 July. On 8 November 1976, the Calcutta Tramways ordinance was promulgated under which the company was nationalised. The Howrah sections were closed in October 1970; the 1971–1973 Nimtala route was closed in May 1973, and the Howrah Station terminus was realigned. Total track length was now reduced to.
In 1980, the routes on Bentinck Street and Ashutosh Mukhopadhyay Road closed for construction of the Kolkata metro and were not reopened. Two years later, the Sealdah Station terminus and the Sealdah–Lebutala route on Bipin Bihari Ganguli Street closed for the construction of an overpass; the site is now occupied by Sealdah Court and a bus terminal. On 17 April 1985, tracks were extended from Maniktala to Ultadanga via Maniktala Main road and C. I. T. Road. On 31 December 1986, the route extension from Behala to Joka was completed.

1990–present: Later developments

Calcutta Tramways Company introduced bus service on 4 November 1992 with a fleet of 40 buses. The Howrah Station terminus closed and the tram tracks were removed on Howrah Bridge the following year, since the cantilever bridge was not strong enough for trams. The routes which terminated there were moved to the Burrabazar terminus.
The system had degraded by the 1990s, and Minister for Transport Shyamal Chakraborty planned to close the network. However, Melbourne tram conductor Roberto D'Andrea befriended fellow Calcutta conductors during a 1994 visit. When D'Andrea heard about the planned network closure, he suggested an art project to decorate the trams. The project increased public awareness of the network and its value, ultimately saving it.
In 1995, the High Court terminus closed for the reconstruction of Strand Road. Rails and wires were removed from there and from Strand Road, Hare Street and Shahid Khudiram Basu Road and it is now the site of the newest Kolkata High Court building. In 2004, the Gariahat Depot–Gariahat Junction link on Gariahat Road closed for construction of the Gariahat overpass. Two years later, the Mominpur–Behala route on Diamond Harbour Road closed for the construction of an overpass in Taratala. Although it was initially planned to route tracks on the overpass after its completion, the road was later converted to a national highway and the plan was dismissed. The Wattgunge Junction–Mominpur, Mominpur–Jatin Das Park and the Jatin Das Park–Kalighat/Rasbehari routes were temporarily closed for reconstruction in 2007 and the Galiff Street Terminus was realigned the following year. Irregular service from Bagbazar to Galiff Street became regular service with Route 12/7. Rails and overhead lines were removed from part of the Bidhan Sarani route and restored by the end of 2008.
In 2009, tracks on R.G. Kar Road from the Shyambazar five-point crossing to the Belgachia Depot closed for reconstruction. The Behala-Joka route and the Behala Depot and the Joka Depot closed for construction of the Joka-BBD Bag metro project two years later and the Kalighat/Rashbehari-Ballygunge Station route closed for reconstruction. The Lalbazar-Mirjapur down line was closed, but the up line remained. The Behala–Joka route and the Behala Terminus, the Joka Terminus and the Bagbazar Terminus were permanently closed in 2012. On 30 September 2014, a tram, converted into a museum in Esplanade, was opened to the public. The Park Circus Depot closed for construction of the Maa Flyover in 2015 and the Nonapukur Depot reopened; the Gariahat Depot remained. The following year, the Ballygunge Station Depot next to Gariahat Mall also reopened and thus Kalighat/Rashbehari-Ballygunge Station stretch became active after 12 years.
After the starting of the East-West Metro works in 2017, all the BBD Bag bound tram routes have been closed for an indefinite time. Thus tram-plying along Sealdah Junction-Bowbazar Junction-Lalbazar Junction-BBD Bag, Galiff Street-Sovabazar Junction-Chitpur Junction-Lalbazar Junction and Hatibagan Junction-Sovabazar Junction stretches has been stopped. The Wattgunge junction to Kalighat/Rashbehari Junction stretch has also been closed for an indefinite time since 2018, due to the Majherhat Bridge collapse and thus Tollygunge to Ballygunge Station bound tram route becomes an isolated one. Belgachia tram depot also has been shut down for an indefinite time and thus tram-plying along Maniktala Junction-Shyambazar Junction-Belgachia and Shyambazar Tram Depot-Shyambazar Junction stretches is closed since 2018. In 2019, first A.C. tram route of Kolkata starts which runs between Esplanade and Shyambazar. The state government decided to stop tram-plying on the age-old Sealdah Flyover, after the survey of the bridge-advisory committee officers in 2019 and thus tram-plying along the Sealdah Junction-Sealdah Junction-Moulali Junction-Nonapukur Junction, Sealdah Junction-Sealdah Junction and Moulali Junction-Wellington Junction stretches has also been stopped. State Government also decided to shut down tram-plying on Belgachia Bridge permanently due to the excessive load on the bridge.

Rolling stock

CTC owns 257 trams, of which 125 used to run daily. Each single-deck articulated car can carry 200 passengers. But the number of trams is decreasing sharply due to various reasons and now only 35 trams run daily.
The early horse-drawn cars and steel cars manufactured before 1952 were imported from England. Early trams were single-coach, similar to those in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kanpur. Triple-coach trams were tried without success. The later stock was the SLT type: double-coach with three doors, four wheels under each coach and no wheels between coaches. SLT trams had no front iron net but had a front-coach trolley pole. The both-end type had a front iron net and a rear-coach trolley pole. These were gradually replaced by articulated trams on all routes. The SLC type was introduced much later on the Bandhaghat line, and continued until its closure in 1971; after that, SLC trams began running on the G/H and T/G lines on the Kolkata side.
Two trams were recently renovated with front and back glass, fluorescent lights, FM radio, digital display boards, angled seats and a fibreglass ceiling. The Nonapukur workshop began manufacturing 19 new trams from 2008 to 2010, of which four are nearing completion. The roof is clear polycarbonate sheeting with a wide window, and it has comfortable seating and better visibility from within. The workshop is also renovating steel-body cars. With plans for banquet-cafeteria and air-conditioned trams to attract commuters and foreign tourists, a single-coach, air-conditioned banquet tram has been introduced for heritage tours of North Kolkata in the morning and South Kolkata in the evening. Although the air-conditioned tram had poor ridership when it was introduced, more air-conditioned trams are planned.
Types of rolling stock are:
The trams have a direct current power supply from overhead lines, which replaced the original conduit after a series of monsoons. Power is obtained from a trolley pole, a current collector mounted on top of the tram. The track rails are the return path for the DC current. DC power is supplied by mercury-arc rectifier stations, located throughout the city.

Depots

A tram depot cum workshop is located at Nonapukur, where trams are refurbished and modernised.

Depots

Accidents

On 3 December 2012, a seven-year-old was killed by a tram entering the Ultadanga depot. The boy was reportedly playing near the tracks when the tram approached and it struck him before the brakes could be fully applied.
A bus driver attempted to overtake a tram on 31 January 2013. The rear of the bus grazed the tram, amputating a bus passenger's arm. The man was rushed to the hospital for his arm to be reattached.
On 19 June 2014, a driverless tram struck 10 cars. No fatalities or injuries were reported.

In popular culture

Few movies were shot in tram and its depots:
Plans have been proposed to refurbish stock and wires, extend the system to Salt Lake, New Town, Bantala and the Hooghly riverfront. There have also been proposals to replace the current double-coach SLC trams with new single-coach trams. Although there has been occasional talk about gradually phasing out the tram system due to criticism that the trams occupy too much road space, slow down other road vehicles and carry too few passengers.