Long before Calcutta, as it was known then, became the first Indian city with a metro, it pioneered another form of urban public transport: the tram (or streetcar, as it is known in some parts of the world). Starting in 1873, with horse-drawn trams and, briefly, steam locomotives, the service went electric in 1902, and remains the oldest operating electric tram system in Asia.
In the late 1960s, Kolkata had 52 routes covering around 70 km. As recently as 2011, there were still 37 operating.
Today, though, trams are in crisis. Only eight routes remain — five in the north of the city, three in the south — covering 17 km. According to sources in the West Bengal Transport Corporation (WBTC), other numbers plummeted too: from 2011 to 2018, operational trams fell from 185 to 40, passengers from 75,000 a day to 15,000, and daily revenue from ₹3.3 lakh to ₹62,000. Government funds for tram services fell off a cliff too: from ₹5 crore in 2011 to ₹25 lakh in 2018. And the staff strength reduced from 7,324 to 3,600.
A WBTC official said the key reason for the decline is the traffic policy of the State, notably the construction of the B.B.D. Bag Metro station at Dalhousie, Central Kolkata, an area where all tram routes start or end.
“Tram is our heritage and will continue to be so,” Transport Minister Suvendu Adhikari told The Hindu . The government will close routes which cause congestion, he said.
Trams are eco-friendly, Soumyadip Chattopadhyay, professor at Visva Bharati University and urban affairs expert, said. “Instead of shutting down routes, the government should improve the infrastructure so that trams can run more efficiently.” The Kolkata Tram Workers and Employees Union says the government is simply not interested. Subir Bose, general secretary, said, “The main reason for congestion is the illegally occupied pavements, which force pedestrians to walk on the road. The fact is that the government is not keen to continue the tram service.”
