Every city that grows and pulsates cannot do so without expanding and building robust transportation networks. Madras-that-became-Chennai is no exception. As the city grew, so did its transit systems and as the habitable land expanded, its road network sneaked out, shooting out from the centre like a fast-growing hydra; as its people moved out to the peripheries, the snaking lines went further.
The delightful cacophony of old steam engines and rickety trams co-existed with the neighing horse-drawn jatkas, or the screech of the breaking cycle rickshaw. Madras has always felt at ease trying new moves, literally excited to try the new ‘flying train’ or MRTS, or slipping into the unparalled , though slightly expensive comfort of the metro.
They haggled with the horsecart and the cycle rickshaw pullers and went on to bitterly argue with the autorickshaw drivers. When the apps entered the transportation space, they slipped in there too, guiding poor out-of-town drivers with the same loud, friendly instructions they’d give the petta (area) autodrivers. And then, they will idolise and memorialise these transportation systems on their most favourite entertainment medium - celluloid.
Knowing the growth of the city is knowing its transportation systems, and that’s why we offer, for a week leading up to Madras Day, how our favourite city got its wheels.
The picture shows a bullock cart, taxi and a bus at the junction of Mandaveli in Madras in 1964
Madras city dwellers enjoying boat ride in the river Cooum on February 3, 1973
A tram outside the office of The Hindu in 1949
Visitors to the zoo in Madras take a joy ride on a boat on June 24, 1965.
A cyclist at Corporation ground in Madras on October 31, 1952.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi and Minister for Education V.R. Nedunzheyian enjoy a short trip in one of the pleasure boats in the cleaned Cooum in Madras on February 4, 1973
Children going to school in a cycle-rickshaw in Madras on July 10, 1979
A large number of boats brought merchandise like firewood, paddy from Andhra Pradesh till the 1960s. A scene at the Hamilton Bridge (Barber's Bridge) in Mylapore in October, 1961.
The mofussil bus stand at Broadway, Madras. File
Hand-drawn rickshaw-pullers in Madras on June 2, 1973, a day before they were banned from the city roads.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi distributes autorickshaws to the drivers of Madras Autorickshaw Drivers Co-operative Society at Gopalapuram on January 14, 1991.
An array of bicycles manufactured at T.I. Cycles of India Ltd., Ambattur. Published on December 2, 1954
A view of the bus stand of the Madras State Transport Department at Vadapalani on August 8, 1961
A woman auto driver cleans her autorickshaw before starting her trip at Madras. A display board behind states that the auto is meant only for ladies and family.
The new Superfast Madras - Madurai ‘Pallavan Express’ (Train No. 115) is being flagged off from Madras Egmore railway station by B. Jayaraman, Fitter (retiring at the end of August 1984 after a long service) at Madras on August 01, 1984.
A view of the auto strike at the Madras Central Railway Station.
A view of the Madras International Airport - Link building connecting both the Kamaraj Domestic and Anna International terminals at Meenambakkam, Madras on October 9, 1990
A view of suburban electric train, passing through Egmore Railway Station, from the Gandhi Irwin Bridge in Madras on April 29, 1992.
The new Boeing 737 that arrived at Madras Airport on December 21, 1970 on a trial flight from Delhi.
Taxis queued up in front of the Central Railway Station on May 3, 1972
An overview of Velachery Railway station, on the inaugural day of the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) train services, on November 20, 2007.
A scene at the Secretariat on the Marina on the day of taxi strike on November 6, 1969
Rickshaws parked inside the Central Station in Madras on August 13, 1980
Taxis queued up in front of the Central Railway Station on May 3, 1972
A bunch of bikers burning the tracks in the Grand Prix for motor-bikes at Sholavaram in Madras. Published in The Hindu on February 03, 1979.
Police officials regulating taxis outside the Egmore Railway Station in Madras on February 20, 1979
A boat sailing in Buckingham Canal near Central Railway Station in Madras in 1925
Passengers taking a ride on a jatka at R.V. Nagar in Chennai on March 4, 2010
An overcrowded tram in Madras
Jatkas at the Central Railway Station in Chennai on October 10, 1979
Chennai city’s first Metro Rail on November 11, 2013, ahead of the test run.
Tram in Madras