For more than 153 years, Kolkata’s tram has rattled through the city’s streets, outliving empires, governments and changing urban landscapes. On Thursday, the iconic mode of transport will once again take centre stage as a specially decorated heritage tram rolls from Gariahat to Shyambazar, celebrating not only the city’s rich tram legacy but also renewed efforts to secure its future.
The Tram Yatra, to be held between 10 a.m. and noon on 16 July, is being organised by filmmaker Mahadeb Shi, who has been spearheading the annual Tramjatra festival, in collaboration with the Calcutta Tram Users Association (CTUA) and Placemaking India.
This year’s celebration also carries an environmental message.
The tram has been decorated using upcycled and eco-friendly materials, while passengers will receive specially designed souvenir tickets carrying messages on the ecological importance of the Sunderbans mangrove forests.
According to Arghyadip Hatua, a core member of the organising team, the initiative is intended to remind commuters that Kolkata’s heritage and its natural heritage deserve equal protection.
Kolkata’s association with trams dates back to 1873, when the city’s first horse-drawn tram began operating, making it one of the oldest tram systems still in existence. Today, only Melbourne, whose tram network began in 1885, boasts a comparable living tram heritage. Yet the two cities have travelled very different paths.
The tram however remains central to Kolkata’s identity. Along with architectural wonders and icons such as Victoria Memorial and Howrah Bridge, the tram has managed to carve out an image that instantly screams Kolkata.
The tram’s place in Bengal’s cultural life is equally enduring. It has featured prominently in literature, paintings and films, most memorably in Satyajit Ray’s 1963 masterpiece ‘Mahanagar’.
The fortunes of the tram, however, could now be changing.
Since assuming office, the BJP government in West Bengal has made the revival of Kolkata’s tramways a key component of its transport modernisation plans. Rather than phasing out the network, Transport minister Arjun Singh has unveiled proposals to introduce a new generation of air-conditioned, battery-electric trams, drawing inspiration from contemporary tram systems in cities such as Melbourne and Paris.
The government has entrusted infrastructure consultancy RITES with conducting a 30-day feasibility survey to identify and assess new tram corridors linking Rajarhat, New Town and Salt Lake. Unlike the traditional trams that depend on overhead electric wires, the proposed fleet will run on battery power while keeping to the left of the city’s thoroughfares.
Alongside the proposed eastern expansion, the government is planning a major heritage tram corridor between Dakshineswar and Kalighat.