Status: Not Approved
With tram operations now confined to only 2 truncated routes — Shyambazar–Dharmatala and Gariahat–Dharmatala — and services running irregularly, commuter groups said the shrinking network deepened the city’s transport crisis. They argued that despite skeletal operations, trams continued to attract a steady stream of passengers, reflecting a latent demand for the zero-emission mode of transport.
CTUA members reiterated their demand that the 2016 proposal to introduce 19 air-conditioned trams be implemented. They pointed out that nearly 400 cities worldwide operate tram networks successfully, often as part of sustainable urban mobility plans.
“The tram is intertwined with Kolkata’s identity,” Bhattacharya said. “It cannot be allowed to fade away.” For many Kolkatans, trams symbolise more than transport — they evoke memory, comfort, and a slower, gentler rhythm of city life. Yet legal uncertainties and policy indecision clouded their future.
The highlight of Monday’s observance was tram car number 498, a wooden-bodied carriage built at the Nonapukur workshop during World War II.
“To see such a robust, clean transport system with ready infrastructure being slowly dismantled is unfortunate,” said Debasish Bhattacharya, President of the Calcutta Tram Users Association (CTUA). The car was constructed under extraordinary circumstances, according to tram chronicler Sagnik Gupta. “With Japanese air raids targeting the then British city and strict deadlines from the Calcutta Tramways Company headquarters in London, workers built these L-Class trams at night by candlelight,” Gupta said.
“We are hearing how countries like Thailand are reviving tram systems. In Kolkata, trams can serve as feeder services to the expanding Metro network, making urban mobility cleaner and more integrated.