[anjan_c2007]

Originally Posted by faustus77

Hi everybody.

A query: Do the trams still run on the Howrah Bridge?

Regards

They do not cross the Howrah bridge but are terminated somewhere before the bridge commences.
The schedules of CTC here which too indicate the same:

http://www.calcuttatramways.com/schedules.htm

Some old tram pictures from The City of Joy:



The oldest picture available



Fighting for the rights in 1945.



Picture from 1944



Shows Chowringhee Road





Picture from 1944





Picture from 1944



tram plates



Bombay tram

(from oldindian photos, goindia.about.com)

[1100D]

As much as these Trams make one (from the area) proud of the heritage, legacy and things similar.

It is also painful to know of the little progress these trams have made over the years.

Here is a pic from personal archives almost dating 3 decades back in Amsterdam. My father took us (Me and my Sis) for a ride just to show how smooth and enjoyable a tram ride could be. It was a magic carpet ride. Quite fast too and one could feebly hear, but not feel the wheels change from rail to rail.



Then there was this Trolley-bus, snapped in Luzerne Switzerland in the end 80's. Combines best of both worlds, the environment friendliness of a tram with the convenience and manueverability of a bus. Some of these were from Mercedes-Benz.




Thought that atleast we will eventually get here, but no. All we get is, in the name of engineering, the upperbody of what is predominantly prehistoric, an overhead AC added in some, some cosmetics around windows, some cosmetics around seats to make it lively but very cheesy. More recently, the single-car thing, moving the pantograph to the first car itself apart from moving the common 2nd "bogie" between the first and second cars forward to the back of the first car itself. But does that change the basic tram car?

When most of the Kolkata trams start from rest, one can see the lower bogie shift forward by an inch, before the car on top starts moving, let alone the sound. Its actually quite a shame.

[alpha1]

Does the tram follow traffic lights/signals?

[saket77]

Originally Posted by faustus77

A query: Do the trams still run on the Howrah Bridge?
Regards

No Faustus, AFAIK, currently there is no tram service across the Howrah Bridge. This is from the thoughts that I could recollect from my Kolkata visits. Members from the city could confirm this.

Regards,
Saket

[PapaBravo]

Yes they do. Trams follow the traffic lights. But they dont follow the one way rule. You could be very well driving on a one way in old Calcutta when suddenly a tram appears coming the opposite way.

[faustus77]

Then there was this Trolley-bus, snapped in Luzerne Switzerland in the end 80's. Combines best of both worlds, the environment friendliness of a tram with the convenience and manueverability of a bus. Some of these were from Mercedes-Benz.

Attachment 1081518

1100D
Hi.
These electric buses too operated in Bombay. Around 1962. They were imported from Czechoslavakia. They used to start from Tardeo and go towards Null Bazaar.
These too were phased out after the trams.
Regards

[aneezan]

I have visited Kolkata a few times, though have no knowledge of where I can spot these trams and the tram-lines. Maybe because my visits are limited to the Salt Lake and New Town areas. I believe most of the trams run on the other side of the bridge.

[chinkara]

Originally Posted by 1100D

Then there was this Trolley-bus, snapped in Luzerne Switzerland in the end 80's. Combines best of both worlds, the environment friendliness of a tram with the convenience and manueverability of a bus. Some of these were from Mercedes-Benz.

[

I found these beasts to be more useless than Kolkata trams. Except some major stops where these move to the side, the problem of alighting is there (or used to be there, 10-12 years back). And these used to change lanes a lot.

Agree about Amsterdam trams though.

In Kolkata, in major roads like Rashbehari Avenue, there used to be a separate raised section in the middle for trams and tram stops. Used to make alighting easy and safe. You could then cross over to the footpath over the zebra crossing when the traffic signal turned green.These also were nice green spaces on the road. Inevitably these became one of the first casualties of increasing vehicular traffic.

[apachelongbow]

The tram is the most eco friendly means of intra city transport possible. Its our own stupidity that we uprooted tram lines and created highways/flyovers and roads there by increasing vehicular transport to this extent.
Regarding calling them slow, as long as average speed is greater than 25kmph, they should serve their purpose. To think about it the average speed of a BEST bus in Mumbai is 13kmph, so a tram is definitely faster.
Cities which implement BRTS like Ahmedabad, should have gone in for electric/dual fuel buses or trams instead. If they are building dedicated bus corridors, they might as well electrify it and save the environment.

Its high time we re look at trams as a solution instead of spending thousands of crores in making fancy metros or monorails or building flyovers for cars.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by apachelongbow

The tram is the most eco friendly means of intra city transport possible. Its our own stupidity that we uprooted tram lines and created highways/flyovers and roads there by increasing vehicular transport to this extent.
Regarding calling them slow, as long as average speed is greater than 25kmph, they should serve their purpose. To think about it the average speed of a BEST bus in Mumbai is 13kmph, so a tram is definitely faster.
Cities which implement BRTS like Ahmedabad, should have gone in for electric/dual fuel buses or trams instead. If they are building dedicated bus corridors, they might as well electrify it and save the environment.

Its high time we re look at trams as a solution instead of spending thousands of crores in making fancy metros or monorails or building flyovers for cars.

You are so right. Trams exist all over the world and co- exist beautifully with cars, buses, metro railways and everything. Especially in the old cities of Europe, Australia etc.
I quite enjoy travelling in Trams and have done so in many cities in Europe and Melbourne in Oz and dear old Calcutta too. Madras and Bombay also had trams till they killed them off in the 1950's or 1960's. (I absolutely refuse to use the names Kolkata and Chennai and Mumbai)
The trouble with us Indians is that we don't like to do good for ourselves and we are also very dog-in-the-manger-ish in the sense that we like to wantonly undo the good that others have done for us as well. We really are quite pathetic as a Nation in this sense...sad and un-palatable but absolutely true...

A few days ago it appears that dear old Chink-land has inaugurated their high speed railway connecting Beijing in the North to Guagngzhou in the South. Shortening the journey time from 22 hours to an incredible 8 hours. Recently, my wife told me about her experience on the Mag Lev in Shanghai which transported her from the city to the Airport in 7 minutes for a distance of 60 kms. And a friend travelled Beijing to Shanghai which is a distance of 1120 kms, in a matter of 4 hours. In Bangalore my home is 58 kms from the airport and I have to endure broken roads for 1.5 hours to get there! And here we Indians are, slapping ourselves on the back when we introduce one idiotic slow speed double decker Shatabdi between Madras and Bangalore!
It is a joke really don't you think? What a rubbish country we seem to have become over the last 60 years of Independence! We will run ourselves into the ground completely at this rate!

[faustus77]

Anjan
Hi
Tram no 5 used to run between museum and king's circle in Bombay.
Sitting on the upper deck, right in the front,cool wind blowing, was a heavenly experience.All for a fare of 6 paise in 1963.
Incidentally a few of these double deckers had a single decker tram attached to it.
Regards

[anjan_c2007]

Originally Posted by faustus77

Anjan
Hi
Tram no 5 used to run between museum and king's circle in Bombay.
Sitting on the upper deck, right in the front,cool wind blowing, was a heavenly experience.All for a fare of 6 paise in 1963.
Incidentally a few of these double deckers had a single decker tram attached to it.
Regards

Thanks faustus for sharing your memories. I am sure it will take many of us back to the memory lane.
Meanwhile two more pictures from Kolkata:



The stop at a traffic junction with a red signal



The Kalighat Tram Depot

[Samba]

Trams at Kolkata maidan.

[DHABHAR.BEHRAM]

Dear all - thanks for bringing back nostalgia! As a small 5 year old child, I remember travelling in double decker Mumbai trams along with my grandparents, parents, uncles and aunts. Vague memories are that the color was red, both ends were round, there was a finely polished brass handle to be rotated to drive forwards or backwards, the floor boards were wooden and the driver drove in the standing position. We used to go from "Dadar TT" (the "TT" stands for Tram Terminus, the area of the current circle was the actual terminus, the end being at "King's Circle") to "Museum" which is opposite the Regal cinema. When the present Dadar TT bridge was built, workers found a lot of buried tram tracks. They disappeared when I was very small so it seems to be 1964 or so.

By the way, there used to be very quiet "trolley buses" also in use in Mumbai. One end of the wire was at Gowalia Tank, the other one I don't know. They used to serve the east / west corriror of the city.

Best reards,

Behram Dhabhar

[1100D]

Originally Posted by DHABHAR.BEHRAM

By the way, there used to be very quiet "trolley buses" also in use in Mumbai. One end of the wire was at Gowalia Tank, the other one I don't know. They used to serve the east / west corriror of the city.

Best reards,

Behram Dhabhar

And its a Skoda!!

Pic source

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...b/Best_Bus.jpg

Actually Salil Pawar Pointed me to this. Brilliant.