Team-BHP - Kolkata Trams - The Last Bastion Still Alive and Kicking!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samba (Post 3116806)

Trams at Kolkata maidan. :)

Awesome thread and particularly this pic of Maidan Tram with "Jhal Muri" vendor in the foreground is exactly what i miss the most about Kolkata.

Had lived there for three years between 2004 - 07. Since i used to stay in Ballygunge place, i would often take tram from Park Circus to Gariahat in the night and enjoy the ride to the fullest.

Quote:

Originally Posted by aneezan (Post 3116137)

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.

New Town and Saltlake are recent developments outside proper Kolkata city to accommodate the growing population, and they were planned without tramlines. Trams run in the older part of the city, namely shyambazar, Dalhousie, Esplanade etc. The other side of the bridge is Howrah, which IIRC has no tram service.

I beg to differ from the topic which says 'alive and kicking'. Yes,its alive but is surely not kicking and dying a slow death.

Yes they do exist in the North but South has seen a slow and planned eradication of the tram in the last few years. They concretized the tram tracks throughout the city only to stop trams from plying. the whole stretch from Rasbehari to Ballygunge lies abandoned with no trams.

Behala,a place which had the median divider in between the DH road as tram track used to get tram passengers in flocks since the traffic on the road was snale-paced compared to the 'faster' trams on slightly elevated tracks. First they built a flyover(Taratala) and demolished the tracks connecting the Behala trams with the rest of Kolkata.Still trams plied from Joka to Behala tram depot and was dying a slow death and was finally done away with the tram tracks giving way to the Metro project. now only the place 'Behala Tram Depot' remains sans the tram.

Trams have now been reduced to operate only in the Maidan Area and some parts of North Kolkata.It was surely the transport of Calcutta but Kolkata is giving it a step-motherly treatment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007 (Post 3114569)

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

Do not go by this schedule,half the routes do not exist now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by blackasta (Post 3118393)

Howrah had a tram service till Shibpore Tram Depot. It was withdrawn decades back. As a small kid going to school by the GT Road, remember some of the tram tracks would peep through the ashphalt after potholes appeared on them after a heavy monsoon. Now the number lof layers on years of repair have increased and might now be under a feet or two of tar.

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Originally Posted by DHABHAR.BEHRAM (Post 3117187)

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

Behram Dhabhar
Hi.
Trams used to run upto Sassoon Docks which was the southern most point.
AFAIR they could not reverse. The driver would change ends and the pantograph and the conductor would change the bench back rests so you would always be facing the front. Earlier the drivers used to wear a turban with a tail. I don't remember what headgear they wore in the end.
Incidentally I have mentioned the trolley buses in my post no 21.They were smooth,noiseless, eco-friendly and faster than a tram.
Regards

Getting rid of trams is a big loss IMHO. They provide a safe, comfortable, environment friendly solution to the modern transport woes and are able to carry large numbers of people (160) per tram or maybe more. Its unfortunate that the government has resorted to removal of tram tracks to make room for more vehicles, rather than using the infrastructure development route like wider roads (i.e. getting rid of hawkers) and flyovers. I've used the tram extensively in Istanbul and have seem them co- exist wonderfully in a crowded city like Ist.

Shot near Esplanade.
Still can't believe that Trams are run with so much pain in the city.
Today I saw an incident that a hand cart walla was unloading parcels in the platform and the tram was waiting for him to unload. Because he cant move it immediately.
But you guys are so passionate that its still living. Good to see that.:-)