[benu9714]

I saw this report in the Times of India :

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...w/78219764.cms

Trams have long been the the bane of motorists' lives in Kolkata.

They trundle along at a snail's pace, travel on the wrong side of the road in several places and create traffic snarls in case of a breakdown, while tram tracks damage car tires and can be positively dangerous for two-wheelers.

And they hardly carry any passengers ! The two carriages are mostly empty, even in peak hours.

No wonder trams have proved to be a dismal failure in ferrying Kolkatans after the advent of mini-buses, autos, AC buses etc. The tram company is bankrupt and stays alive with huge subsidies, merely to keep the staff employed and corruption to flourish. The tram company launched buses, which didn't make profits either.

Now trams will be revived !!

The reason given is eco-friendliness, namely that the electricity used to drive trams generate pollution somewhere else, not in the city.

I wonder whether new trams will be introduced to replaced the ancient, heavy monsters that use a century old Dick-Kerr system for speed control - all relays and contact breakers, zero electronics - or the same old junk will be given a coat of paint and pushed back on the road.

Why can't Kolkata have hybrid buses and electric buses, as London does, instead of spending money on these relics of the past?

Ah, perhaps the clue is "spending money" - great opportunity for some people to get rich, maybe.

Any views?

[haisaikat]

Sir there are already 80+ electric buses plying across Kolkata and the number is expected to triple in the coming months, Tata Motors are partnering here and Haldia and Asansol are also on the cards for electric bus routes introduction.

Trams on the other hand attract tourism beyond its regular duty of being a greener passenger carrier and being a part of Heritage of the city. The Dick Kerr systems are there in the older trams only but the newer ones manufactured at the Nonapukur Tram Depot have more modern and efficient power trains.

I have visited the Tram converted museum and restaurant at Esplanade couple of years back but have not had the opportunity to board one of the modern locally manufactured AC Trams with transparent roofs which have gained fast popularity in recent times.

Our trams have come a long way from being just horse driven wooden carriages and I am sure future generations have more to see coming over the current concept where we already have city tours, mobile restaurants and Durga Puja tours based on Trams.

Horse drawn tram, 1873, Kolkata


Modern AC Trams


Victoria Tram Car, Mobile AC Restaurant

[setuniket]

As a regular visitor to Kolkata(for work) and having my extended family there, I would welcome revival of any public transport however only after reworking the tram lines and routes, investing in modern better equipped and faster tram cars.

It is shame that such robust public transport was systematically dismantled to make way for private and polluting bus system.

Tram lines are prevalent in major developed cities and have not been replaced by private vehicles for commuting. While 'Calcutta' had trams, somehow 'Kolkata' chose to encourage private Transport accompanied with ICE diesel and petrol pollution.

With respect to claim that 'pollution' will be shift somewhere else is misplaced, after having lived near a coal based thermal power generation plant for over two decades; even if it seen from ecological prospective, it is easier and cheaper to reduce/eliminate carbon based pollution from a fixed source(eg thermal power plant, Natural Gas or Coal based) than controlling tail pipe emissions from plethora of diesel buses spewing smoke on the streets of Kolkata. With our past experience on decades of driving across the country and non-existent enforcement of traffic and vehicular laws, it is better to not have buses on the street.

As the the polluting source of power, India currently has around 28,180 MW of total installed capacity of solar PV(grid connected) while the aim is to take it to 100 GW by end 2022, this when compared to current total installed capacity from all sources is around 372 GW will make it around 21-25% of the total installed capacity.

[anjan_c2007]

Trams are an integral part of the city's past heritage and Kolkata is the only city in India where this mode of transport still survives. Yes, it's very true that these days very few prefer to travel by trams and that these are hardly occupied even at 10 % of their capacity. Gone are those earlier years till the 1980's, when it was a common sight to see crowded trams moving throughout the length and breadth of the City of Joy. Come the Kolkata Metro, many of the tram routes were discontinued. Even later on till a decade earlier, the discontinuance of existing tram routes continued.

Only lately, there is a move to energise the trams in Kolkata, with re-introduction of some routes with addition of new trams. But the fact remains that these need to be more popular with commuters and need to run with their optimum capacities. The erstwhile Calcutta Tramways Corporation (CTC), now under the West Bengal Transport Corporation Ltd (WBTC) needs to be self sustaining, rather than depending on government doles to survive.

The CTC needs to do lots of homework and introspection to find ways to attract commuters into it's fold. It's a foregone conclusion today that they will be able to attract a sizeable number of office or college or school goers like before, as none have the patience and time to travel with lots of spare time available on hand. The target needs to be tourists with easily available (through their website) attractive city tour passes for a week and also for one day for unlimited travel. Also for some housewives, senior citizens, some differently-abled people who have some time to spare in their daily schedules and who move out for their daily needs, it can be targeted as a safe mode of travel.

An earlier thread on trams:-

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/comme...e-kicking.html (Kolkata Trams - The Last Bastion Still Alive and Kicking!)

From the CTC (West Bengal Transport Corporation Ltd (WBTCL)) website:-

It was not only Bengal’s battle of Plassey which jerked the whole nation but also it was the Tram which made the Kolkatans dumbfounded.Ever since the first Horse drawn Tram carriages hit the rails,a new era of history was created.Amidst lot of hurdles,barriers,& setbacks,this tireless gentleman has stood firmly tall witnessing the golden decades of our history through its wheels.Infact Tram can be considered as one aspect which gives the city a charm of publicity.Series of transformations & renovations from horses to electricity has never deprived the Tram of its luxorious,easy going lifestyle profitably status.Tied with an ecofriendly tag ,Tram has never seemed shabby & sluggish meandering smoothly through the lush greens,madding crowds & the jammed traffics.Kolkatan Tram has unheralded a new chapter in the transport sector where the euphoria of the younger ones has changed to aversion and ridicule as he grew up older.

Although Kolkatan tram has entered into its 3rd century,yet it has been able to maintain its much touted hype,sheer & still attracts people to have a smooth silk glide on it’s carriages.Tramcars evoke poetry which often remains incomprehensible in words.

Really indeed, Tram lends Kolkata an old world charm and add to the romantic element to the city.This slow moving ,electrical reptile in narrow and crowded streets completes the ultimate attraction of the city .Having glided down the rails as a historian witness,Tram has itself been turned into an immemorial heritage for which the whole Kolkatans will be proud of.

Of course, trams need to survive in Kolkata. The CTC was yet another institution that still retained the old name of the City of Joy viz. Calcutta. The CTC is now passe. It is now an entity under the merged West Bengal Transport Corporation Ltd (WBTCL)