The iconic Indian city is in danger of extinction

Last week, the authorities of the Indian city of Kolkata announced plans to completely eliminate trams, leaving only a small historic loop. In response, a group of activists are fighting to ensure that trams remain a vital mode of transport and not just a nostalgic ride. Sandip Roy Report.

In February 2023, Kolkata celebrated the 150th anniversary of its trams with music, cake, a beauty parade of vintage trams, including a century-old wooden carriage, and cheerful tram conductor Roberto D’Andrea, who came all the way from Melbourne, Australia.

Melbourne and Kolkata boast two of the oldest operating trams in the world. Trams in Melbourne date back to 1885. The first tram in Calcutta, a horse-drawn one, was launched in 1873.

This is where the similarities end.

Melbourne’s tram system is doing well, even though the government once tried to get rid of them. The system has been modernized and some trams are powered by solar energy.

The number of trams in Kolkata has been steadily declining over the years. From 52 routes in the 1970s, to 25 in 2015, and now to just three.

The tram cars rattle and squeak, having not been modernized for years. Even the signs inside haven’t changed. “Beware of pickpockets,” “No change allowed for 100 rupees ($1.19; $0.89) or 50,” and “To keep your car, call only once.”

Now the state government has announced that it wants to phase out trams altogether, except for one small loop as a heritage route.

But a fierce group of tram activists are resisting.

“This is a huge step backwards as cities around the world ‘decarbonise transport’ due to global warming and climate change,” says Mr D’Andrea, who has helped build the Kolkata-Melbourne Tram Friendship over the years.

“More than 400 cities have tram systems. Cities that have dismantled their trams are rebuilding them at great cost in places like Sydney and Helsinki and across France. In Hong Kong, trams run very frequently on narrow streets,” he says.

West Bengal Transport Minister Snehasis Chakraborty told the media, “The population and number of vehicles in Kolkata have increased manifold, but the roads in the city have not widened. Road area continues to hover around 6%, which is much lower than Mumbai’s 18% and Delhi’s 10%.

Both of these cities once had trams. In Bombay they were two-story. They both dealt with them, leaving Calcutta as the only Indian city to keep its trams running.

In a sense, they have become a symbol of the city itself.

The city has other monuments – the steel Howrah Bridge, the white-domed Victoria Memorial and colonial buildings in the city center. But just as London has its iconic red double-decker buses, Kolkata has its trams. The alarm clock that woke up many Kolkata residents was the sound of the first tram of the day passing through the streets.

They are a common sight in movies shot in the state.

“I have used trams and also a tram depot in two of my films,” says director Anjan Dutt.

Mahanagar (1963) by renowned director Satyajit Ray opens with a stunning two-minute tram sequence, sparks flying from the overhead wires, before the camera moves inside and lingers on the protagonist’s tired face as he returns home from work. The tram here represents the city itself, its dreams and everyday routine.

In fact, Kolkata’s Belgachia tram depot, once bustling with workers repairing, maintaining and even building trams, now often functions as a movie set. “Even on a working day, I saw videos being shot in the workshop,” says Subir Bose, an employee of the tram company who retired in 2022 after 39 years of work. “The Calcutta film means they have to show the tram.”

Trams are very much part of the city’s history and self-esteem.

In 1902, Calcutta, as it was then called, became the first Asian city to be equipped with electric trams. Even after independence, the Calcutta Tramways Company operated from London and was listed on the London Stock Exchange until 1968. The wagons were built by companies with names such as Burn Standard and Jessop.

And it wasn’t just the transportation system. Tram lines connect the city.

When there were bloody Hindu-Muslim riots in Kolkata partition in 1947tram workers patrolled the city with empty trams to help restore normality.

“My father helped save some people from the mob,” says tram driver Gopal Ram. “The tram workers were like family. It didn’t matter whether you were a Hindu or a Muslim.”

Mr. Ram’s great-grandfather, Antu Ram, was a tram worker in the days of steam vehicles. His grandfather Mahavir and father Jagannath also worked in trams. Mr Ram recently retired – the fourth and last generation of his family to work in Kolkata’s trams.

It is somewhat of a mystery that Kolkata’s trams have survived for so long.

“In the 1950s and 1960s, during the passenger car boom, people were getting rid of trams everywhere, not just in India,” says transportation consultant Suvendu Seth.

“Now they are back. The streetcar in many US cities is simply a newer version of streetcars. It’s sad that we’ve had this all along and are neglecting it instead of improving it.

Seth argues that instead of complaining about the lack of space on the roads, an innovative solution would be to make some roads available only for pedestrians and trams.

Debashis Bhattacharyya, a retired academic and president of the Kolkata Tram Users’ Association, believes that trams have survived in Kolkata all these years because they connected the city’s schools, hospitals and cinemas.

In the 1990s, as the number of cars and buses increased, the country’s then communist government called the trams “obsolete” and wanted to get rid of them.

“I protested,” says Bhattacharyya. “When the trams were running, I felt that my entire existence was in danger. I did exhibitions, slide shows, and brought in foreign experts. The government should apply to have the trams listed as a UNESCO cultural heritage site instead of trying to destroy them. “

Recently, activists have been trying to use culture to save trams.

Since 1996, filmmaker Mahadeb Shi has organized the Tramjatra festival, often in collaboration with Mr. D’Andrea. Art school students paint trams, and local bands perform on the trams.

Each Tramjatra has a theme, such as Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore’s Gitanjali and the city’s Durga Puja festival.

“Tram also helped young people become familiar with trams,” Shi says.

Recently, one of the tram routes in North Kolkata was reopened. The West Bengal Transport Corporation also tried to bring coolness back to trams with special projects such as a tram library, a special Independence Day tram and the short-lived Tram World museum.

When Calcutta received C40 Cities Green Mobility Award. in Copenhagen in 2019, Mayor Firhad Hakim said that trams are a key part of his vision to make urban transport fully electric by 2030.

But now it seems he has forgotten that oath. The government admits that trams are a “green” form of transport, but says it is investing instead in other forms – electric buses and cars, and the expansion of the underground metro.

Bhattacharyya says tram routes have been swallowed up by tuk-tuks, which generate more jobs and votes for the government. Tram depots also contain valuable real estate that the government can sell.

Shi, however, insists that the final bell has not yet rung as the case is currently being heard by the Calcutta High Court, which last year constituted an advisory committee to look into how tram services can be restored and maintained in Kolkata, and the state is awaiting committee report before taking further action.

Bose, a retired tram worker, says the government could have closed the trams long ago, but each time something stopped it. Perhaps because he senses the importance of trams for the city, he says.

“Three things created Kolkata Kolkata – Howrah Bridge, Victoria Memorial and trams. It’s heartbreaking to think we might lose one of them.”