Tram-pling on a good mode of transport

When the West Bengal government’s decision to discontinue the iconic 150-year-old tram service in Kolkata comes into effect, an idea of the city would die and a cultural icon that defined its life would move into history. It is difficult to imagine the City of Joy without its tramways, which made its lifeline. The imaginations of Satyajit Ray and Mrinal Sen, and of many writers and artists rode on it, and many ideas of the Bengal Renaissance and the freedom struggle would have flowered in the tram cars.

Generations have entered and exited their doors. But the government has said that it decided to end the service because of increasing traffic congestion and financial non-viability. Many routes have been cut in the last many years and the government plans to run a tram as a heritage item only on one solitary stretch of the city.  

The government’s decision has been opposed widely by the people and experts, and the grounds for the decision have been contested. It has been pointed out that trams do not cause traffic congestion, it is the mismanagement of traffic that causes it. Kolkata is a slow city with the maximum speed at peak hours only 15-16 km per hour. There is a huge increase in the number of vehicles, parking facilities are poor, and the carriageway has shrunk.

All this has not happened because of the trams. Trams are an energy- and environment-friendly means of public transport the world over. Their operational costs are low and they have a long service life. Over 450 cities in the world operate trams. The present trend is to increase the tramways length. Countries which had stopped tram services are reviving them. Vehicular pollution and climate change are serious issues to be contended with and the trams provide a means of transport which would help to counter them. At present, there is a need for cheap, sustainable, eco-friendly transport systems and the argument favours the trams. 

There is commerce behind the government’s move. The tram depots are very valuable property and the government wants to free up acres of prime urban space for exploitation. The reason for the interest of politicians in putting an end to tram services can well be imagined in light of this possibility, and there is the smell of corruption in the move. Experts have said that trams can still be redesigned, reformed and revived and made into vehicles for the future rather than relics of the past. Many of man’s ways to reduce time and distance have moved into history, but trams still have a role, and both history and future present a case for Kolkata’s trams.