<p>The 1992 film, City of Joy, directed by Roland Joffe and based on Dominique Lapierre’s novel, immortalised the sights and sounds of a vibrant <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/kolkata">Kolkata</a> (then Calcutta). </p><p>The movie prominently featured the iconic Kolkata tram, which, in today’s era of high-speed trains and the Vande Bharat Express, seems anachronistic.</p>.<p>The ubiquitous tram, which for a century and a half wound its way through the city’s thoroughfares, was an invaluable link to the past. Soon, only a single route covering a small stretch will remain, reminding the city of a less hurried city of the past. For most Kolkatans, and even people like me whose sojourn in the city lasted a mere three years, the news of trams fading out of the city was disheartening. The sight of the carriages jostling for space on the Howrah Bridge, choc-a-bloc with traffic was indeed a pleasant sight for sore eyes. Introduced in 1873, the tram replaced horse-drawn carriages and offered an affordable, friendly mode of transport.</p>.Fowl play on the road.<p>So, what made the tram so attractive to Kolkatans and led to their patronising it? For one, unlike other modes of transport, it was always light on the purse, and everyone could afford it, from the daily wage earners to small shop employees. The tram’s numerous stops allowed passengers to hop on and off with ease. Its only drawback, perhaps, was its pace as slow as a snail, prompting jokes that walking would take one faster to his destination than the tram, which, like a centipede, would crawl on along the city.</p>.<p>History shows that decades back, when the tram company increased the fare by a few paises, users took to the streets, demanding a rollback. Those days are gone, and today, the Kolkata government acknowledged that the tram service has turned into a white elephant, a financial burden that can no longer be subsidised with maintenance costs far exceeding revenue.</p>.<p>Interestingly, Kolkata was the first city to introduce the Metro, which has since expanded to cover many cities across India, relegating the humble tram to a bygone era. Although the tram lines will remain, the trams themselves will soon disappear from Kolkata, and the views of the city from the tram windows will become a distant memory. Kolkata will soon lose its old-world charm, and a relic of the past will soon fade from memory, but life will inevitably move on.</p>
<p>The 1992 film, City of Joy, directed by Roland Joffe and based on Dominique Lapierre’s novel, immortalised the sights and sounds of a vibrant <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/kolkata">Kolkata</a> (then Calcutta). </p><p>The movie prominently featured the iconic Kolkata tram, which, in today’s era of high-speed trains and the Vande Bharat Express, seems anachronistic.</p>.<p>The ubiquitous tram, which for a century and a half wound its way through the city’s thoroughfares, was an invaluable link to the past. Soon, only a single route covering a small stretch will remain, reminding the city of a less hurried city of the past. For most Kolkatans, and even people like me whose sojourn in the city lasted a mere three years, the news of trams fading out of the city was disheartening. The sight of the carriages jostling for space on the Howrah Bridge, choc-a-bloc with traffic was indeed a pleasant sight for sore eyes. Introduced in 1873, the tram replaced horse-drawn carriages and offered an affordable, friendly mode of transport.</p>.Fowl play on the road.<p>So, what made the tram so attractive to Kolkatans and led to their patronising it? For one, unlike other modes of transport, it was always light on the purse, and everyone could afford it, from the daily wage earners to small shop employees. The tram’s numerous stops allowed passengers to hop on and off with ease. Its only drawback, perhaps, was its pace as slow as a snail, prompting jokes that walking would take one faster to his destination than the tram, which, like a centipede, would crawl on along the city.</p>.<p>History shows that decades back, when the tram company increased the fare by a few paises, users took to the streets, demanding a rollback. Those days are gone, and today, the Kolkata government acknowledged that the tram service has turned into a white elephant, a financial burden that can no longer be subsidised with maintenance costs far exceeding revenue.</p>.<p>Interestingly, Kolkata was the first city to introduce the Metro, which has since expanded to cover many cities across India, relegating the humble tram to a bygone era. Although the tram lines will remain, the trams themselves will soon disappear from Kolkata, and the views of the city from the tram windows will become a distant memory. Kolkata will soon lose its old-world charm, and a relic of the past will soon fade from memory, but life will inevitably move on.</p>
