The West Bengal government has decided to end Kolkata’s 150-year-old tram service soon, making the lone heritage stretch from Maidan to Esplanad, Transport Minister Snehasis Chakraborty said.
However, tram lovers decided to take to the streets to protest the decision. Kolkata is the only city in the country where trams continue to operate.
Chakraborty said that the slow moving trams that ply the roads and create traffic jams during peak hours cannot run in the current situation as commuters need faster modes of transport.
“Trams are undoubtedly part of Calcutta’s heritage, introduced in 1873 as horse-drawn carriages and playing a vital role in transport in the last century.
“But since roads are only 6 percent of Kolkata’s land area and with the increase in vehicular traffic, we have observed that trams cannot run on the roads on the same routes at the same time, leading to traffic jams,” Chakraborty told reporters on Monday. evening.
Chakraborty said that since the issue of running trams is now pending before the Calcutta High Court, the state government will make the above submission in the next hearing.
The Supreme Court, while hearing the PIL on December 11 last year, suggested that the public-private partnership (PPP) model can be used to revive and rejuvenate Kolkata’s tram service. Tram traffic has already been suspended on several routes in the city.
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However, historical trams will run between Maidan and Esplanade so that people can ride in a pleasant and ecological way, the minister said.
The Calcutta Tram Users Association (CUTA) reacted strongly to the state’s announcement, saying it would stage demonstrations outside five tram depots across the city in protest.
Kaushik Das, a member of the CUTA association, said, “If the government repairs and ensures regular maintenance of the trams, which are lying unused in several depots for several years, they can run the fleet without any problems.”
The association launched a hashtag campaign to save Kolkata’s trams.
