Trams return in discussions, but not on roads of Kolkata

The struggling street cars, read trams, are making a comeback in Kolkata; at least in discussion.

Trams, alongside electrical vehicles, can play a key role in reducing the city’s carbon footprint and in its fight against climate change, agreed experts and bureaucrats in a climate related meeting held in British High Commission on Wednesday.

An IIT Kharagpur transport expert, during the meeting, has sought permission “to do operational and technical audit of 4 to 5 tram routes” to understand what ails the struggling streetcars in city while it continues to play a major role in transport mix globally.

Incidentally the city, one of the few in the world having uninterrupted tramways since 1902, had about 300 trams running regularly in 80s, even about 100 in 2014; but presently only have around 20 trams in average plying on city roads daily.

The meeting to discuss the roadmap for ‘Kolkata Climate Vision 2030’, organised at the backdrop of several recent United Nations reports highlighting Kolkata’s acute vulnerability to several climate threats, was attended by senior officials of state government, climate experts as well as British deputy high commissioner Nick Low and Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s mayor in council Debasish Kumar.

“We are at a crossroads … the decisions we make now can secure a liveable future” said Low reminding that “Kolkata’s leadership role in combatting climate change has won international recognition”.

The background note prepared by British deputy high commission highlighted that the recent UN report, published this April, “has applauded Kolkata’s action on public transportation system which has contributed towards bringing down the trend of greenhouse gas emissions…”.

“Trams are the original electric vehicles” said Rajanvir Singh Kapur, managing director of West Bengal Transport Corporation, who professed his personal liking to trams, recognised its role in urban mobility but also pointed out the need to reconcile environmental and economic needs, trying to reason why so few trams now ply on roads.

“Kolkata city has a great heritage of harnessing electricity from trams … It’s pioneering efforts in e-mobility needs to be sustained and enlarged” stated Suresh Kumar, state power secretary in the meeting.

“No point in turning trams as heritage objects in Kolkata, and rather they should be looked as an active transport in city” said a climate expert while outlining Kolkata’s vulnerability.

“We want to see trams as an actively operating transport mode in Kolkata and need to understand why trams are losing ridership” reiterated BhargabMaitra, a transport expert and a professor in IIT Kharagpur.

“Allow me to do operational and technical audit of 4 to 5 tram routes to understand why ridership is dwindling” said Maitra who expressed hope that the trams can be revived with involvement of all stakeholders.

“We will take the discussion forward” assured HaimantiPoddar, senior climate expert with British Deputy High Commission in Kolkata.

Trams are waiting in the sidelines.