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Save Trams in Kolkata Kolkata and Trams have a long history together starting from the british era. It had become a part of our cultural heritage but now days due to various reasons trams are being neglected.
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The Calcutta Tramway Co. Ltd was formed and registered in London on 22 December. Metre-gauge horse-drawn tram tracks were laid from Sealdah to Armenian Ghat via Bowbazar Street, Dalhousie Square and Strand Road.
1902 The first electric tramcar in Asia ran from Esplanade to Kidderpore on 27 March, and
on 14 June from Esplanade to Kalighat.
1903 The Kalighat line was extended to Tollygunje, the Esplanade line to Belgachhia (via
Bidhan Sarani, Shyambazar), and the Esplanade to Shialdaha route (via Binay BadalDinesh Bag, Rajib Gandhi Sarani and [present] Mahatma Gandhi Road) opened.
1904 Esplanade to Bagbazar route through College Street opened.
1905 Howrah Station to Bandhaghat route was opened to trams in June. Electrification
project completed.
1906 Bowbazar Junction to Binay Badal Dinesh Bag, Ahiritola Junction to Hatibagan
Junction routes opened.
1908 Lines to Shibpur via G.T. Road prepared. Esplanade to Shialdaha station via Moula Ali Junction,
Moula Ali Junction to Nonapukur, Wattganj Junction to J.Das Park Junction (via Alipur), MominpurJunction to Behala routes opened.
1910 Shialdaha Station to Rajabazar route opened.
1915 Mirzapur Junction to Bowbazar Junction and Shialdaha Station to Lebutala Junction routes opened.
1920 Strand Road Junction to High Court route opened.
1923 S.C.Mallik Square Junction to Park Circus route (via Royd Street, Nonapukur) opened.
1925 Barhabazar Junction to Nimtala route opened.
1928 Kalighat to Baliganj route opened.
1930
Park Circus line extended to Garhiahat Junction.
1941
Rajabazar line extended to Galiff Street.
1943
The Calcutta system was connected with the Howrah section through the new Howrah Bridge in February. With this extension, the total track length reached 42.0 miles (67.59 km).
1951
The government of West Bengal entered into an agreement with the Calcutta Tramways Company, and the Calcutta Tramways Act of 1951 was enacted. The government assumed all rights regarding the Tramways, and reserved the right to purchase the system (with two years' notice) on 1st January 1972 or any time thereafter.
1967
The Government of West Bengal passed the Calcutta Tramways Company (Taking Over of Management) Act and assumed management on 19 July. On 8 November 1976 the Calcutta Tramways (Acquisition of Undertaking) ordinance was promulgated, under which the company (and its assets) united with the government.
1970
The Howrah sections were closed in October; the 1971/1973 Nimtala route was closed down in May 1973, and realignment of the Howrah Station terminus occurred. Total track length was now reduced to 38 miles (61.2 km).
1980 Tram tracks on Bentinck Street and Ashutosh Mukhopadhyay Road closed for
construction of the Kolkata metro; following construction, these stretches were not reopened. Overhead wires were present until 1994 on Bentinck Street. Tracks on Jawaharlal Nehru Road remained after realignment, making a new terminus at Birla Planetarium; the Birla Planetarium route closed in 1991. An overpass was constructed on that road in 2006.
1982 The Sealdah Station terminus (along with the Sealdaha - Lebutala stretch on Bipin
Bihari Gangopadhyay Street) closed for construction of an overpass. The site is now occupied by Sealdah Court and a bus terminal.
1985 On 17 April, tracks were extended connecting Manicktola to Ultadanga via Manicktola
Main road and C. I. T. Road 3.7 km (2.30 mi). This was the first Tramways extension since 1947.
1986 On 31 December, further extension of tram tracks from Behala to Joka was completed.
CTC Buses were well known inKolkata for not abiding to trafficNorms and misbehavior withPeople and other car drivers.
1993 Howrah Station terminus closed and tram tracks removed on Howrah Bridge; the
cantilever bridge proved too weak for trams. All routes terminated there were shortened to the Barhabazar (Howrah Bridge) terminus (formerly Barhabazar Junction).
1995 High Court terminus closed for reconstruction of Strand Road. Rails and wires were
removed from there and from Strand Road, Hare Street and Shahid Kshudiram BasuRoad. The site is now occupied by the newest building of the Kolkata High Court.
2004 Garhiahat Depot - Garhiahat Junction link on Gariahat Road closed for construction
of the Gariahat overpass.
2006 Mominpur - Behala stretch on Diamond Harbour Road closed for construction of an
overpass at Taratala. Initially, there was a plan to route tracks on that overpass after its completion, but the road was later converted to a National Highway and the plan dismissed. The Behala - Joka stretch is still in existence, along with the Behala terminus.
2007 Wattgunge Junction - Mominpur Diamond Harbour Road, Mominpur - Jatin Das Park
Judges Court Road, Jatin Das Park - Kalighat Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Road, Kalighat -Ballygunge Station Rash Behari Avenue and Kalighat - Tollygunge S. P. Mukherjee Road, Deshapran Sashmal Road routes closed for reconstruction. As of early 2011, they have not yet reopened.
2008 Galiff Street terminus realigned. Irregular service from Bagbazar to Galiff Street
converted to regular by Route 7/12. Rails and wires removed from part of BidhanSarani route (restored by end of year).
Kolkata is the only Indian city with trams.
2009 Tracks on R. G. Kar Road from Shyambazar five-point crossing to Belgatchia tram
depot closed down for reconstruction. As of early 2011, they are not yet restored.
Metro Rail requires about a 1000 times more cost than a Tram Rail infrastructure. Imagine Kolkata and suburbs fully connected by tram at the cost of a single metro track. This is where our tax money goes.
Metro Rail requires very high maintenance costs and this means metro fares will be high as well. Are people willing to pay so much?
Metro is highly unsafe and dangerous during rain, earthquakes and fire incidents.
Its CHEAP. Free of Pollution Least accident prone mode of transport. Ease of mind. No ticket lines. Monthly passes available. Not possible for BUSES. Easy to get up and down. In METROS lot of time is wasted
in walking stairs, ticket lines and security check in and out. Can be used by ALL AGES. People Carrying childrens in
prams cannot use METROS or BUSES. Also old people cannot walk stairs in METROS. Trams are best suited for this.
Not all people have a hurry in going to places. But do buses and metros really save that much time and money?
In many cities around the world, like VIENNA, MINSK, BRUSSELS, RIO DE JANEIRO, SOFIA, TORONTO, DALIAN, HONGKONG, PRAGUE, HELSINKI, MARSELLIE, BERLIN, MUNICH, NUREMBERG, BUDAPEST, MILAN, NAPLES, ROME, SAPPORO, TOKYO, MEXICO CITY, AMSTERDAM, ROTTERDAM, OSLO, WARSAW, LISBON, BUCHAREST, CHELYABINSK, KAZAN, KRASNOYARK, MOSCOW, NIZHNI-NOVGOROD, NOVOSIBIRSK, SAINT PETERSBERG, YEKATERINBURG, BARCELONA, STOCKHOLM, DNIPROPETROVSK, KHARKIV, KIEV, PHILADELPHIA, SANFRANSISCO, TASHKENT etc. is running tram continuously over hundred year. All these cities also have metro. Both systems are integrated, and peoples easily switch from one to another. You know that all these cities are much advanced, rich and fast than KOLKATA, but they didn’t closed tram network, or fully replaced by metro.
Some cities like BUENOS AIRES, SHANGHAI, TIANJIN, LYON, PARIS, ATHENS, PYONGYANG, BILBAO, MADRID, VALENCIA, LAUSANNE, ISTANBUL, LONDON etc. once have a good tram network, but they closed foolishly during sixties for thinking that metro will solve all problems, but despite all these cities has a good metro network, they again returned tram after late eighties, and now tram of these cities are acting as a feeder service of metro. You also know that all these cities are also much advanced, rich and fast than KOLKATA, but they have returned tram, despite they have sufficient metro.
Beside those cities, some cities like ALGIERS, BRASILIA, HAMBURG, DELHI, MUMBAI, ALMATY, DUBAI etc. which once closed their network, or earlier only had metro, they are constructing or planning new tramway network. You also know that all these cities are also much advanced, rich and fast than KOLKATA, but they are returning tram, because they are not satisfied with metro.