Two Tram Routes to Resume by Durga Puja in Kolkata

The West Bengal Transport Corporation (WBTC) will be resuming two tram routes that were suspended after Cyclone Amphan in 2020 by Durga Puja this year.

Before cyclone Amphan, six routes were operational in the Kolkata tramway network. After Amphan, the WBTC worked day in and out and restored five out of six routes in the months that followed.

The five routes that got restarted after Amphan restoration work were: Tollygunge to Ballygunge route, Rajabazar to Howrah Bridge route, Gariahat to Esplanade route, Esplanade Shyambazar and Howrah to Shyambazar route.

At present, out of these; 3 routes are temporarily suspended due to ongoing Kolkata metro work. WBTC is presently operating tram services in two routes- Gariahat- Esplanade and Tollygunge- Ballygunge.

Two routes are still suspended due to some pending repairing works post-Amphaan cyclone and if the repair work is done, these two routes can be resumed by Durga Puja this year.

These two routes are Khidirpur-Esplanade and Bidhannagar-Rajabazar.

Repairing work of two routes Khidirpur- Esplanade and Bidhannagar- Rajabazar is expected to start soon. If all goes well with material procurement and repair work, these routes will be operational by Durga Puja.

Khidirpur- Esplanade- route No.36, Runs between Khidirpur tram depot and Sahid Minar loop via Fancy Market, Wattgunge Junction, Hastings, Race Course, Fort William, Red Road.

Bidhannagar- Rajabazar is part of Route No. 18 (Bidhannagar- Howrah Bridge) via Maniktala.

Tenders for overhead wires, traction poles supply, erection, etc have already been floated. Approximate cost involvement may be about Rs 1.3 crore and Rs 75 lakh, respectively.

The trams began in 1873 and were electrified in 1900. Since 1902, the electric tramcars have been adorning the city of joy, with this heritage transport.

The trams were closed in early 2020 when the lockdown started. Due to Amphan, a lot of tracks were damaged by trees and the overhead wire system got badly damaged.

Since then, restoration work has been underway by the WBTC of the Transport Department. The WBTC team of engineers worked overnight to restore the tram tracks.

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