Trams in Kolkata

You have seen them in Satyajit Ray’s Mahanagar or Buddhadeb Dasgupta’s Grihayuddha. You have seen them in Mani Ratnam’s Yuva and recently in Sujoy Ghosh’s Kahani or Dibakar Bannerjee’s Detective Byomkesh Bakshy – the trams in Kolkata have inspired cinematic journeys for more than a century now and carries the legacy of the British Raj along with a pompous narrative of Kolkata and the then Calcutta.

The journey of electric trams in Kolkata is certainly a timeless account. It started way back in 1873 – the first in Asia and the only one in India, the horse-pulled trams gradually became electric locomotive in 1882.

Trams in Kolkata contribute a lot to the old-world charm of this eastern Indian metropolis and remains reminiscent of the erstwhile British Empire. A leisurely journey to have a glimpse of Kolkata’s iconic places, trams are often favoured by foreign tourists very much like a heritage journey running through the heart of the city.