End of the Line: The Death of Kolkata’s Trams and the Unmaking of a City’s Identity

It was already September, and the sunshine was unbearably hot and humid; the last time, the horn of Kolkata’s trams also shouted. These vehicles have served the city for 151 years, clanging on tracks laid centuries ago, from the first of the former British Empire in the city’s history to the newly independent face and, subsequently, the boom of modern Indian overdrive. It is ‘September 24, 2024’, which is an end to all this, a complete closure, today. The steely silhouette of the tram, along with its ear-deafening whistle, has finally met its end. For all time, this is the end of the tram. This is not the only end to Kolkata’s public transit system. This is a tragedy because younger generations are losing a piece of the city that used to live and pulse with its metropolitan beat, but with a’satiating’ pace among all the rush of its urban density.

Tramways, a favorite mode of transport for the people of Calcutta, became operational on February 24, 1873. After the year 1902, electric trams were introduced to the streets as a cutting-edge innovation in transport. Many trams indeed became quintessential city life artefacts and showed few…