Calendars on trams: Featuring ride down memory tracks removed years ago
Telegraph | 4 February 2025
A tram that used to ferry staff to different locations and one running along Manohar Das Tarag in Esplanade, from where the tracks were removed years ago, feature in a calendar dedicated to the trams of Calcutta.
Two calendars — a table calendar and a wall calendar — were released on Saturday by the Calcutta Tram Users Association, a group of Calcuttans advocating for a wider tram network in the city.
Debashis Bhattacharya, a founder member of the association, said there was no calendar exclusively on trams. The tram users association wanted to fill that void.
“This is also a silent protest against the government’s intention to shut down trams in the city. We want to keep up pressure on the government to rethink their decision,” he said.
Two members of the association — Indranil Banerjee and Anurag Mitra — were instrumental in preparing the calendars. “I have never come across calendars on trams. Our objective is also to show to young people, who have not taken tram rides or taken very few rides, that once Calcutta had smart trams that used to run very fast on the boulevards,” said Banerjee, an electrical engineer with the Indian Railways.
Fifty table calendars were printed and 42 had been sold out till Sunday evening. New bookings were being placed at short frequencies, said Banerjee. Another lot of 50 calendars will be printed soon.
Each table calendar costs ₹150 and has to be taken by the person who booked it. A wall calendar costs ₹300 along with a courier charge of ₹90.
“Very few wall calendars have been printed and we will print them as we receive bookings,” he said.
The pictures of trams in the calendars are from the1960s.
Banerjee said one of the pictures shows a tram running along the Manohar Das Tarag.
“There used to be tram track there, but the routes were stopped years ago. This is an image that shows the expanse of the tram network at one point in time,” said Banerjee.
The picture of January shows a staff car that was used to bring the tram employees to different depots for duty.
“It was built in 1880. It was used as a horse-drawn tram car which featured in the 300 years celebration of Calcutta,” said Banerjee.
Bengal transport minister Snehasis Chakraborty told The Telegraph in December that the state has informed Calcutta High Court that it wants to run trams on only one route, between Esplanade and Maidan.
Advocates of a wider tram network are opposing this decision of the state government.