WBTC buries tram heritage loop tracks under concrete
Times of India | 24 November 2025
Kolkata: The hope of a tram ride on a heritage route in the city may be slipping into oblivion with the transport department starting to build concrete bus shelters directly on the tracks at Curzon Park, an alignment the department had rebuilt only four years ago.
The dismantling coincided with Kolkata's tramway celebrating 150th year.
The concretisation of the tracks contradicts repeated assurances from transport minister Snehasis Chakraborty, who promised that a stretch of Kolkata's century-old tramway would be preserved as a heritage corridor. Instead, the very tracks meant to keep the legacy alive are now being buried under concrete, raising questions about the department's intent, transparency and respect for urban heritage.
The loop at Curzon Park was reconstructed in 2021 to restore tram movement between Kidderpore and Esplanade. The work was funded after Metro Railway compensated the state for the loss of tram services during the construction of the Green Line Esplanade station. For heritage activists, the restoration of the tracks symbolised a commitment towards conserving India's first electrified tram corridor—Esplanade to Kidderpore—with trams starting journey in the city in 1902.
Now the restored alignment is being blocked by concrete platforms for bus shelters, making the tracks unusable. Asked about the legality of building concrete structures on an active tramway alignment, especially when the matter is under judicial scrutiny, transport minister Chakraborty offered an evasive response. "There has been an inordinate delay in the court order. We are trying to maximise the utility of land. If necessary, we can restore the loop in future," he said, without addressing the violation of the order or the long-term implications.
Heritage and transport activists are far from being convinced. "This is a violation of the Calcutta HC order that prohibits putting any layer—bituminous or concrete—over tram tracks," said Debasish Bhattacharya, president of Calcutta Tram Users' Association. "The act exposes WBTC's intent of not running any tram at all." He said laying new tracks a few years ago and then, burying them under concrete amounted to misuse of taxpayers' money.
Urban mobility researchers argued that the losses went beyond infrastructure. "The city cannot be conceived without its enduring symbol of transportation," said Toshali Chattopadhyay from Dublin City University, who has been researching the city's tramways. "Kolkata's trams are a living cultural identity."