Where have all the trams gone?
The heritage ride took place on a refurbished rail scrubber (Rs 2).
In a bid to bring some ease of travel to the city’s commuters, the state transport department, resumed tram services on one of its routes today.
The city’s tram services have remained suspended since the implementation of the lockdown in the month of March. Services were supposed to be resumed in the month of June.
However, the super cyclone ‘Amphan’ that wrecked havoc in various parts of the state, caused severe damage to the tram networks in the city. Tracks at several places in Kolkata were damaged by uprooted trees.
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The overhead wire systems were also badly damaged. The West Bengal Transport Corporation, which is the custodian of trams in the city, since then, has taken up the restoration work with the help of Kolkata Municipal Corporation and Kolkata Police.
In Kolkata, there are around 25 routes of which about seven routes were operational before the lockdown, according to sources.
Around 30 trams run along these seven routes, as informed by sources. The single bogie revamped trams have been in huge demand, ever since their introduction last year.
The engineers have been able to restore one route out of the seven, after rigorous trial runs which were conducted on 12 and 13 June by WBTC. Services of the restored route number 24/29 between Tollygunge and Ballygunge resumed today.
“The drivers and the conductors of the operational route have to maintain a strict safety protocol including PPEs, mask and gloves,” said an official of WBTC.
“Trams along with the depots are to be sanitised and disinfected properly and regularly before and after each shift of operation,” he added.
To ensure social distancing norms among the commuters, passengers only up to the seating capacity of the tram are being allowed to board.
Also, no passenger without a mask is being allowed to board the tram. The timings of tram operation are 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at an interval of 40 minutes.
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