Very few of us know Delhi also had public tram services
I came to Delhi in November 1992. In the year 1993, I went to Kashmere Gate - Jama Masjid area for some work. Suddenly I saw small portions of tram lines (tracks) in a few place. I recognized tram lines very clearly, because I was from Calcutta, where trams used to ply even then. I could not believe my eyes! Had there been tram services in Delhi?I asked many people. But most of them ridiculed me. Some said that I could not forget Calcutta, my birth-place, so I managed to find tramlines even in Delhi. Only a very old man vaguely remembered that there might be tram services in a few areas of Delhi, which he had seen during his childhood.
I could not forget those small portions of tram lines/tracks. I tried to find out. Much later, when internet came to provide information about anything under the sun, I came to know the real facts.
Delhi's tram service was once a symbol of modernity, bustling through the city's crowded lanes during the British colonial period. The first trams, introduced in 1908, were simple, horse-drawn carriages. These horse-drawn trams used to ply from Chandni Chowk to Daryaganj. However, trams in Delhi had only one coach, whereas trams in Calcutta always had two coaches.
In the 1920s, the horse-drawn trams were replaced by electric trams (just like what happened in Calcutta a few years before). The tram services in Delhi continued even after independence. However, bowing to the pressure from the speedier bus services and demands of the modern capital city, the tram services in Delhi were finally discontinued in 1963.
Very recently, I have heard that discussion is going on to re-start tram services in some select places of old Delhi (Chandni Chowk) to give people a feel of the British era. I am eagerly waiting to travel by tram in Delhi!
