Not just nostalgia value: Why Kolkata wants its trams back

West Bengal's new government reversed the previous administration's policy and committed to reviving Kolkata's tram network.

The government hired RITES to prepare a comprehensive blueprint for reviving Asia-Pacific's oldest surviving tram system.

Transport minister Arjun Singh said the revival includes heritage trams and battery-operated trams without overhead wires.

A proposed tram corridor would connect Kalighat and Dakshineswar along the Ganga and Adi Ganga rivers.

Kolkata's first horse-drawn tram ran on February 24, 1873, covering 3.9 km between Armenian Ghat and Sealdah.