On December 22, 1880, the Calcutta Tramways Company (CTC) was registered in London. Ever since, the tramcars have been symbolic of Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) and is the only city which has continued to use the service (compared to Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai who discontinued it long back). To perpetuate the memory of the trams of Kolkata, a museum (named Smaranika) housed in a vintage 1938 two-bogey was set up in the Esplanade Tram Depot in 2014.
And now, a new gallery called Tram World is being opened in the Gariahat Tram Depot (near Ballygunge Phari in south Kolkata) by the West Bengal Transport Corporation. Among other things, the gallery will display old bogeys, replicas of tram cars, and photographs.
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The Tram World is being designed like an entertainment zone, and will have a concert area, lounges, and a food court.
The Tram World will be opened to the public on December 23, 2020. To enter, visitors have to buy a ticket priced at Rs 30 per head.
The transport department has also introduced several thematic trams recently, such as a library tram for general public, a library tram for kids, and a jute-decorated tram.