When tram lines were ubiquitous in old Madras

Madras Tramway Co. formed in London (1885) to lay 18 miles of track, 1st tram ran (1895), people paid 6 paise/mile, employees struck, appeal for women’s seats, closed (1953), T.R. Lakshmi Narayanan (83) recalls his childhood experience.

On March 30, 1885, The Hindu carried an announcement that the Madras Tramway Company had been formed in London with a capital of 1,85,000 pounds sterling. The decision followed “interesting information collected” the previous year about the number of jatkas, hackney carriages, and bullock carts on major roads such as Napier Bridge, Wallajah Road and Elephant Gate Bridge. It was decided to lay 18 miles of tramway (12 miles single-lane and 3 miles double lane). 

In February 1895, the first tram ran between “Power Station, Egmore and Pachaiyappa’s College with two slight halts on the road in 12 minutes”. Initially, people travelled free of cost then the government announced that people must pay “six paisse for each mile or a fraction of a mile”. 

The government imposed conditions such as passengers shall not talk to the driver on duty or travel on footboards. Despite periodic employee, strikes people patronised trams and there was also an appeal for separate seats for women. But on April 11, 1953, the Madras Tramway Company closed officially; leaving 1,650 workers jobless. 

T.R. Lakshmi Narayanan, 83, recalled that he had travelled by tram as a 12-year-old. “That must have been in 1952-53. The sound of the bell as it rang when the tram passed by is something. I used to visit my doctor, who was in Royapettah. Santhome Church (area) was a terminus. The tram would move via Kutchery Road to Royapettah High Road, then on to Peters Road, and travel via Mount Road (now known as Anna Salai) to reach Parry’s Corner.   

“The track would look like the train tracks you see at railway level crossings nowadays. I would travel from Luz in Mylapore to Royapettah for half an anna (an anna was equal to 1/16th of a rupee). For four annas, you could have a plate of two idlis and a cup of coffee, and still have some money left as well. The tram would move very slowly, and the bell would ring constantly to alert people. In those days most people would ride a bicycle. Since the tracks were embedded in the ground often the cycle tyres would get stuck in the rail track and it was a struggle to get the wheel out. People would avoid the tracks as much as possible.  

“The Electricity Board office near the Royapettah Flyover used to be the shed where trams were parked. The tram used to be just another person on the road. It will blend with the community. I haven’t tried to run and catch a tram.”