Transport in Kolkata

The transport system of Kolkata is a mix of modern mass rapid transport and the old transport modalities like the rickshaws. Kolkata is connected to the rest of India by the National Highways, the extensive network of the Indian Railways, and also by air. Most traffic to North-East India routes via Kolkata.

Railways

Kolkata is well-connected to the rest of India by extensive railway network of the Indian railways. Two divisions of the Indian railways - the Eastern Railway and the South Eastern Railway are headquartered in the city. The two major railway stations of the city are at Howrah and Sealdah. A third terminal called Kolkata has recently been constructed. This station is in North Kolkata and can be reached by a road opposite to the RG Kar Medical College just beyond Shyambazar.

The electrified suburban rail network of the SER and the ER is extensive and stretches far into the neighbouring districts of North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Nadia, Howrah, Hooghly etc.

The Circular Rail encircles the entire city of Kolkata, and is at present being extended. A new railway line off-shoot is under construction that would connect the airport to the lines going to Sealdah.

Underground Metro railway

Kolkata was the first city in South Asia to have an underground railway system that started operating from 1984. It is considered to have the status of a zonal railway but is not a zone. It is run by the Indian Railways.The Metro is a very well maintained and clean system that itself has become a tourist attraction. The line begins at Dum Dum in the north and continues south through Park Street, Esplanade in the heart of the city till the southern end in Tollygunge. At present, the line is being extended southward up to Garia, and this new portion of the Metro will be on surface.

Buses and taxis

Kolkata also has an extensive network of government run and privately owned buses. The private-owned buses are quite typical of kolkata and are usually very crowded. The private-owned buses are of two types. The regular ones and the mini-buses. The regular buses are coloured light-blue and yellow. Earlier the rules for building buses were slack and this led to rickety uncomfortable buses. The laws have been tightened up a few years back and the new Blue-Yellow buses are far more comfortable. The mini-buses contains less number of seats and all are of brown and yellow colour. The mini-buses were started in the late seventies as a relief for the office commuters from the overloaded buses by being a sitting-only service. But, this has given way to severely overloaded and crowded mini buses. The government-run buses are run by several authorities like Calcutta State Transport Corporation (CSTC), South Bengal State Transport Corporation (SBSTC), West Bengal Surface Transport Corporation (WBSTC) and the Calcutta Tramways Company (CTC). Recently Aircon buses have been introduced by the WB Surface transport Corp. These buses are white coloured and connects places like the Airport, Santragachi ( a station on the Howrah-Kharagpur railway line) and Tollygunj. The road network in south Kolkata starting from Park Circus, Ballygunge, Gariahat, Gol Park, Dhakuria, Jadavpur all the way to Garia consists mainly of Gariahat Road, Gurusaday Dutta Road, Ballygunge Circular Road, Rashbehari Avenue, and Prince Anwar Shah Road.

The metered-cabs are mostly of the brand "Ambassador" manufactured by Hindustan Motors. Once in a while, one or two Maruti Omnis can be seen painted in yellow. Recently, air-conditioned cabs (known as "Blue-Arrow) and maroon cabs ( running on Compressed natural gas) have been introduced. The all-yellow ones have a Bengal permit and the black-yellow (hard to find) ones have a Kolkata city permit. The meters - though digital - are generally out-of-date and there is a conversion chart to refer to while converting the meter-reading to the actual fare.

Howrah Bridge and Vidyasagar Setu are two suspended bridges connecting Kolkata with Howrah over the Ganges. Vivekananda Setu is the third bridge over the river. The fourth one is under construction. A network of expressways like Kona Expressway which is partially complete, Belghoria Expressway which is under construction, widening of southern stretch of Eastern Metropolitan Bypass and construction of the second Vivekananda Bridge will hopefully ease the traffic congestion.

Tram

Kolkata is the only city in India to have a tram network. Trams are under the administration of the Calcutta Tramways Company,a government of West Bengal Undertaking, popularly called CTC. The trams are claimed to slow down other trafficFact|date=February 2008, leading to groups who currently voice abolishing the tramsFact|date=February 2008. The environment-friendliness and the old charm of the trams attract many people. The tram lines laid in some major roads are being renovated to maintain the tram lines on the same level plane as the rest of the road, thereby smoothening the road.In places, the original central boulevards reserved only for the trams have been removed,the tram-lines are thus brought in the same plane as that of the road.The usable space of the road for vehicle movement has there by considerably increasedFact|date=February 2008. With embedding of tram tracks in the road surface, the over all surface has become smoother, easing the traffic to some extentFact|date=February 2008.

With the tracks now running in the centre of the heavy traffic roads,commuters are encountering difficulties in getting to the trams' stops through the traffic and as a result, less number of people are able to use the tram easilyFact|date=February 2008.Mostly trams are found to be running with many seats vacant even during rush hours.This has also caused reduction of revenue for Calcutta Tram Company.One possible remedy towards difficulty of approachability to the trams could be to relay the tracks on outside left and the right sides of the road, adjacent to the footpaths.However,relaying the track may not be possible now as the modification will need enormous expenditureFact|date=February 2008.

Light Railway

The proposal for a light rail transit system on elevated tracks for Kolkata is being pursued by the Government of West Bengal.cite web | url =http://www.thestatesman.net/page.arcview.php?clid=22&id=193765&usrsess=1 | title = Govt to pursue LRTS despite objections | accessdate = 2008-01-18 | last = | first = | work =Kolkata Plus | publisher ="The Statesman", 17 August 2007]

Rickshaws and Auto-rickshaws

Rickshaws pulled by men and auto rickshaws are commonplace. Many migrants from Bihar and rural Bengal are involved in Rickshaw pulling. Rickshaws are also on the list of probable abolishments on humanitarian grounds. Auto-rickshaws have become a very common mode of transport for short distances. They are usually not metered. There are several routes and the auto-rickshaws of a particular route ply between two distinct places of that route only. Autorickshaws can accommodate 3 people in the backseat, however, 3 passengers on the back and 2 more on 2 sides of the driver is a common and potentially risky behaviour.

Airport

The Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport (IATA code:CCU) at Dum Dum (previously known as Dum Dum airport) is the only airport in the city, operating both domestic and international flights. The number of people using the airport has consistently increased over the last few years and there are talks to start another airport in the southern suburbs of the city. There was a flying club in Behala, but has not been used for quite a few years.

Port and water-transport

Kolkata is also a major port and together with the Haldia dock systems, the Kolkata Port Trust has been amongst top performers in the country. Kolkata Port has regular passenger services to Port Blair from the Netaji Subhas Docks.

Also the twin cities of Kolkata and Howrah are connected by local water ferries through the extensive ghats like Fairlie Ghat, Howrah Ghat, Shibpur Ghat, Prinsep Ghat, Cossipore Ghat, etc Small boats are used for recreational purpose. There are plans to start utilizing the canals running through the city as water-transport network. The first service is scheduled to start from September 2006 - and would cover the Belgachhia-Laketown stretch of Kestopur Canal.

Besides all this mode of transport, like in other Indian cities, walking is very common way to commute between the workplace and nearest railway station or bus stop. Privately owned cars, though less in number and usage compared to other large cities in India, are growing by leaps and bounds and are slowly becoming the transport of choice for a large number of people being helped by the growing economy, higher per capita income and the easy availability of loans from financial institutions.

References

External links

* [http://www.kolkataweb.com/bus.php Bus routes (kolkataweb.com)]
* [http://www.tourisminindia.com/indiainfo/cityguide/calcutta/transport.htm Calcutta city transport guide by Ministry of Tourism, Government of India]