Aboard the tramway in Madras

It is interesting to note that even while these tram lines were being laid, T. Namberumal Chetty was barrelling ahead with a monorail tramway system for the city. Drawn from the Ewing patent monorail design, the founder of which was an engineer based in Madras, a total of six lines, chiefly connecting the harbour with different parts of the city, was proposed. | Photo Credit: The Hindu Archives Given that the trams in Madras originated from horse carriages, moved on to monorail, and then became electricity driven, I am convinced that had they survived, they would be battery powered today.Sadly, the Madras tram never made a profit in its operation. In today’s world of public transport, this would have never been a major consideration but not so then when even as a service it was expected to generate a surplus. It was therefore doomed to failure and after a remarkably long tenure shut shop early in the 1950s leaving behind only memories.The first tramway in the city was drawn by horses. This was in the 1870s, and there is not much detail about what happened to it. We do know, however, that in 1895, Madras got its electric tramway system going, much before any other city in the country.Evidently there was much heartburn in Calcutta for the magazine Indian Engineering, which was published there, criticised the choice of Madras and declared that the hot and humid climate in our city made it completely unsuitable for a system of transport based on electricity. Alternatively, it recommended that steam power be used, sourced from stationary boilers installed en route. This was dismissed by the Street Railway Review, published in England, which said the article was driven by a ‘Calcutta jealousy’ towards Madras. Understandable, given that Calcutta has roughly the same weather. The magazine Indian Engineering, which was published in Calcutta in 1895, criticised the choice of Madras for the electric tramway and declared that the hot and humid climate made it completely unsuitable for a system of transport based on electricity. Alternatively, it recommended that steam power be used, sourced from stationary boilers installed en route. | Photo Credit: The Hindu Archives It is interesting to note that even while these tram lines were being laid, T. Namberumal Chetty was barrelling ahead with a monorail tramway system for the city. Drawn from the Ewing patent monorail design, the founder of which was an engineer based in Madras, a total of six lines, chiefly connecting the harbour with different parts of the city, was proposed. In 1905, Namberumal further obtained permission for a separate line from St. Thomas Mount for granite and another from Red Hills for transport of laterite. By 1907, the first line had come into existence, running between Poonamallee and Avadi.It is not clear as to what happened to this monorail, but most of its routes were taken over by the Madras Electric Tramways Company Limited and converted into double rails. It was this tramway that would continue to operate in the city till the mid 1950s. In the interim, the promoting company went bankrupt and was reconstituted at least once. The Hindu, in its archives, carries practically every stage in the life of the Madras Electric Tramways Company Limited from inception to its ultimate demise. Thus, on March 15, 1895, we see the announcement of the company commencing operations. On June 4, 1895, The Hindu strongly criticised the manner in which the tram cars were being operated, subject as they were to frequent breakdowns and running off the rail. It is not surprising that this article is a syndicated one taken from Indian Engineering, which it will be recalled had protested the choice of an electric tramway for Madras. From then on trams received mixed press in The Hindu. Finally, it was left to the paper to record the demise of the tramway as well – that was on April 13, 1953. And the last rites were performed on the same day – a sub-head says government buses were brought to the rescue of passengers. In an editorial dated April 15, 1953, The Hindu said even the government was not aware of the extent of financial difficulties that the tramway company was in, which necessitated its passing into receivership. It hoped the stoppage was temporary. That, however, it was not. Published - August 22, 2026 05:20 am IST