A survey on whether the tram tracks on the Ballygunge-Tollygunge route can be restored is scheduled for the next few weeks, officials in the transport department said.

Tram services on the Tollygunge-Ballygunge route (24/29) have been suspended since August after the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) decided to dig up a stretch of SP Mukherjee Road to strengthen the underground water lines between the Rashbehari crossing and the Tollygunge railway bridge.

“A team of engineers will scan the tram tracks on SP Mukherjee Road, between Rashbehari Avenue and Mudiali, and find out whether the soil underneath is ready to bear the load of trams after restoration,” a transport department
official said.

“A small stretch of the tram tracks is undulated now because of soil subsidence and engineers will assess whether the stretch can be permanently restored.”

As part of the repair and maintenance work, KMC engineers had jacketed underground pipelines before handing over the stretch to the transport department on October 6, just before Durga Puja.

The services, however, were not immediately restored because of a restriction imposed by police.

On October 22, the Calcutta Tramways Company (CTC) held a trial run and found that a stretch of the tram tracks near the Muktangan auditorium was undulating.

A tram car running along the stretch tilted precariously during the trial, prompting officials to ask the civic body to do necessary repairs to stop subsidence.

“Following a request from the transport department, necessary strengthening of the soil on the patch of SP Mukherjee Road was carried out a second time,” said a senior engineer of the KMC’s roads department.

Transport department officials said a second trial run on the repaired stretch was conducted on November 11.

During that run, it was found that the tracks had subsided on a patch of the restored road leaving it undulated. Officials in charge of the trial run concluded that trams could not run on the undulated patch until the tracks were repaired.

“During the survey, engineers will draw up an estimate of the cost involved in repairing the spot so the tracks can bear the weight,” the transport department official said.

A section of tram lovers has been demanding the restoration of at least the Tollygunge-Ballygunge tram services for some time.

“The service on the Ballygunge-Tollygunge route is not being restored deliberately as part of the state government’s plan,” said a member of the Calcutta Tram Users Association.

“This has been one of the oldest tram routes in the city’s south. Had the state government wanted, it could have made the route operational by now.”