A section of tram enthusiasts will gather at Esplanade on Christmas Eve to invite Calcuttans to come together and demand the restoration of tram services — and tramlines.

The four-hour event, beginning around noon, has been named Save Our Trams.

It will feature a discussion about trams not just as the city's heritage but as the cleanest mode of transport and participants will be invited to sing, draw and recite at the venue with trams as the focal theme.

The organisers said they wanted to ensure it was not another protest meet but a carnival with everyone who loves trams converging in the heart of the city where trams once trundled.

"We want to tell everyone why trams (which celebrated its 150th-year last year) need to survive and how the state government is desperate to reduce this mode of transportation to a showpiece," said Debasish Bhattacharya, president of the Calcutta Tram Users’ Association.

The state government has said it will run trams only on a stretch between Esplanade and Maidan.

Members of another platform of tram lovers, — Save Heritage Save Tram — will organise a rally from Tollygunge Metro station to the Hazra crossing in the last week of December demanding the resumption of tram service on the Tollygunge-Ballygunge route.

The service on this route (24/29) was suspended after the Kolkata Municipal Corporation dug up a stretch of SP Mukherjee Road to work on the underground water supply line.

The group will also hold a Calcutta Transport Festival in January to celebrate trams as a clean transportation mode and revive the memories associated with tramcars.