Tram Museum

Visit this captivating and unique museumhoused inside a trolley car and embark on a journey of trams and their integral part in the city of Kolkata, West Bengalthrough distinct artifacts, photos, write-ups, and replicas.

About the Museum

Located in Kolkata, this one-of-a-kind museum cum café is a heritage place and shares an integral part of the city along with its rich history. The Smaranika Tram Museum is one of the must-visit places in Kolkata and is housed inside a vintage tram built-in 1938. This tram has been improved with a vestibule to assist visitors to be able to switch from one car to another within the tram. One car of the tram has been turned into a cafeteria and the other part displays a wide-ranging exhibit on trams in Kolkata from the initial days to the present time.

The rattling sound of trams was heard in Kolkata in the year 1873 when the Britishers introduced them for carriage purposes. Since then, trams have been a fundamental part of the growth and development process of Kolkata. Inaugurated in 2014, the Smaranika Tram Museum showcases a fascinating collection of archives that comprises photos and write-ups of the erstwhile trams like Horse-Drawn tram cars, Disinfectant Trams, Flat Wagon Trams, OmniBus, Watering Tramcar, and more along with the advanced trams like the mechanized ones. The other section of exhibits includes old tram tickets, pens used by tram conductors, tram passes, old coins, armlets, Coin Exchange Machine, conductor caps, and several tram parts like Pull-Off Springs, Governor Switch, and more.

The walls of the tram museum are also decorated with numerous newspaper cuttings and pamphlets of several festivals celebrating tram journeys around the world and the posters highlighting the trams of Kolkata in literature are also put on display. The entire exhibition is a very captivating experience of going through an archive of trams within a tram and getting a brief idea of Kolkata’s nearly 150-year-old tram history. After all of this vigorous information, you are bound to feel some hunger pangs or feel like sipping a cup of coffee. Head to the cafeteria and watch a documentary on Kolkata’s trams while sipping a hot coffee and spend some quiet time in solace.