Emergence and growth of Mumbai as a Port City - II | Maharashtra State PSC (MPSC): Preparation - MPSC (Maharastra) PDF Download

 Page 1


 
 
25
3 
 
 
EMERGENCE AND GROWTH OF MUMBAI 
AS A PORT CITY - II 
 
b) Modes of Transportation 
 
 
Unit Structure 
 
3.0 Objectives 
3.1 Introduction 
3.2 Background 
3.3 Beginning of Trams in Mumbai 
3.4 Introduction of Electric Trams in Mumbai 
3.5 Buses started in Mumbai 
3.6 Railway Transport 
3.7 Telegraph and Post 
3.8 Ship Building  
3.9 Conclusion 
3.10 Questions 
 
 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
  Mumbai has developed as an important trading center 
during the second half of the nineteenth Century. Transportation 
Page 2


 
 
25
3 
 
 
EMERGENCE AND GROWTH OF MUMBAI 
AS A PORT CITY - II 
 
b) Modes of Transportation 
 
 
Unit Structure 
 
3.0 Objectives 
3.1 Introduction 
3.2 Background 
3.3 Beginning of Trams in Mumbai 
3.4 Introduction of Electric Trams in Mumbai 
3.5 Buses started in Mumbai 
3.6 Railway Transport 
3.7 Telegraph and Post 
3.8 Ship Building  
3.9 Conclusion 
3.10 Questions 
 
 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
  Mumbai has developed as an important trading center 
during the second half of the nineteenth Century. Transportation 
 
 
has played very important in the making of Mumbai as a port city. 
The different types of means were used as modes of transportation 
during the initial period of its development. Following the model of 
British Tramways, different types of trams have been started in 
Mumbai.  Buses were also started in Mumbai in course of time. 
BEST has revolutionized the lives of Mumbai.  
 
With the beginning of trains in Mumbai, Mumbai has reached 
to far distanced places. Trains have become the lifeline of Mumbai 
in course of time. These modes of transportation were used for the 
purpose of regular travelling and trade and commerce. Cotton and 
Opium trade also developed during this period. Due to the 
American Civil War, the commercial activity of Mumbai developed 
in such a way, the port city of Mumbai required the proper modes of 
transportation to carry on the commercial activities. Englishmen 
have also developed posts and telegraphs in Mumbai. Mumbai has 
developed the various modes of transportation which became 
responsible for Mumbai’s economic growth. Thus the different 
modes of transportation were used to develop Mumbai into an 
industrial city. 
 
BACKGROUND 
 
Before the advent of Trams in Mumbai, the people of 
Mumbai were using the ancient modes of transportation. The main 
vehicles of passengers transport in Mumbai before the advent of 
the trams had been palaquins, reklas and shigrams and Bullock 
carts which have now quite disappeared. The trams trundled along 
the main roads of the island at a speed of 5 miles per hour, 
providing the cheapest transport anywhere in the world. The idea of 
a mass public transport system for Mumbai was first put forward in 
1865 by an American company, which applied for a license to 
operate a horse-drawn tramway system. Although a license was 
granted, the project was never realized, owing to the prevailing 
economic depression in the city. The end of the American Civil 
War, during which Bombay had made vast strides in its economy 
by supplying cotton and textiles to the world market, was the 
reason for the economic downturn. 
 
BEGINNING OF TRAMS IN MUMBAI 
 
The idea to introduce trams in Mumbai was first mooted in 
1864, however it was only in 1873, the Bombay Tramway Company 
Limited was formally set up and twenty-one year agreement was 
signed between the Bombay Municipality and Messrs. Strearns and 
Kittridge, after which the former had the option to buy back the 
whole company with double track and Rs.2, 000/- per mile per year 
for single track.  The contract granted the Municipality the right to 
Page 3


 
 
25
3 
 
 
EMERGENCE AND GROWTH OF MUMBAI 
AS A PORT CITY - II 
 
b) Modes of Transportation 
 
 
Unit Structure 
 
3.0 Objectives 
3.1 Introduction 
3.2 Background 
3.3 Beginning of Trams in Mumbai 
3.4 Introduction of Electric Trams in Mumbai 
3.5 Buses started in Mumbai 
3.6 Railway Transport 
3.7 Telegraph and Post 
3.8 Ship Building  
3.9 Conclusion 
3.10 Questions 
 
 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
  Mumbai has developed as an important trading center 
during the second half of the nineteenth Century. Transportation 
 
 
has played very important in the making of Mumbai as a port city. 
The different types of means were used as modes of transportation 
during the initial period of its development. Following the model of 
British Tramways, different types of trams have been started in 
Mumbai.  Buses were also started in Mumbai in course of time. 
BEST has revolutionized the lives of Mumbai.  
 
With the beginning of trains in Mumbai, Mumbai has reached 
to far distanced places. Trains have become the lifeline of Mumbai 
in course of time. These modes of transportation were used for the 
purpose of regular travelling and trade and commerce. Cotton and 
Opium trade also developed during this period. Due to the 
American Civil War, the commercial activity of Mumbai developed 
in such a way, the port city of Mumbai required the proper modes of 
transportation to carry on the commercial activities. Englishmen 
have also developed posts and telegraphs in Mumbai. Mumbai has 
developed the various modes of transportation which became 
responsible for Mumbai’s economic growth. Thus the different 
modes of transportation were used to develop Mumbai into an 
industrial city. 
 
BACKGROUND 
 
Before the advent of Trams in Mumbai, the people of 
Mumbai were using the ancient modes of transportation. The main 
vehicles of passengers transport in Mumbai before the advent of 
the trams had been palaquins, reklas and shigrams and Bullock 
carts which have now quite disappeared. The trams trundled along 
the main roads of the island at a speed of 5 miles per hour, 
providing the cheapest transport anywhere in the world. The idea of 
a mass public transport system for Mumbai was first put forward in 
1865 by an American company, which applied for a license to 
operate a horse-drawn tramway system. Although a license was 
granted, the project was never realized, owing to the prevailing 
economic depression in the city. The end of the American Civil 
War, during which Bombay had made vast strides in its economy 
by supplying cotton and textiles to the world market, was the 
reason for the economic downturn. 
 
BEGINNING OF TRAMS IN MUMBAI 
 
The idea to introduce trams in Mumbai was first mooted in 
1864, however it was only in 1873, the Bombay Tramway Company 
Limited was formally set up and twenty-one year agreement was 
signed between the Bombay Municipality and Messrs. Strearns and 
Kittridge, after which the former had the option to buy back the 
whole company with double track and Rs.2, 000/- per mile per year 
for single track.  The contract granted the Municipality the right to 
 
 
buy up the concern after the first twenty years, or after every period 
of seven years thereafter. After this contract was entered into 
between the Bombay Tramway Company and the Municipality, the 
Government of Bombay enacted the Bombay Tramways Act, 1874, 
under which the Company was licensed to run a tramway service in 
the city. The tram-cars were of two kinds, those drawn by one 
horse and those drawn by two. The iron tracks where laid by 
Messrs. Glover & Co. supervised by Whiteman Spenice who had 
come from New York.  
 
The first horse drawn tram was started in Mumbai from 9 
May 1874 which ran from Colaba to Pyidhonie via Crawford Market. 
From Colaba to Pydhonie, the trams charged three annas between 
V. T. and Pydhonie only half an anna. It took nearly five months 
before tickets were issued; till then there were neither tickets nor 
ticket checking. From 1899 the fare was brought down to one anna 
for any distance. At the end of the first day 451 passengers had 
travelled by tram and the Company collected an amount of Rs. 80/- 
and Forty-four horses had drawn six cars over a distance of 3.77 
miles. 
 
The tramway Company had set up two stables, the large one 
at Colaba which could hold 500 horses and the other smaller one to 
hold 50 horses at Byculla near Lalbaug. The finest horses from 
Persia, Australia and Punjab were used. These horses were well 
looked after by 150 specially employed horse attendants. There 
were 1,350 horses in 1907. The headquarters of the tram Company 
were in Colaba and it worked efficiently under its Managing Director 
G.A. Kittridge. He was also well known as a philanthropist and 
social worker. He worked with famous Parsi reformers like Sorabji 
Shapurji Bangalee for the improvement of the condition of women 
in Bombay and also worked for establishing the Cama and Albes 
hospital for women and children. It was in recognition of his 
services that the city honoured him by naming the road from 
Colaba to Cuffe Parade as Kittridge Road. The Company started 
with 200 horses and 100 buses. The double horse open cars and 
single horse open cars were imported from the U.S.A. But later they 
came to be built in Bombay itself. The tramways connected 
Sassoon Dock, Byculla Bridge, Girgaum, Pydhonie and Grant 
Road. 
 
Trams helped to develop most of the suburban areas by 
providing easy and cheap transport and they consequently led to 
further urbanization of Mumbai. However, the public and especially 
the drivers and owners of shigrams and reklas, which were the 
main vehicles on the roads, were incensed, as they lost their 
source of livelihood. They naturally resented this and protested 
against the introduction of the tramways. They even tried to hamper 
the smooth running of the trams by inserting stones and dirt in the 
Page 4


 
 
25
3 
 
 
EMERGENCE AND GROWTH OF MUMBAI 
AS A PORT CITY - II 
 
b) Modes of Transportation 
 
 
Unit Structure 
 
3.0 Objectives 
3.1 Introduction 
3.2 Background 
3.3 Beginning of Trams in Mumbai 
3.4 Introduction of Electric Trams in Mumbai 
3.5 Buses started in Mumbai 
3.6 Railway Transport 
3.7 Telegraph and Post 
3.8 Ship Building  
3.9 Conclusion 
3.10 Questions 
 
 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
  Mumbai has developed as an important trading center 
during the second half of the nineteenth Century. Transportation 
 
 
has played very important in the making of Mumbai as a port city. 
The different types of means were used as modes of transportation 
during the initial period of its development. Following the model of 
British Tramways, different types of trams have been started in 
Mumbai.  Buses were also started in Mumbai in course of time. 
BEST has revolutionized the lives of Mumbai.  
 
With the beginning of trains in Mumbai, Mumbai has reached 
to far distanced places. Trains have become the lifeline of Mumbai 
in course of time. These modes of transportation were used for the 
purpose of regular travelling and trade and commerce. Cotton and 
Opium trade also developed during this period. Due to the 
American Civil War, the commercial activity of Mumbai developed 
in such a way, the port city of Mumbai required the proper modes of 
transportation to carry on the commercial activities. Englishmen 
have also developed posts and telegraphs in Mumbai. Mumbai has 
developed the various modes of transportation which became 
responsible for Mumbai’s economic growth. Thus the different 
modes of transportation were used to develop Mumbai into an 
industrial city. 
 
BACKGROUND 
 
Before the advent of Trams in Mumbai, the people of 
Mumbai were using the ancient modes of transportation. The main 
vehicles of passengers transport in Mumbai before the advent of 
the trams had been palaquins, reklas and shigrams and Bullock 
carts which have now quite disappeared. The trams trundled along 
the main roads of the island at a speed of 5 miles per hour, 
providing the cheapest transport anywhere in the world. The idea of 
a mass public transport system for Mumbai was first put forward in 
1865 by an American company, which applied for a license to 
operate a horse-drawn tramway system. Although a license was 
granted, the project was never realized, owing to the prevailing 
economic depression in the city. The end of the American Civil 
War, during which Bombay had made vast strides in its economy 
by supplying cotton and textiles to the world market, was the 
reason for the economic downturn. 
 
BEGINNING OF TRAMS IN MUMBAI 
 
The idea to introduce trams in Mumbai was first mooted in 
1864, however it was only in 1873, the Bombay Tramway Company 
Limited was formally set up and twenty-one year agreement was 
signed between the Bombay Municipality and Messrs. Strearns and 
Kittridge, after which the former had the option to buy back the 
whole company with double track and Rs.2, 000/- per mile per year 
for single track.  The contract granted the Municipality the right to 
 
 
buy up the concern after the first twenty years, or after every period 
of seven years thereafter. After this contract was entered into 
between the Bombay Tramway Company and the Municipality, the 
Government of Bombay enacted the Bombay Tramways Act, 1874, 
under which the Company was licensed to run a tramway service in 
the city. The tram-cars were of two kinds, those drawn by one 
horse and those drawn by two. The iron tracks where laid by 
Messrs. Glover & Co. supervised by Whiteman Spenice who had 
come from New York.  
 
The first horse drawn tram was started in Mumbai from 9 
May 1874 which ran from Colaba to Pyidhonie via Crawford Market. 
From Colaba to Pydhonie, the trams charged three annas between 
V. T. and Pydhonie only half an anna. It took nearly five months 
before tickets were issued; till then there were neither tickets nor 
ticket checking. From 1899 the fare was brought down to one anna 
for any distance. At the end of the first day 451 passengers had 
travelled by tram and the Company collected an amount of Rs. 80/- 
and Forty-four horses had drawn six cars over a distance of 3.77 
miles. 
 
The tramway Company had set up two stables, the large one 
at Colaba which could hold 500 horses and the other smaller one to 
hold 50 horses at Byculla near Lalbaug. The finest horses from 
Persia, Australia and Punjab were used. These horses were well 
looked after by 150 specially employed horse attendants. There 
were 1,350 horses in 1907. The headquarters of the tram Company 
were in Colaba and it worked efficiently under its Managing Director 
G.A. Kittridge. He was also well known as a philanthropist and 
social worker. He worked with famous Parsi reformers like Sorabji 
Shapurji Bangalee for the improvement of the condition of women 
in Bombay and also worked for establishing the Cama and Albes 
hospital for women and children. It was in recognition of his 
services that the city honoured him by naming the road from 
Colaba to Cuffe Parade as Kittridge Road. The Company started 
with 200 horses and 100 buses. The double horse open cars and 
single horse open cars were imported from the U.S.A. But later they 
came to be built in Bombay itself. The tramways connected 
Sassoon Dock, Byculla Bridge, Girgaum, Pydhonie and Grant 
Road. 
 
Trams helped to develop most of the suburban areas by 
providing easy and cheap transport and they consequently led to 
further urbanization of Mumbai. However, the public and especially 
the drivers and owners of shigrams and reklas, which were the 
main vehicles on the roads, were incensed, as they lost their 
source of livelihood. They naturally resented this and protested 
against the introduction of the tramways. They even tried to hamper 
the smooth running of the trams by inserting stones and dirt in the 
 
 
grooves of the rails to clogs the wheels of the trams and thus cause 
damage and obstruction. Newspaper reports were not helpful 
either. Dadoba Pandurang Tarkhadkar, a leading Mumbai 
intellectual, attacked the British Government for encouraging 
American capitalists to make money by supplying tramcars while 
thousands of poor drivers and owners of shigrams and reklas were 
thrown out of their main source of livelihood. 
 
 Though the trams were opposed in Mumbai during the initial 
period but it was accepted as a popular means of communication in 
course of time. Infact, electric trams were introduced in the island 
city of Mumbai. 
 
INTRODUCTION OF ELECTRIC TRAMS IN 
MUMBAI 
 
During the last quarter of the nineteenth Century, electric 
trams started in Mumbai. In 1882 the municipality entered into an 
agreement with the Eastern Electric Light and Power Company to 
provide electric lighting in the Crawford Market and on some of the 
roads. But the company went into liquidation the following year, and 
the Market reverted to gas lighting. In 1899, Bombay Tramway 
Company applied to the BMC, for operation of electrically operated 
trams. Due to the high investment required, the company 
suggested that the BMC should waive its right to take over the 
tramways, which was to take place in 1901 according to the 
contract signed in 1874. However, the BMC decided to take over 
the company, but was met with several legal problems. 
 
In 1904, British Electric Traction Company (England) applied 
for a license to supply electricity to the city. The Brush Electrical 
Engineering Company was its agent. It got The Bombay Electric 
License on 31 July 1905 signed by Bombay Tramways Company, 
the Bombay Municipality, the Brush Electrical Company and the 
B.E.S.T. Company. In 1905, Bombay Electric Supply & 
Tramways Company Limited (B.E.S.T. Company) came into 
existence. The B.E.S.T. Company was granted the monopoly for 
electric supply and the running of an electric tram service in the 
city. The service was formally inaugurated on 7
th
 May 1907 by Shri. 
Vallabhdas Thakersey, the then Chairman of the Municipality. At 
five-thirty that afternoon the first electric tramcar, specially 
decorated for the occasion, started from outside the Municipal 
Office, went as far as the Crawford Market, and returned to the 
point from where it had left. The natives of Bombay gave a warm 
welcome to the electric tramcar. After this ceremonious, inaugural 
run, four tram-cars kept playing on the various routes till eleven in 
the night.  
 
Page 5


 
 
25
3 
 
 
EMERGENCE AND GROWTH OF MUMBAI 
AS A PORT CITY - II 
 
b) Modes of Transportation 
 
 
Unit Structure 
 
3.0 Objectives 
3.1 Introduction 
3.2 Background 
3.3 Beginning of Trams in Mumbai 
3.4 Introduction of Electric Trams in Mumbai 
3.5 Buses started in Mumbai 
3.6 Railway Transport 
3.7 Telegraph and Post 
3.8 Ship Building  
3.9 Conclusion 
3.10 Questions 
 
 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
  Mumbai has developed as an important trading center 
during the second half of the nineteenth Century. Transportation 
 
 
has played very important in the making of Mumbai as a port city. 
The different types of means were used as modes of transportation 
during the initial period of its development. Following the model of 
British Tramways, different types of trams have been started in 
Mumbai.  Buses were also started in Mumbai in course of time. 
BEST has revolutionized the lives of Mumbai.  
 
With the beginning of trains in Mumbai, Mumbai has reached 
to far distanced places. Trains have become the lifeline of Mumbai 
in course of time. These modes of transportation were used for the 
purpose of regular travelling and trade and commerce. Cotton and 
Opium trade also developed during this period. Due to the 
American Civil War, the commercial activity of Mumbai developed 
in such a way, the port city of Mumbai required the proper modes of 
transportation to carry on the commercial activities. Englishmen 
have also developed posts and telegraphs in Mumbai. Mumbai has 
developed the various modes of transportation which became 
responsible for Mumbai’s economic growth. Thus the different 
modes of transportation were used to develop Mumbai into an 
industrial city. 
 
BACKGROUND 
 
Before the advent of Trams in Mumbai, the people of 
Mumbai were using the ancient modes of transportation. The main 
vehicles of passengers transport in Mumbai before the advent of 
the trams had been palaquins, reklas and shigrams and Bullock 
carts which have now quite disappeared. The trams trundled along 
the main roads of the island at a speed of 5 miles per hour, 
providing the cheapest transport anywhere in the world. The idea of 
a mass public transport system for Mumbai was first put forward in 
1865 by an American company, which applied for a license to 
operate a horse-drawn tramway system. Although a license was 
granted, the project was never realized, owing to the prevailing 
economic depression in the city. The end of the American Civil 
War, during which Bombay had made vast strides in its economy 
by supplying cotton and textiles to the world market, was the 
reason for the economic downturn. 
 
BEGINNING OF TRAMS IN MUMBAI 
 
The idea to introduce trams in Mumbai was first mooted in 
1864, however it was only in 1873, the Bombay Tramway Company 
Limited was formally set up and twenty-one year agreement was 
signed between the Bombay Municipality and Messrs. Strearns and 
Kittridge, after which the former had the option to buy back the 
whole company with double track and Rs.2, 000/- per mile per year 
for single track.  The contract granted the Municipality the right to 
 
 
buy up the concern after the first twenty years, or after every period 
of seven years thereafter. After this contract was entered into 
between the Bombay Tramway Company and the Municipality, the 
Government of Bombay enacted the Bombay Tramways Act, 1874, 
under which the Company was licensed to run a tramway service in 
the city. The tram-cars were of two kinds, those drawn by one 
horse and those drawn by two. The iron tracks where laid by 
Messrs. Glover & Co. supervised by Whiteman Spenice who had 
come from New York.  
 
The first horse drawn tram was started in Mumbai from 9 
May 1874 which ran from Colaba to Pyidhonie via Crawford Market. 
From Colaba to Pydhonie, the trams charged three annas between 
V. T. and Pydhonie only half an anna. It took nearly five months 
before tickets were issued; till then there were neither tickets nor 
ticket checking. From 1899 the fare was brought down to one anna 
for any distance. At the end of the first day 451 passengers had 
travelled by tram and the Company collected an amount of Rs. 80/- 
and Forty-four horses had drawn six cars over a distance of 3.77 
miles. 
 
The tramway Company had set up two stables, the large one 
at Colaba which could hold 500 horses and the other smaller one to 
hold 50 horses at Byculla near Lalbaug. The finest horses from 
Persia, Australia and Punjab were used. These horses were well 
looked after by 150 specially employed horse attendants. There 
were 1,350 horses in 1907. The headquarters of the tram Company 
were in Colaba and it worked efficiently under its Managing Director 
G.A. Kittridge. He was also well known as a philanthropist and 
social worker. He worked with famous Parsi reformers like Sorabji 
Shapurji Bangalee for the improvement of the condition of women 
in Bombay and also worked for establishing the Cama and Albes 
hospital for women and children. It was in recognition of his 
services that the city honoured him by naming the road from 
Colaba to Cuffe Parade as Kittridge Road. The Company started 
with 200 horses and 100 buses. The double horse open cars and 
single horse open cars were imported from the U.S.A. But later they 
came to be built in Bombay itself. The tramways connected 
Sassoon Dock, Byculla Bridge, Girgaum, Pydhonie and Grant 
Road. 
 
Trams helped to develop most of the suburban areas by 
providing easy and cheap transport and they consequently led to 
further urbanization of Mumbai. However, the public and especially 
the drivers and owners of shigrams and reklas, which were the 
main vehicles on the roads, were incensed, as they lost their 
source of livelihood. They naturally resented this and protested 
against the introduction of the tramways. They even tried to hamper 
the smooth running of the trams by inserting stones and dirt in the 
 
 
grooves of the rails to clogs the wheels of the trams and thus cause 
damage and obstruction. Newspaper reports were not helpful 
either. Dadoba Pandurang Tarkhadkar, a leading Mumbai 
intellectual, attacked the British Government for encouraging 
American capitalists to make money by supplying tramcars while 
thousands of poor drivers and owners of shigrams and reklas were 
thrown out of their main source of livelihood. 
 
 Though the trams were opposed in Mumbai during the initial 
period but it was accepted as a popular means of communication in 
course of time. Infact, electric trams were introduced in the island 
city of Mumbai. 
 
INTRODUCTION OF ELECTRIC TRAMS IN 
MUMBAI 
 
During the last quarter of the nineteenth Century, electric 
trams started in Mumbai. In 1882 the municipality entered into an 
agreement with the Eastern Electric Light and Power Company to 
provide electric lighting in the Crawford Market and on some of the 
roads. But the company went into liquidation the following year, and 
the Market reverted to gas lighting. In 1899, Bombay Tramway 
Company applied to the BMC, for operation of electrically operated 
trams. Due to the high investment required, the company 
suggested that the BMC should waive its right to take over the 
tramways, which was to take place in 1901 according to the 
contract signed in 1874. However, the BMC decided to take over 
the company, but was met with several legal problems. 
 
In 1904, British Electric Traction Company (England) applied 
for a license to supply electricity to the city. The Brush Electrical 
Engineering Company was its agent. It got The Bombay Electric 
License on 31 July 1905 signed by Bombay Tramways Company, 
the Bombay Municipality, the Brush Electrical Company and the 
B.E.S.T. Company. In 1905, Bombay Electric Supply & 
Tramways Company Limited (B.E.S.T. Company) came into 
existence. The B.E.S.T. Company was granted the monopoly for 
electric supply and the running of an electric tram service in the 
city. The service was formally inaugurated on 7
th
 May 1907 by Shri. 
Vallabhdas Thakersey, the then Chairman of the Municipality. At 
five-thirty that afternoon the first electric tramcar, specially 
decorated for the occasion, started from outside the Municipal 
Office, went as far as the Crawford Market, and returned to the 
point from where it had left. The natives of Bombay gave a warm 
welcome to the electric tramcar. After this ceremonious, inaugural 
run, four tram-cars kept playing on the various routes till eleven in 
the night.  
 
 
 
In 1916, power purchase from the Tata Power group, a 
privately owned company, was started and by 1925, all power 
generation was outsourced from Tata.  
 
By 1910 the service was up against a problem no city 
transport service can hope to escape for long. The problem was of 
the rush-hour traffic. The commuters being mostly office goers, the 
pressure used to be particularly unmanageable immediately before 
and after the office-hours. There were not enough trams to cope 
with rush. Trailers were attached to the trams, but they brought little 
relief. So the company approached the Municipality for permission 
to run a triple car. But the Police Commissioner objected to it, and 
the proposal fell through. The solution next thought of was the 
double Decker tramcar. It was accepted and the Double Decker 
Tramcars were appeared on Mumbai’s roads in September 1920. 
It was highly appreciated by the people of Mumbai. The city’s 
population suddenly started soaring, as never before. At Dadar 
there was the main Tram Terminus. Though trams ceased to run 
after 1964, the place is still known as Dadar T.T.  With rapid 
urbanization and growth in traffic, the slow-moving trams were 
abandoned on 31
st
 March 1964 as a popular mode of 
transportation. However, we cannot deny the fact that the city of 
Mumbai has emerged as the port city due to the beginning of 
Trams in Mumbai. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
BUSES STARTED IN MUMBAI 
 
The BEST Company introduced buses, to cope with the 
heavy demand for quicker transport.  On 15 July 1926, the first bus 
service in India was started on three routes. Despite stiff opposition 
and protests by taxi-drivers, the service ran without any hindrance, 
transporting six lakh (600,000) passengers approximately by the 
end of that year. The following year the number had increased to 
38 lakhs (3.8 million). The trams meanwhile, due to their lower 
fares, were relegated to being a poor man's transport.