With eye on environment-friendly commute, govt plans trolley buses for Kolkata streets

KOLKATA: West Bengal government is going to introduce trolley buses which run on electricity in a bid to make the city’s transport system more environment friendly and leverage some portions of the existing infrastructure of the tram network which is only found in Kolkata. The announcement was made during a session on transport and logistics at Bengal Global Business Summit on Friday.
The West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation has already engaged a German company called Deutsche Geselleschaft Fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), which works on capacity building and which has carried out a feasibility study and submitted their report.

Trolley bus, also called trackless trolley, is a vehicle operated on the streets on rubber tires and powered by electricity drawn from two overhead wires by trolley poles. There is zero emission which make them environmental friendly.
The officials elaborated that the trolley buses won’t replace the trams but will function separately to provide an integrated transportation system that is environment friendly.
“More details will be given out soon. A team of experts from Germany has carried out the study. The project will not only provide a very comfortable mode of transport, but also an environment-friendly one,” said P Kamalakanth, executive director of WBIDC.
Kolkata has been gasping for breath due to very high air pollution this winter. Experts attributed most of it to emissions from diesel vehicles. Trolley buses with zero emission and capacity to carry at least 40 to 50 people will reduce both pollution and congestion.
Currently, two cities in China, including Shanghai and Jinan, have bus trolley networks. In Japan, cities like Kawasaki and Nagoya also have bus trolleys. These buses also operate in Ankara and Izmir in Turkey.
Jochen Weikert, India head of GIZ, said the city has an excellent tramways network which can help the operation of trolley buses. “The tramways network is excellent, though it needs some overhaul. Kolkata is the only city which has been able to preserve trams. They are environment friendly and carry a lot many people than buses or taxis,” said Weikert.
Tram tracks in the city have been de-reserved, which means they are as good as paved roads and other vehicles can use the same carriageway space. This means trolley buses can use the overhead wires and also run on the road below.
An official of transport department said no concrete decision was taken on which parts of the city will get trolley buses, but there were talks of operating them in the parts of central business district where there is no tram network. Even parts of New Town and Salt Lake will also get trolley bus network. “Trolley buses can be used as feeders on upcoming Metro rail networks. Even parts of central business district may get trolley buses,” he said.