page_title: Trams in India
section_title: Mumbai
hierarchical_section_title: Trams in India / Mumbai
caption_attribution_description: English: Double Decker Electric Trams operated by BEST in 1920's .
context_page_description: Trams in India were established in the late-19th century. Horse-drawn trams were introduced in Kolkata in 1873; electric trams began in Chennai in 1895, and trams were also introduced in Mumbai, Baroda, Nashik, Kanpur, Kerala, Patna and Bhavnagar. They were discontinued in all Indian cities between 1930 and 1970, except for Kolkata.
context_section_description: A mass public-transport system for Mumbai (then Bombay) was proposed in 1865 by an American company, which applied for a licence to operate a horse-drawn tram system. Although a licence was granted, the project was never realised due to the city's economic depression.
  The Bombay Tramway Company was set up in 1873. After a contract was signed between the Bombay Tramway Company, the municipality and the Stearns and Kitteredge company, the Bombay Presidency enacted the Bombay Tramways Act, 1874 licensing the company to run a horsecar tram service in the city. On 9 May 1874 the first horse-drawn carriage made its début in the city, plying the Colaba–Pydhone via Crawford Market, and Bori Bunder to Pydhonie via Kalbadevi routes. The initial fare was three annas (15 paise pre-decimalisation), and no tickets were issued. As the service became increasingly popular, the fare was reduced to two annas (10 pre-decimalisation paise). Later that year, tickets were issued to curb increasing ticket-less travel. Stearns and Kitteredge reportedly had a stable of 1,360 horses over the lifetime of  the service.
  In 1899, the Bombay Tramway Company applied to the municipality to operate electric trams. In 1904, the British Electric Traction Company applied for a license to supply electricity to the city with the Brush Electrical Engineering Company its agent. It received the Bombay electric license on 31 July 1905, signed by Bombay Tramways Company, the Bombay Municipality and the Brush Electrical Company. In 1905, the Bombay Electric Supply and Tramway Company (BEST) was formed. BEST received a monopoly on electric supply and an electric tram service in the city, and bought the Bombay Tramway Company's assets for ₹9,850,000. Two years later, the first electric tram debuted in the city. Later that year, a 4,300 kilowatts (5,800 hp) steam power generator was commissioned at Wari Bunder. In 1916 a power purchase from Tata Power (a private company) began, and by 1925 all power generation was outsourced from Tata. To ease rush-hour traffic, double-decker trams were introduced in September 1920. The trams met travellers' needs until the betterment of the city's train network, and the service closed on 31 March 1964.
caption: 1920s double-decker tram in Mumbai
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