Bombay’s tram ticket time capsule: BEST’s 150-year journey

Swamynathan R, Uday Gosalia and Suketu Jhaveri ( in blue)

>> The oldest tram ticket issued in Bombay featured three languages: English, Marathi and Gujarati.

>> One of the first BEST bus service route maps, published by the British India Press in 1942, displayed routes A to O in multiple colours.

>> BEST route bus timetables were issued in attractive multi-colour formats.

Such quirky facts and ephemera of the BEST undertaking from various private collectors have been compiled into a memorable souvenir. This collection spans from tickets for BEST's horse-drawn tram carts to timetables, transfer tickets, maps, brochures and more. A group of BEST ticket enthusiasts from the city has brought together their collections to celebrate 77 years of the undertaking's municipalisation. The 77th BEST Day on August 7 also marks 150 years of BEST's journey from trams to buses.

One of the last tram tickets

"The rarest items in the collection are the old tickets for horse-drawn trams that ran between 1874 and 1905. The collection also includes old BEST timetables, maps of tram and bus routes, various brochures, public documents like BEST by-laws, old English and Marathi punched bus tickets, advertisements and official books published on the BEST undertaking," said Swamynathan R, who assembled the collection.

Horse-drawn tram tickets

"My motivation was to compile this collection of BEST materials into one place, which will be useful for many for years to come. The oldest pieces are three rare horse-drawn tickets (pre-1905) from the Bombay Tramway Company, thanks to contributions from Suketu Jhaveri, Jigar Desai, Percy Jokhi, Ankush Kalantre, Vijay N Sonawane, Anand Bhabal, and Rishabh Parikh. I am indebted to the support from Uday Gosalia and Jhaveri for making this compilation possible," he added.

Although trams in Mumbai were completely shut down on July 31, 1964, various routes had been closed over time. The collection also includes a handwritten note on the back of one tram ticket, marking the closure of a route two years earlier. It reads, "Last day of tram service between Foras Road and Dadar - July 21, 1962."