Mumbai, July 5 (NDTV): While buildings and cars may have taken over Mumbai's landscape, one of the old world charms could make a comeback soon in India's financial capital.

Trams that are a part of the city's history may be back, but not in their old trundling form. A modern avatar of the tram is likely to be included in the coastal corridor being planned to decongest Mumbai's roads.

Union environment minister Prakash Javdekar said, "We put up the draft notification on the website... We mentioned that the metro, buses and trams could be included... The electric tram runs fast. If anything of that sort is incorporated, then it will help the people and that's what we want."

Trams survive only in one Indian city, Kolkata, but lack of modernization and non-replacement of fleet has made this cheaper model of transport economically unviable.

However sleek modern trams that run in Europe are a different story altogether. Trams are doing well in cities like Vienna, Amsterdam, Prague and even Istanbul.

Traffic analyst Ashok Datar told NDTV, "I feel trams are good for a crowded city for Mumbai, especially the island city. Illegal parking may reduce as parking on the tram tracks will definitely come to a stop as people are usually scared of trams."

The ambitious 35.6 kilometre long coastal road project is being planned between Nariman Point and Kandivali to provide relief to lakhs of commuters. Currently, peak hour traffic results in traffic jams and it takes nearly two to three hours to travel the distance.

The first horse drawn tram services began between Parel and Colaba in 1874, around thirty years later the service was electrified. Double-decker tram services started in 1920, but the service was withdrawn in the 1960's.