An Elegy For An Icon: Kolkata Bids Farewell To Its Iconic Yellow Taxis

The best part of travelling is coming home after a long trip. Growing up with working artists as parents meant that most of my childhood holidays were spent away from my hometown, and my favourite part of these long trips was returning home to Kolkata. This was before the days of app-based taxis like Uber and Ola, and whether we came back by train or flight, we'd always queue at the prepaid taxi stand outside the railway station or airport to hire a taxi for the ride home. The familiar sight of the grey-suited taxi drivers with their majestic black and yellow — and later blue and yellow — HM ambassadors meant that we were in the home stretch at last.

Since their introduction in 1962, the yellow ambassador taxis have been as inseparable a part of Kolkata's urban identity as trams, the Howrah Bridge, and the Victoria Memorial Hall. Once ubiquitous on Kolkata's streets, the yellow ambassadors — based on the British Morris Oxford Series III model and manufactured in Hindustan Motors' Uttarpara plant from 1957 until 2014 — were declared the best taxis in the world by the British automobile show Top Gear in July 2013. Also known as 'Kings of the Road' for their spacious backseat, comfortable ride quality, and tank-like reliability, these imposing yellow taxis and their equally imposing Sikh drivers — lovingly called 'Sardarji' by Kolkatans and legendary in their own right for their honesty and hospitality — used to rule Kolkata's chaotic roads until the arrival of app-based cabs like Uber and Ola in the 2010s.

Sadly, all good things must come to an end. After the legendary trams that once inspired many Bengali writers and filmmakers alike, Kolkata's yellow taxis are also slowly riding into the sunset. Their numbers have been steadily diminishing because of spiralling maintenance costs, lack of spare parts and servicing options, and increasing competition from app-based cabs with more modern features and amenities in recent years.

The COVID pandemic, too, has been disastrous for the survival of yellow taxis. With many owners selling their cars and drivers moving on to other professions during the lockdown, the yellow taxis never quite recovered to their pre-pandemic strength of over 20,000 cars after the lockdown. According to the state transport department, only about 7,000 yellow taxis currently operate on Kolkata's roads.

That number will only decrease as time passes. On November 25, 2024, the state transport department announced that almost 4,500 of the remaining 7,000 yellow ambassador taxis will be phased out before the end of 2025 because of exceeding the 15-year service limit for commercial vehicles. As more and more ambassadors exceed this limit, they will be replaced by newer models of blue and white cabs, and the iconic yellow taxis of Kolkata will slowly disappear from the roads.

As the city moves towards the end of their era, the Kings of the roads are dying. May they long reign over our minds.

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