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The '''Adyar River Tramway''' was constructed under consideration in the early 1840’s and connected 1842 to provide a stone tramway to connect south [[Madras]] to the outlying districts of Santhome and Mylapore. <ref> [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adyar_River Wikipedia “Adyar River ” ] Retrieved on 31 Mar 14 Aug 2016</ref>

The A bridge carrying the tramway over the Adyar River was named the '''[[Elphinstone Bridge]]''' was had been constructed in the 1840s about 1840 during the time of Lord Elphinstone, who was governor of Madras from 1837 to 1842. The proposal was to construct a stone tramway on the existing bridge, presumably to convey carts pulled by bullock and extended over existing roads. A short length was constucted but in 1843 the experiment was abandoned.  ==History==By 1842 a letter to the Court of Directors of the [[East India Company]] requested payment of R1817.15 for the construction of the tramway <ref>[http:British Library IOR/Z/E/4/A/www198 “Letter dated 23rd November 1842”</ref>.thehindu.com In the reply the Directors requested a report from the Military Board on the feasibility of the experiment <ref>British Library IOR/newsF/cities4/chennai2089 “Military Report 135 1843 Board collections 97150” </173yearold-elphinstone-bridge-gets-ref>. In the engineer’s report Lieutenant Robertson says the engineer escorted the Superintendent of Roads to review the tramway. A length of stone tramway 684ft (0.12Km) had been built “substantially with judgement. The track had been down 2 monsoons so was a fair trial. It was useful with the public facilitating the haulage across what was in some parts a-makeover/article4302496heavy bed of sand".ece The Hindu Newspaper 13 Jan 2013 “Elphinstone Bridge”] Retrieved on 31 Mar 2016cost quoted differed at R1539 for the length of road. This meant a calculated R11,88.00 per mile (1.06Km). There was evidence that the sets had moved and over a longer route would be costly to maintain. A suggestion that causeways would be cheaper and more easily maintained <ref>British Library IOR/F/4/2089 “Military Report 135 1843 Board collections 97150”</ref>. These facts unfortunately put an end to the experiment and the Directors declined to continue <ref>British Library IOR/E/4/963/P905 “Letter from the Revenue Department dated 9th September 1863” </ref>.

An on-line search of the The [[India Office Records]] (IOR) records held at the [[British Library]] relating to this tramway <ref>[http://searcharchives.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?vid=IAMS_VU2 “British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue” - Search]; Retrieved 31 Mar 2016</ref>gives the followingare primary information sources: -

 ==Further Information==See ''These records have not been examined and may provide further information.'[[Elphinstone Bridge]]'''