New Orleans Streetcars Back on Track

by Michele Cheplic | More from this Blogger

12 Nov 2007 10:00 PM

They are the city's most recognizable tourist draws, but they have been missing from the landscape since Hurricane Katrina knocked them out of service more than two years ago. Now, they are back (partially) and visitors to New Orleans can once again board the historic streetcars to catch a live jazz show or head over to the French Quarter for a crawfish boil.

The legendary St. Charles Avenue streetcar returned to service at 5:27 a.m. Sunday, exactly two years, two months and 13 days after Katrina's horrific winds snapped transit poles like twigs. City officials say the return of the olive-green, 1920s-era Perley Thomas streetcars are a major step toward recovery.

The city is celebrating the streetcars return all week. Businesses have welcome back banners hanging from their doorways and the streetcars themselves are decked out in ribbons and balloons.

For residents of New Orleans a part of their city's history has been resurrected. The St. Charles Avenue line, which stretches 6.5 miles down the well traveled residential boulevard, has been running since 1835, making it one of the oldest continuously running trolley systems in the world. Back then the streetcars were pulled by mules. The line went electric in 1893 and the Perley Thomas cars (the ones that visitors ride on today) were added in 1923. According to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, it is the oldest-surviving urban passenger rail system in the nation. The entire line holds a prominent place in the National Register of Historic Places and has since its induction in 1973.

For the next few months the line will run only about half of its 6.5-mile stretch, from downtown to Napoleon Avenue. City leaders say the rest of the line is scheduled to reopen by early next year. That's good news for tourists as well as resident of New Orleans, many of whom rely on the streetcars to transport them to and from work each day. Before Katrina, the citywide system ran 24 hours a day and served 120,000 passengers daily, according to city reports. Post Katrina that number dropped to around 25,000 a day, but city officials expect the number of riders to steadily rise as lines become operational.

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Learn more about Michele Cheplic

Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism.

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