DOT 118-06 Contact: Sarah Echols
Tel.: (202) 366-4570
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Streetcar Service Returns to St. Charles Line,
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters Announces
Streetcar service is returning to the historic St. Charles line in New Orleans
now that a federally funded project to replace electrical lines used to power
the system is complete, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters announced
today.
“Today, the streetcars’ familiar sounds return to St. Charles Avenue for the
first time since Katrina hit, heralding to the world the resilience of this
city,” said Secretary Peters. “Where cable hung following the storm, today neat
rows of overhead wires stand ready to power New Orleans on a streetcar we should
call Revival.”
The Secretary noted that the Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit
Administration provided $9.2 million to help the local transit agency upgrade
power lines and construct three new power substations. She said now that work is
finished on the first 1.2 miles of the line, the streetcars could return to
service for the first time since the hurricane hit in 2005.
“Mile by mile, pole by pole, the St. Charles line, like New Orleans itself, is
coming back,” Secretary Peters said. “Reconnecting this vintage green streetcar
to its cable not only restores energy to the St. Charles Line, but also signals
the renaissance of this most vibrant and unique city.”
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Briefing Room
