September 1835 (steam locomotives and horsecars) February 1893 (electric streetcars/trams)
Lines
5 operating
Operator(s)
New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (RTA)
Infrastructure
Track gauge
5 ft 2+1⁄2 in (1,588 mm)
Minimum curve radius
28 ft (8.534 m) in yard, 50 ft (15.24 m) elsewhere[1]
Electrification
Overhead line, 600 V DC
Statistics
Daily
21,600[2]
Overview
Streetcars in New Orleans have been an integral part of the city's public transportation network since the first half of the 19th century. The longest of New Orleans' streetcar lines, the St. Charles Avenue line, is the oldest continuously operating street railway system in the world.[3]: 42 Today, the streetcars are operated by the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (RTA).
There are currently five operating streetcar lines in New Orleans: The St. Charles Avenue Line, the Riverfront Line, the Canal Street Line (which has two branches), and the Loyola Avenue Line and Rampart/St. Claude Line (which are operated as one through-routed line). The St. Charles Avenue Line is the only line that has operated continuously throughout New Orleans' streetcar history (though service was interrupted after Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 and resumed only in part in December 2006, as noted below). All other lines were replaced by bus service in the period from the late 1940s to the early 1960s. Preservationists were unable to save the streetcars on Canal Street, but were able to convince the city government to protect the St. Charles Avenue Line by granting it historic landmark status. In the later 20th century, trends began to favor rail transit again. A short Riverfront Line started service in 1988, and service returned to Canal Street in 2004, 40 years after it had been shut down.[4]: 79, 124
The wide destruction wrought on the city by Hurricane Katrina and subsequent floods from the levee breaches in August 2005 knocked all the streetcar lines out of operation and damaged many of the streetcars. Service on a portion of the Canal Street line was restored in December of that year, with the remainder of the line and the Riverfront line returning to service in early 2006. On December 23, 2007, the Regional Transit Authority (RTA) extended service on the St. Charles line from Napoleon Avenue to the end of historic St. Charles Avenue (the "Riverbend"). On June 22, 2008 service was restored to the end of the line at South Carrollton Avenue & South Claiborne Avenue.
The streetcars are often changed or decorated for holidays and major sports events. For example, they are usually decorated for Christmas.[5]
^Henry, Lyndon (February 2007). "Rapid Streetcar: Rescaling Design and Cost for More Affordable Light Rail Transit". Light Rail Now Project. Retrieved April 9, 2014.
^"Public Transportation Ridership Report First Quarter 2015" (PDF). American Public Transportation Association. May 27, 2015. p. 3. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
^Hennick, Louis C.; Charlton, E. Harper (1975). The Streetcars of New Orleans. Jackson Square Press. ISBN 978-1565545687.
^Hampton, Earl W. (2010). The Streetcars of New Orleans 1964-Present. Gretna, Louisiana: Pelican. ISBN 978-1589807310.
^Rodriguez, Elena (December 14, 2023). "New Orleans Decorates Their Street Cars for Christmas". BiggleBit. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
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