New Orleans, Louisiana

Perley Thomas Replica #2022 on the Canal Street line at North Carrollton/St. Peter. Photo by Peter Ehrlich, April 2004.

Overview

New Orleans is a very unique city bustling with history. It is no surprise that this rolls over to their streetcar system. New Orleans' residents are very particular in that they are called streetcars, and not trolleys. A "trolley" is technically a mechanism that transmits electric current to the motors. New Orleans had their streetcars for over 60 years before a trolley device was used to power them, and was in fact the first city west of the Allegheny Mountains to begin passenger rail service.

By the 1920's, New Orleans had over 200 miles of streetcar trackage criss-crossing through the city. Eventually, almost all of that trackage was abandoned and ripped up in favor of more "modern" buses. By the 1950's, all that was left of this vast system was the Desire Streetcar Line, the Canal Street Line, and the St. Charles Line. The Desire route shut down in the 1950's and in the mid 1960's New Orleans lost the Canal Street route, leaving the St. Charles Line all by itself. Thankfully, that sad story has changed, and continues to change as new lines open, and others are being planned.

The streetcars are run by the RTA, the Regional Transit Authority, which also runs the buses in New Orleans. The one way fare is $1.50, allowing one transfer. A day pass could be bought for $5.00, or a 3-day pass for $12.00. These day or 3-day passes are good for unlimited use on all the streetcars or buses.

The Lines

St. Charles Line

Canal Street Line

Riverfront Line

The Future of Streetcars in New Orleans

The future of streetcars in New Orleans is bright. In addition to all the additions to the system over the last decade, there is another route planned. There may one day be a "Streetcar Named Desire" once again, as the RTA is planning a restoration of about 3 miles of the former Desire Corridor route. The proposed line would run from Canal Street to Poland Avenue using N. Rampart St. and St. Claude Ave. The line would loop back (similar to the St. Charles Line at Canal) in a loop formed by Canal, Basin, Toulouse, and N. Rampart Streets. The stations are proposed to be ground level center island platforms, many with canopies.

The project has been widely accepted, and NIMBY objections are minimal, with a few concerns that were worked out. The biggest obstacle at this point seems to between the RTA and the Norfolk Southern Railway. The Desire Streetcar line would have to cross the NS right of way at grade near St. Claude Ave. and Press St. The RTA proposed elaborate lights and gates along with other solutions, but the railroad has refused any plan that does not entail complete grade separation. An underpass was ruled out by the RTA because of the flooding nature of New Orleans, and residents refuse to accept an overpass as they feel it would destroy the historic feel of the neighborhood. The Desire Corridor route may be scrapped if a concession can not be worked out between NS and the RTA, or the line will have to terminate at the NS tracks, well short of the planned terminal. It will be interesting to see how they will solve this final snag in this otherwise completed proposal. Other than that, streetcars flourish once again in New Orleans, and will for many years to come.

Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina

On August 29, 2005, the worst hurricane in New Orleans history smashed into town. Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc on the Crescent City, with 140mph winds and monsoon rains, crumbling levees and putting entire neighborhoods under five feet of water. Hundreds of houses and businesses were destroyed or heavily damaged. The streetcar system suffered badly, with floodwaters inundating the new A. Philip Randolph Maintenance Facility and rendering the new Van Dullen fleet of Canal cars and six of the seven Riverfront trolleys inoperable. The new trackway, however, was virtually untouched. Over on the St. Charles line, Carrollton Station escaped flooding and damage, as did the 35 vintage 1924 Perley Thomas streetcars, but the line itself was knocked out by falling trees, light poles and overhead wires and cables. Much of the bus fleet was also rendered useless by the flooding. RTA lost hundreds of its employees to forced evacuation. Gradually, RTA personnel returned, enabling some buses to resume limited service.

In December, RTA streetcar personnel towed St. Charles car 930 over to Canal Street for a test of the car on the intact tracks of Canal Street and Riverfront. The test was a success, and 8 cars were on hand for startup of limited service on December 18, 2005. Service runs daily between 6:30am and 10:00pm. By April, all of Canal Street may reopen for service with more St. Charles cars moved over. Meanwhile, work has begun to rebuild St. Charles; however, service is not expected to return until Fall 2007. In addition, a Canal car and a Riverfront trolley have been moved to Brookville Equipment for evaluation of the work needed to get the Canal/Riverfront fleets back in service; estimates are running about $1 million per car.

Restoration of streetcar service is considered a major element in the rebuilding of New Orleans.

Restoring Service Gradually

As stated already, the goal to restoring the Crescent City toward better health consisted of rebuilding homes, neighborhoods and transit. Resuming service on lower Canal and on Riverfront was a small but significant step. Because the von Dullen and Riverfront fleets were sidelined, New Orleans had to get an FTA waiver to use the non-ADA-compliant 1924 cars to return lines to service. As long as NORTA ran duplicative accessible bus service, the FTA granted the waiver. (Of course, that didn't apply to St. Charles, since that line was "grandfathered".)

Randolph (Canal) Station had dried out enough to allow for streetcar operations to be based there while the newer cars were brought to Carrollton Shops to begin rehabilitation. With the help of a portable substation loaned from Boston's MBTA, the RTA was able to return streetcars to the full length of the new Canal/Cemeteries and Canal/City Park lines on April 2, 2006. Still, service was quite limited, with the Perley Thomas cars operating every 20 minutes or so during the daytime. Later, service was increased to every 15 minutes (12 at rush hours). In addition, car 461, the only surviving Riverfront car, was returned to service in a new blue livery.

Meanwhile, work began on restoring service to the historic St. Charles line. First, the downed trees and the fallen wires had to be removed, and new wire strung. In addition. new substations and feeder cables had to be constructed. This project tooK more than two years to complete. The first step was to restore service to the in- town portion between Canal Street and Lee Circle, which occurred on December 19, 2006. Enough work had been performed by November 11, 2007 to extend service through the Garden District as far as Napoleon. Further extension to Uptown, passing Audubon Park and Loyola and Tulane Universities, occurred a month later, on December 23, 2007. The last segment, Carrollton Avenue, reopened for service on June 22, 2008.

Service on St. Charles during the daytime is near pre-Katrina levels; however, night service has been cut back to infrequent and erratic levels. However, another small improvement came about when RTA extended service on both Canal and St. Charles to after 1:00 am.

Meanwhile, Brookville Equipment, which supplied the trucks and some other components for the Von Dullen cars, was brought in to help restore that fleet. Car 2008 will be the first of the new cars to return to service, probably in September 2008. The others will return at the rate of one or two a month, and sometime in 2008, the last Perleys will again operate on Canal--a line that was abandoned in 1964, and where it was never again expected to see them in this territory again!

Service Map (Normal Operations)