Two years ago, the Antiplanner reported that Washington, DC’s transit agency, WMATA, owned several modern streetcars but hadn’t built any tracks for them to run on. As today’s Washington Post observes, the cars still sit in storage, more evidence of WMATA’s ineptitude.
Other than the lack of any money to lay new streetcar tracks, a major problem is an old law that forbids streetcar companies from using overhead wires in the “federal city” (Washington’s city limits as of 1887). In DC’s streetcar era, the companies dealt with this restriction by accessing a power line through a groove in the street, much like a cable-car groove. In some cases (such as the tracks shown above, which still exist near Georgetown University today), the tracks originally were for cable cars, so it was easy to swap out an electrical cable for a mechanical one.
The problem isn’t so easy to solve today, especially since WMATA already spent $10 million on Czech streetcars that are built to run off overhead wires, not a slot in the ground. Nevertheless, the agency has a grandiose plan to build 37 miles of streetcar lines.
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Official documents reveal that, when WMATA bought the cars, it had yet to do any engineering studies for the streetcar lines. In other words, it had no idea how much it would cost to actually lay streetcar tracks.
As Wikipedia reveals, WMATA planned a line in Anacostia (outside the 1887 boundaries) in 2004. It ordered Diesel-powered cars to use on some existing CSX tracks in 2005. That plan fell apart when WMATA discovered CSX did not have clear title to the tracks.
In 2006, WMATA announced it would spend $10 million on a 1.1-mile line in Anacostia. By 2007, when it ordered the Czech railcars, the estimated cost was $30 million for a 1.3-mile line. By 2008, the cost had risen to $45 million. By 2009, completion date was pushed back to 2012; the warranty on the Czech cars had expired, and WMATA was spending close to $1 million a year storing the cars. If it ever gets done, the line is projected to carry a grand total of 1,400 riders per day.
With numbers like that, no wonder something like 80 other cities want to have a streetcar line.
The Antiplanner wrote:
> The problem isn’t so easy to solve today, especially since
> WMATA already spent $10 million on Czech streetcars that
> are built to run off overhead wires, not a slot in the
> ground. Nevertheless, the agency has a grandiose plan to
> build 37 miles of streetcar lines.
Some comments:
(1) I believe a fair amount of the promotion of electric streetcars comes from the municipal government of the District of Columbia, not WMATA, though I suppose that WMATA (and the union that represents most WMATA hourly workers) would happily operate a new system of streetcars in the city in exchange for generous taxpayer subsidies.
(2) When D.C. had streetcars, the private companies that ran them (for profit) used designs car similar to those found in other North American cities, including standard track gauge (unlike, for example, Baltimore and Philadelphia). Adapting the streetcars for operating with that underground electric conduit was relatively simple – the device (called a plow) was attached to the rear truck of the car. During the many years of operation with the conduits, the D.C. properties (more than once) purchased used cars from other cities without underground conduits, and adapted them with relative ease to operate with Washington’s unusual source of power.
(3) As the Post article discusses, there were many sections of the D.C. streetcar system with overhead trolley wire outside the monumental core of the city. At the point where the transition between power source was made, there was a so-called plow pit (literally a hole in the street), which had to be staffed at all times when the system was operating. Inbound cars to downtown D.C. would have the plow attached under the car and the trolley pole taken down – for outbound cars the process was reversed. This was generally a nasty, dirty and frequently cold and wet responsibility.
‘They’ recently just finished a phase of laying tracks on a street near RFK. I can see the tracks dead-end in the middle of the street from my seat on the Orange Line. It’s going to take some more construction to get them over the Anacostia Bridge and under the WMATA Orange Line over pass.
I thought the Trolley’s were still in the Czech republic and are being taken out regularly for a spin to keep them in operating condition. So the Trolley’s are working and running on tracks somewhere in Europe. YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK!!
I think the author of this post is incorrect in the assertion the streetcar line is being built/managed by WMATA. I was under the impression that WMATA purchased the streetcars from Skoda as an option to an order originally placed by Portland. As a result, the purchase price–and delivery schedule–was drastically reduced from what they would have actually paid for three cars had they ordered them separately. Secondly, I also recall it was DCDOT not WMATA responsible for the infrastructure including tracks, contact wires, stations, streetscapes, etc. So if there is someone who needs vilified, it appears to be DCDOT who should have known better re the wire ordinances.