After four years of planning and construction, the streetcar line that runs from Good Samaritan Hospital to Portland State University finally opened on July 20th, 2001. At 9:45am, a parade of dancers and people from Europe marched with the five streetcars that lined up, carrying V.I.P.’s and passengers. Regular service began at noon.
Throughout the weekend, festivities occurred along the route — music, dancing, performances, raves, shows, barbeques, etc. This shows that the community was brought together by this project and gave it a very good kick-off for service, especially the new neighborhood in Pearl District.
Streetcar facts:
- 66-feet long
- 8-feet wide
- Air conditioned
- Three doors on each side, one with wheelchair access
- Two powered trucks per vehicle
- First powered test with vintage trolley occurred on March 18th, 2001
- Total purchase price for the trains and spares is $12 million
- A mixture of 5 streetcars and up to 4 vintage trolleys will operate on the line
- Streetcars can operate on MAX tracks
- MAX trains cannot operate on streetcar tracks due to their heavy weight
- Fares on the Streecar are the same as those on the MAX and Tri-Met buses
- Nearly 70% of the streetcar line is in Tri-Met’s Fareless Square
- It serves Portland State University and Good Samaritan Hospital
- Some Tri-Met MAX operators will be transferred to run the streetcar line
- And finally, it’s another smart transit element to a great city!