Tucson streetcar line nears readiness
Written by Douglas John BowenSix of eight streetcars ordered by Tucson, Ariz., for its Sun Link service have arrived in the city as Tucson prepares to launch passenger service, tentatively on July 25, 2014.
Testing has been ongoing since late last year on the $197 million, 3.9-mile line, to be served by eight streetcars manufactured by Clackamas, Ore.-based United Streetcar LLC.
Tucson initially placed an initial $26 million order for seven cars in June 2010. The eighth car was ordered for an additional $3.6 million in July 2012 in order to satisfy Federal Transit Administration requirements for a second spare. United Streetcar’s first model 200 car arrived in Tucson on Aug. 30, 2013. The sixth car, No. 107, arrived on the property on Friday, April 11, 2014.
The Sun Link website observes, “More than 100,000 people live and work within a block of the Tucson Streetcar line. Beginning in the summer of 2014, they will be riding the rails from the University to the westside to work, shop, eat, and be entertained.”
