The Riverfront streetcar line morphed from tourist attraction to transit corridor.
Origins of the Riverfront Streetcar line
We’re working on a proper history of the Riverfront Streetcar line, which opened on 14-August-1988. NOPSI converted the Canal line to bus operations in 1964. So, they operated only St. Charles for twenty-four years. The Ernest N. Morial Convention Center motivated the new line. The Convention Center, located at Julia Street and the river, opened with a massive helicopter/aviation convention after the closure of the World’s Fair in 1984. The city constructed a streetcar line that connected the facility to the Vieux Carre.
The New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (NORTA) designated the line as “heritage” operations. They based the line on a single railroad track owned by the Seaboard Coast Line (formerly the L&N, now CSX). While the railroad hadn’t operated that piece of track in decades, they still controlled the track. So, NORTA negotiated a purchase/swap with the railroad. They retained the “standard gauge” width, rather than re-building for the wider gauge commonly used by street rail. The line included a passing siding so streetcars going in opposite directions could keep moving.
The line operated with four streetcars initially. Two were 1923-vintage arch roofs similar to those operating on the St. Charles line. NORTA added two W-2 streetcars from Melbourne, Australia. Those cars had center doors. They built raised platforms with ramps. The center doors of the W-2s enabled wheelchair access. We took our firstborn to the dedication in 1988 as a baby! It was a blast. The line exceeded everyone’s expectations. Convention-goers used it as desired, to go down the Da Quarters. Locals fell in love with the ride as well.
Expansion
By 1990, it was clear a second track was needed. NORTA added that track and acquired an additional arch roof and another W-2. That helped, but the popularity of the line continued to grow. Riverfront had become “a thing.” The line had to be merged into the overall transit system. To accomplish this, the line had to be converted to wide-gauge, which would match operations on St. Charles. Riverfront closed on 6-September-1997 for the re-build.
There was one big catch with all these plans. Congress had passed and President Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990. That meant that the expanded Riverfront line would have to be fully-accessible. New streetcars with wheelchair access had to be built. NORTA built the 400-series Riverfront streetcars at Carrollton Station while the tracks were ripped up and re-built. The line re-opened on 13-December-1997 on wide gauge with the new streetcars.
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