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Old Posted Nov 16, 2007, 4:38 AM
gmg1981 gmg1981 is offline
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Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: New Orleans, LA
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St. Charles streetcar line may be extended by Christmas

St. Charles streetcar line may be extended by Christmas
http://blog.nola.com/times-picayune/..._line_may.html
Posted by Leslie Williams November 15, 2007 4:08PM
Categories: Breaking News
If an aggressive plan being pursued by the Regional Transit Authority succeeds -- and the odds are it will -- tourists and residents may get an unexpected Christmas gift. They'll be able to ride the streetcar the entire length of St. Charles Avenue.

Fred Basha, the RTA's director of infrastructure, said Thursday that he's convinced the streetcar line's Calliope Street substation can generate enough power to move historic, green Perley Thomas cars all the way from downtown to South Carrollton Avenue. At the moment, service ends at Napoleon Avenue, about half way along the St. Charles route.

If the RTA can overcome three other obstacles, and he believes the agency can, street service along the length of the avenue could resume before Christmas Eve, Basha said.

The obstacles: The RTA has to have workers paint the poles that support the electrified system of overhead wires, which rainy weather could delay. Operators who were laid off after Hurricane Katrina shut down the system have to be re-hired. And the state has to certify that the portion of the line between Napoleon and Carrollton is safe to use.

"There's also some testing of that portion of the line that needs to be done, but I don't expect that to be a problem," Basha said. "It's aggressive, but I think we can have it operational before Christmas Eve."
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