Charlotte Trolley
| Charlotte Trolley | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Overview | |
| Type | Heritage Streetcar |
| System | Charlotte Area Transit System |
| Locale | Charlotte-Mecklenburg, North Carolina |
| Termini |
Atherton Mill (south) 9th Street (north) |
| Stations | 11 |
| Operation | |
| Opened | 1996 |
| Closed | 2010 |
| Owner | Charlotte Area Transit System |
| Operator(s) | Charlotte Area Transit System |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Electrification | Overhead catenary |
The Charlotte Trolley was a heritage streetcar that operated in Charlotte in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The line ran along the former Norfolk Southern right of way between Tremont Avenue in the Historic South End in a northerly direction to its terminus at 9th Street Uptown. It ran on tracks shared with the LYNX Blue Line.
The Charlotte Trolley represented the return of streetcar service to the city of Charlotte since the closure of its original network on March 14, 1938, which had been in operation since May 18, 1891. The return of the trolley came on August 30, 1996, running in the evenings on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons for an initial six-month trial period. The trial period occurred on a 1.8-mile rail line between the Atherton Mill trolley barn and Stonewall Street.
Through the initial six months of operation ending on February 28, 1997, the trolley saw a ridership of 25,000. As a result of the success of the trial run of the trolley, Norfolk Southern awarded the trolley a one-year extension of the agreement to use its track.
After a new bridge was completed over Stonewall Street, 7-day-a-week service commenced between Atherton Mill in the South End and 9th Street Uptown on June 28, 2004. Operations prior to that date were run by a group of volunteers (some retirees) where some of them were hired by the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) which has operated the Trolley since that time. At that time, CATS purchased 3 replica trolley to Car #85, a vintage trolley dating back to the 1920s.
Service was temporarily halted on February 5, 2006, when construction began to convert the route into a light rail line. Initially service was to only be halted for a year, with the trolley running approximately a year before light rail service commenced. However, by November 2006 CATS determined it would be unfeasible to run the trolley service with the corridor still under construction.
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