MATA Trolley
Former Porto trolley on the Main Street line; its trolley pole became a pantograph soon after.
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| Operation | |
|---|---|
| Locale | Memphis, Tennessee |
| Open | April 29, 1993 |
| Status | Service temporarily suspended |
| Routes | 3 |
| Operator(s) | MATA |
| Infrastructure | |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) |
| Propulsion system(s) | Electric |
| Electrification | 600V DC,overhead line |
| Statistics | |
| Track length (total) | 10 mi (16.1 km) |
| Route length | 6.3 mi (10.1 km) |
| Stops | 25 |
| Passengers (2011-2012) | 1.34 million  23.1% |
| Website | MATA - Trolleys |
The MATA Trolley is a heritage streetcar transit system operating in Memphis in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It began operating on April 29, 1993. Service has been suspended since June 2014, following fires on two cars. As of October 2016, no date has been announced for resumption of service.
The last line of Memphis’ original streetcar network closed on June 15, 1947.
Since opening the system has been extended twice and now consists of three lines; the Main Street Line, the Riverfront Loop and the Madison Avenue Line. These lines are operated by the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA). In the 2011–12 fiscal year, 1.34 million trips were made on the system, a 23.1% year-on-year growth—the highest of any light rail system in the contiguous United States.
Originally proposed as a 4.9-mile (7.9 km) line along the Mississippi River, the Memphis City Council voted 9-4 in January 1990 to build the 2.5-mile (4 km), $33 million Main Street route. After multiple delays, construction of the line commenced in February 1991 for completion by December 1992. However, due to the longer-than-anticipated restoration of the vintage streetcars, the opening of the line was delayed until spring 1993. After further delay, testing of the first of the restored cars began on March 10, 1993, and the system opened to the public on April 29, 1993.
On October 1, 1997, the Riverfront line opened. The system's third line, running east from Main Street along Madison Avenue for about 2 miles (3.2 km), opened on March 15, 2004. It was completed at a cost of about $56 million, which was approximately 25 percent below the original budget forecast for the project.
The trolleys used are almost all restored, vintage streetcars. The original three cars in operation on opening day were all formerly used in Porto, Portugal, and are Car 187, circa 1927; Car 194, circa 1935; and Car 204, circa 1940. These cars are each 30 feet 6 inches (9.3 m) long, 7 feet 10 inches (2.39 m) wide and weigh 25,820 pounds (11.71 t) without passengers. The cars were restored by Kerns-Wilcheck Associates of Memphis. Three additional ex-Porto cars (156, 164 and 180) joined them within weeks, and the fleet had six cars (all ex-Porto single-truckers) by May 1993.
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