Tempe Streetcar
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![]() Downtown Tempe, which will see streetcar service for the first time as part of the Tempe Streetcar project
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Overview | |
Type | Streetcar |
System | Valley Metro Rail |
Locale | Tempe, Arizona, United States |
Termini |
Marina Heights Dorsey Lane |
Stations | 14 |
Services | 2 |
Website | www |
Operation | |
Planned opening | 2020 |
Owner | Valley Metro |
Operator(s) | Valley Metro |
Rolling stock | six Brookville Liberty Modern Streetcars |
Technical | |
Line length | 3.44 mi (6 km) |
Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
Tempe Streetcar is a future streetcar extension of Phoenix's Valley Metro Rail light rail system. Construction began in 2017 with a projected completion in 2020. When completed, it will link various parts of the city's downtown, as well as the Tempe campus of Arizona State University.
Tempe Streetcar will consist of 14 stations, running from Dorsey Lane east on Apache Boulevard, then north on Mill Avenue. From there, it will loop around Downtown Tempe along Mill and Ash avenues. The route continues along Rio Salado Parkway to Marina Heights, with a possible extension to Mesa to connect with the Chicago Cubs' new spring training facility, as well as Tempe Marketplace and future development along Rio Salado. Once completed, a transfer from light rail to the streetcar at the 3rd Street station will permit travel to Gammage Memorial Auditorium at Arizona State University to the south and the Hayden Ferry and Marina Heights office complexes to the north.
Construction will cost between $175 and $190 million and will be funded using the Proposition 400 sales tax and federal grants. In February 2016, the project was identified in President Barack Obama's budget for Fiscal Year 2017. A total of $75 million was dedicated to the project and would supplement the Proposition 400 funds, as well as local funds and other federal grant funds. The final 2017 budget, not passed until May 2017 under President Donald Trump, included $50 million.
In 2011, Kinki Sharyo offered a demonstration model of its ameriTRAM vehicle, to allow members of the public to provide feedback on the vehicle.
Valley Metro issued an RFP to obtain vehicles for this route in the summer of 2016. Potential suppliers originally included Alstom, Bombardier, CAF USA, Kinki Sharyo, Siemens or TIG/m. Vehicle options for this line included a combination of battery power, overhead catenary wires or on-board hydrogen fuel system.