The Charlotte Area
Transit System (CATS) is negotiating a one-year lease with Little Rock’s
Central Arkansas Transit Authority (CATA) for two of its Gomaco replica
Birney streetcars, with a price yet to be decided. The trolleys won’t be
needed in Arkansas until late 2004, when construction of the River Rail
streetcar line linking the downtowns of Little Rock and North Little Rock is
completed. CATA already has one trolley on the property for initial
testing. Once CATA approves the deal, the other two cars would be sent
directly from Gomaco’s Ida Grove, Iowa, plant to Charlotte sometime this
fall, although revenue service is now estimated to begin in February. A
two-mile (3.2 km) line linking Uptown and the South End was to open this
summer but the historic streetcars owned by nonprofit Charlotte Trolley Inc.
were found to be too delicate and without the proper safety gear to provide
all-day service. The latest delay was caused by a problem during
construction of a hotel parking garage, where combined trolley and light
rail tracks will be installed. The contractor is now working to correct the
mistake, a job that will take four months and be followed by track and
catenary installation. Meanwhile, the Charlotte City Council has approved
has the purchase of three Birney replicas from Gomaco at a cost of $2.1
million. CATS CEO Ron Tober told RTOL the cars are options held by Tampa’s
Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority which have been signed over to
Charlotte. “We are talking to Gomaco about their possibly accelerating the
production of our three cars,” said Tober. They will join No. 85,
Charlotte’s own historic streetcar that’s undergoing a $200,000 restoration.
