New Orleans, Louisiana:
Canal Street Streetcar Line

Description and History

New Orleans's Canal Street streetcar line is a re-creation of the original line which was built in 1861 as a horsecar line, electrified in 1894, and converted to diesel buses in 1964. Following the continued popularity of the St. Charles Avenue line, and the success of the new Riverfront line (built in 1988), the Canal Street line was rebuilt. It began operation in 2004, almost exactly forty years after the original line shut down.

There are actually two lines:

• Canal - Cemeteries runs straight out Canal Street from its foot near the Mississippi River to the cemeteries at the old northern edge of town, a distance of 3.6 miles.

• Canal - City Park / Museum runs from the French Market along the Riverfront line, Canal Street, and a newly-built branch on North Carrollton Avenue, to a terminal just inside the entrance to City Park, a distance of about 4.6 miles.

The two lines combined run every ten minutes on Canal Street between the river and North Carrollton. Out of every seven cars, five run to Cemeteries and two run to City Park, in a 3-1-2-1 pattern.

The 24 cars used on these lines are modern replicas of the vintage Perley Thomas cars that run on the St. Charles line, built in New Orleans RTA's Carrollton shops during 1999-2003. Unlike the St. Charles cars, they are painted red, and have air conditioning and access for disabled passengers using an on-board lift. They are based at a facility on Canal Street, between White and Gayoso Streets, that was built to house them.

Following Hurricane Katrina at the end of August 2005, the Canal Street facility flooded to a depth of several feet, ruining the new cars' electrical systems. However, the vintage Perley Thomas cars of the St. Charles line were unscathed because their facility (Carrollton Station) was on higher ground and escaped flooding. Also, the Canal Street tracks and infrastructure were in better shape than those on St. Charles Avenue which required extensive repair. Therefore, some of the St. Charles cars were used to restore service to Canal Street in December 2005. By March 2009, enough Canal Street cars had been repaired to take over service completely.

New Orleans streetcar lines on an aerial view of the city, from Google Maps.