El Paso's Stealth Streetcar Project

Any coverage on the numerous streetcar projects in U.S. cities in regent years reads like a never-ending saga. There's usually politically turmoil, funding challenges, construction delays and philosophical debates about dedicated lanes (see RAIL #37 - ed). Some generate national exposure from both transit advocates and critics.

Counter to the typical drama of American modern streetcar systems is the story unfolding in El Paso, Texas, which is quietly rebuilding a portion of its historic network on a 4.8-mile system that will be of greater mileage than those in already open in Tucson (3.9), Seattle's First Hill (2.5), Atlanta (2.7), Washington, D.C. (2.2), Kansas City (2.2) and Cincinnati (3.6), and those forthcoming in Detroit (3.3) and Milwaukee (2.5). The network will feature two loops through El Paso's downtown and uptown districts, sharing rails for a stretch on Franklin Avenue.

Rather than purchasing new, modern streetcars that more resemble light-rail vehicles, the city – in partnership with the Camino Real Regional Mobility Authority and $97 million in total investment from the Texas Department of Transportation – is restoring six President's Conference Committee (PCC) cars that ran in El Paso until 1977. The vehicles will feature paint schemes donned by the cars during the 1950s, 60s and 70s. PCCs still run in active transit service in routes in Boston, Mass., Philadelphia, Pa., Kenosha, Wisc., and San Francisco, Calif. 

Construction of streetcar infrastructure began this past January – managed by Paso del Norte Trackworks, a partnership of Granite Construction and RailWorks Track Systems – and service is expected to begin in late 2018. Brookville Equipment Corp., is handling the restoration of the vintage streetcars, which were – admittedly – in pretty rough shape after sitting exposed to the desert air for decades. 

“This is a project to encourage infill development, to encourage preservation of our historic neighborhoods,” said Peter Svarzbein, who represents District One on the El Paso City Council and initially proposed the concept in a grad school paper at the University of Texas - El Paso (UTEP). “This is a powerful gesture from our city to not just throw away, but to reclaim that history and show it off.”

Fares for the service will match Sun Metro bus routes and 1,480 daily riders are estimated to ride the streetcars. Future extensions are possible to reach the Medical Center of the Americas as well as across the Mexican border to Juarez, which once was connected to El Paso by streetcar. Such an extension would represent the only international rail transit service in North America.