Ready to roll on $97M Downtown El Paso trolley construction

​EL PASO – Crews will begin building tracks for the $97
million Downtown El Paso trolley starting in January 2016, and the first part
of the route will be ready to run by 2018.

 “This is a very
different project. We are tearing up 4.8 miles of roadway in Downtown,” said Raymond
Telles, Camino Real Regional Mobility Authority Executive Director.

The international historic streetcars — part of daily life
until the 1970s — are being prepped for restoration or remanufacturing.

Paso del Norte Trackworks was selected to build the
infrastructure, including the construction of the tracks and overhead wires.

As planned, the trolleys would run north from Stanton St.
near Downtown to the University of Texas at El Paso, loop the campus and run
back south on Oregon St. It will make 27 stops along the way.

Telles said the Downtown loop and first two vehicles will be
ready for testing in either late 2017 or mid-2018. The remaining four are set
to be delivered mid- to late 2018.

Once complete, Sun Metro will own and operate the trolley,
including the streetcars and the tracks on which they will run, as well as the
maintenance facility to be located Downtown.

Sun Metro Director Jay Banasiak said it would cost about
$2.5 million a year to run the trolley. Sun Metro is funded primarily through
federal funds, sales taxes and rider fares.

Anticipated ridership of the new trolley system
is anticipated to be 1,480 riders per day. The fare structure will be the same
as the Sun Metro fixed route rates.