It lumbered out of the garage with the speed of an armadillo; the first trolley to hit the streets under its own power in more than three years.
No regular folks ever saw this, only state, federal, and local officials were allowed any where near this trolley.
Reporters were kept on a sidewalk, just to make sure everybody would be ok, as if the thing would burst into flames again. It didn’t.
“All indications are that everything went well,” said Memphis Area Transit Authority boss Gary Rosenfeld.
Memphis residents listen up, your tax money was spent to buy this trolley.
Refurbished from the ground up, it is painted a dark blue and white, and according to the city’s chief operations officer, it is money well spent.
“I think our community is behind spending money on things that are of value,” says Memphis Chief Operations Officer Doug McGowen. “Things that will create value in our community. And this is important.”
It has taken more than three years to get to this point. Many businesses along Main Street saw a big drop in sales after the trolleys were taken off the streets.
This test is going to show whether the system and the new trolleys that will fit in with the new system, and MATA chief Rosenfeld was happy.
“There was an actual camera on top of the trolley It monitored the line the whole time, so uh, the team will review those things and review all their findings. But all indications are the car went out, went where it was supposed to go, came back from where it went, and is now back.”
They are still pushing for passenger service to begin by the end of the year. It will take until at least 2020 to get the Riverside and Madison trolley lines back in operation.
