Charlotte's trolley, which some credit with laying the groundwork for light rail, will resume service again Sunday after a two-year hiatus.
Three replica trolleys will run from uptown to the historic South End, using the same tracks as the Lynx Blue Line.
The trolleys are a tourist draw, a link to the city's past when streetcars were a key way to get around. But the trolley service will also have some practical benefit: In the middle of the day, the trolleys will mean more frequent service from uptown to the South End.
The nonprofit Charlotte Trolley began using a restored streetcar on a small rail spur in the South End in the late 1990s. The city later expanded the service through uptown to 9th Street, and the Charlotte Area Transit System began operating the trolley. Service stopped in 2006 for light-rail construction.
Ron Tober, Charlotte Trolley's executive director, headed CATS before he stepped down at the end of last year. He said the trolley helped convince Mecklenburg voters in 1998 to approve the half-cent sales tax for mass transit. That tax funds most of CATS' budget.
Tober said Sunday's 1 p.m. celebration at the Atherton Mill Trolley Barn will be a "soft opening."
The trolley will operate at first on weekends before running on weekdays in mid-May. The Charlotte Area Transit System, which operates light rail and will run the trolley, wants to ensure that the introduction of the trolley doesn't disrupt the Lynx, which has so far been on schedule.
"We're doing dry runs right now," said CATS chief operating officer Jim Zingale. "We're hoping to finalize how long that trip will take."
A one-way trolley fare will be $1.30 -- the same as a Lynx ticket and bus fare. At trolley stations that aren't served by the Lynx and don't have ticket machines -- Atherton Mill, Tremont, Morehead and 9th Street -- passengers can buy a ticket on board.
The operating budget for the Lynx is about $11.5 million. The trolley budget is about $200,000.
If the Lynx is extended to the University City area next decade, Charlotte would have a 21-mile rail line, and there might not be time or space to run the trolleys, Tober said. He said that if CATS builds a streetcar as planned, the trolley replicas could operate on those tracks.
CATS originally planned to use the historic No. 85 trolley car, which was refurbished with private donations and then improved again with taxpayer dollars. But the federal government said the 80-year-old trolley car couldn't withstand a collision with the Lynx trains, relegating the No. 85 to a ceremonial role.
The No. 85 car was built in Charlotte in 1927 and used until 1938, when it was retired as part of a "Goodbye to Trolleys" celebration.
The No. 85 will be a part of Sunday's celebration, making a round trip from Atherton Mill to uptown and back.
It may then reside in the new trolley museum, which is being built near the Bland Street light-rail station.
