El Paso Streetcars debut on streets of downtown

The of El Paso’s refurbished Streetcars hit the streets of El Paso today.

These are the same Streetcars that roamed the streets of downtown El Paso decades ago. The streetcars were a big hit with the people who had the opportunity to ride them. Elizabeth Villarreal said, “It was very nice, very smooth ride, it was a good experience I really liked it.”

Earlier in the morning, during a special ceremony, five of the streetcars were debuted. The mayor emphasizing some of the upgrades as he spoke to a crowd of people who came to get a glimpse at the Streetcars. Mayor Dee Margo said, “They will have all the modern amenities, such as air conditioning , WiFi, and as we said earlier ADA compliant.”

Jay Banasiak, the Director of Sun Metro said, “People love it, they’re happy, and they’re just happy to be on it and riding around.”

Each car represents a different decade that they were originally in service. The orange one is from the 1950’s, the car with the dark green stripe is from the 1960’s, and the car with the red stripe is from the 1970’s.

The Streetcars travel a 4.8-mile route in two loops through downtown and the Utep areas. They also pass by several businesses, restaurants and, the downtown ballpark. Some believe the El Paso Streetcars are just another step in E l Paso’s promising future.

Ted Houghton, the former chairman of Texas Transportation Commission thinks, there is more to come for El Paso, saying ” ” But this is just a sliver of what the redevelopment of downtown is. The centerpiece the cornerstone is the ballpark here to the left, and everything is started dominating down since then, but we’re not done.” Houghton goes on to mention the downtown arena, the $1.2 billion I-10 project, and the Children’s Museum. TX-DOT put in $97 million into the Streetcar project.