Regional Transit Authority New Orleans

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The Regional Transit Authority , or RTA for short , is the public transport company for the city of New Orleans and the surrounding area. It was founded in 1983. The company operates bus and tram lines.

tram

Tram in New Orleans
New Orleans tram network

The New Orleans streetcar opened on January 13, 1835; it is the oldest in the world that still exists today. However, this railway was still steam-powered and was not electrified until 1895. In the following years numerous steam and horse trams were opened. In 1893 the St. Louis Car Company opened the first electric train. Until the 1920s, the network grew to a length of over 300 kilometers. In 1922 all railways were merged to form the newly founded New Orleans Public Service Inc. , or NOPSI for short . All lines received the 1,587 mm wide gauge used in the city until 1929 .

From this time, however, the competition between buses grew . The entire network was discontinued except for a remnant 11 kilometers long. This section owes its survival solely to the fact that it runs completely on its own track and thus does not impair individual traffic. Among other things, this train runs through Canal Street , which had six tracks in the heyday of the tram. Nonetheless, in 2002 the railway still performed an important function in the city's public transport with around 20,000 passengers.

In 1983 the Regional Transit Authority New Orleans (NORTA) was founded. At that time, a new shopping center (Riverwalk) was built on the Mississippi . Plans called for this to be connected to the city by means of a railway, among other things. The new, single-track line was opened on August 14, 1988. Since the railway uses tracks from the railway, it is normal-gauge in contrast to the other route . Since more passengers were using the train than expected, a second track was added on August 30, 1990. From 1996 the track began to be re-tracked to 1,587 mm. On September 6, 1997 the normal gauge was stopped and the broad gauge was put into operation on December 13, 1997. At the same time the construction of a connecting track was started which was completed in 2004.

Web links

Commons : New Orleans Tram  - Collection of images, videos, and audio files