El Paso, TX — Construction Start Nears

July 2015

EL PASO television station KVIA, the local ABC affiliate, reports that plans by the west Texas city for a heritage streetcar line are on track. The new car line will connect the University of Texas-El Paso [UTEP] campus with downtown and the U.S. side of the international border with Mexico. The original PCC-operated car line ran from downtown El Paso to Juarez, Mexico, until 1973. A truncated version after that on the U.S. side only was unsuccessful and was abandoned in 1974. The secondhand PCCs bought by El Paso City Lines, a National City Lines [NCL] property, came from San Diego.

Nine of the PCCs remain in El Paso for rehabilitation and a vendor for the project is expected to be selected in August along with a contractor to build the urban rail line. The southernmost point of the new line will be about four blocks north of the U.S. Customs Port of Entry.

The article discloses the construction firms that are bidding to be general contractor: "The companies bidding for the $97-million dollar project are: Sundt-Herzog, Stacy and Witbeck and Jordan Foster. All three are working with local companies as they draft up plans to present to the city."