Washington, DC ― Streetcar Trackwork Begins

Rail Transit Online, October 2009

Visible progress on the Anacostia demonstration streetcar line can finally be seen in Southeast Washington, with track laying underway on Firth Sterling Avenue. The $55-million, 1.5-mi. (2.4 km) project has suffered repeated delays since serious planning began more than six years ago.

Three streetcars were purchased in 2005 from DPO Inekon in the Czech
Republic, where they remained stored pending the completion of a maintenance base on South Capitol Street. However, despite the start of construction, locationsfor several stops on Howard Road and Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue still have not been finalized. Service was originally scheduled to begin in the fall of 2006 with projected daily ridership of 3,000 but currently there's no opening date.

The route, which has been adjusted several times, will connect Good Hope Road with Bolling Air Force Base and include a stop at the Anacostia Metro station.