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104-467: The First Hill Streetcar , officially the First Hill Line , is a streetcar route in Seattle , Washington, United States, forming part of the modern Seattle Streetcar system. It travels 2.5 miles (4.0 km) between several neighborhoods in central Seattle, including the International District , First Hill , and Capitol Hill . The line has ten stops and runs primarily in mixed traffic on South Jackson Street and Broadway . The streetcar line

208-646: A community center and turns north onto Broadway, which also carries a protected bicycle lane on its east side along with on-street parking spaces . The streetcar follows Broadway uphill into First Hill, stopping at Terrace Street near the Harborview Medical Center and Marion Street at the Swedish Medical Center on the west side of the Seattle University campus. The line then crosses into Capitol Hill and serves

312-410: A ticket vending machine on the platform. The First Hill Streetcar runs for 20 hours per day from Monday to Saturday, with trains from 5 am to 10:30 pm, and 10 hours per day on Sundays and federal holidays from 10 am to 8 pm. Trains arrive at stations with a scheduled frequency of 12 minutes during weekday rush hours, 15 minutes midday on weekdays and Saturdays, and 20 minutes during

416-622: A tram engine in the UK) at the head of a line of one or more carriages, similar to a small train. Systems with such steam trams included Christchurch , New Zealand; Sydney, Australia; other city systems in New South Wales ; Munich , Germany (from August 1883 on), British India (from 1885) and the Dublin & Blessington Steam Tramway (from 1888) in Ireland. Steam tramways also were used on

520-571: A Seattle-based partner that would assemble half the fleet. Inekon's delay was blamed on an existing backlog of orders, the battery systems, and a redesign required by a change in fire regulations. The project overran its $ 134 million budget by $ 1.6 million, which was paid by Inekon as part of their contract penalties. Testing of the first streetcar began in March 2015 and acceptance tests were completed on all five vehicles by October. The final phase of testing, including 310 miles (500 km) of operation and

624-520: A Vermont blacksmith, had invented a battery-powered electric motor which he later patented. The following year he used it to operate a small model electric car on a short section of track four feet in diameter. Attempts to use batteries as a source of electricity were made from the 1880s and 1890s, with unsuccessful trials conducted in among other places Bendigo and Adelaide in Australia, and for about 14 years as The Hague accutram of HTM in

728-503: A five-train simulation, was completed in early January 2016. The First Hill Streetcar began service with a soft launch on January 23, 2016, announced the previous day by the city government. Passenger fares were waived entirely for the first two weeks of operation, leading up to a formal grand opening during a Lunar New Year festival in the International District on February 13, 2016. In its first year of operation,

832-452: A frequency of five minutes due to an overlap of the two lines. During preliminary construction in late 2017, questions arose about increased costs and potential disruption to downtown businesses. Mayor Jenny Durkan cancelled work on the project in March 2018 and ordered an independent review, which found that construction costs had risen to $ 200 million due to errors in vehicle procurement and design changes. The streetcar project, later renamed

936-441: A mechanical bridge plate is deployed by the operator from one of two doors in the center section. A third door is located near the operator's cab in the raised section above the truck , which has seating accessed by a stair. A set of digital displays inside the car show upcoming stops, which are also announced by an audio message. The streetcars, numbered 401 to 407, were built by Czech manufacturer Inekon Trams, who also supplied

1040-580: A parallel protected bicycle lane . Construction was completed in late 2014, but delays in the delivery and testing of the streetcar vehicles pushed the opening of the line to January 23, 2016. A proposed connection to the South Lake Union Streetcar line was planned to be constructed in the late 2010s, but was suspended by the city government in 2018. First Hill and the Broadway corridor were historically served by several lines under

1144-505: A separate funding source. Mayor Mike McGinn endorsed the Broadway route and the city council unanimously approved the alignment in May 2010, with 10 stops and 10-minute weekday headways . Pre-construction activities for the project began in January 2011 and a formal groundbreaking was held on April 23, 2012. The project also included the construction of a two-way protected bicycle lane on

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1248-685: A set of stops between Pike and Pine streets in the center of the city's main nightlife district. Streetcars then pass the Seattle Central College campus and Cal Anderson Park before merging into a single track on the west side of Broadway. The First Hill line terminates at a stop on the south side of East Denny Way , adjacent to the west entrance of the Capitol Hill light rail station . The First Hill line has ten stations that are served by trains in both directions. The Jackson Street stops are primarily center platforms , while

1352-726: A similar technology, Pirotsky put into service the first public electric tramway in St. Petersburg, which operated only during September 1880. The second demonstration tramway was presented by Siemens & Halske at the 1879 Berlin Industrial Exposition. The first public electric tramway used for permanent service was the Gross-Lichterfelde tramway in Lichterfelde near Berlin in Germany, which opened in 1881. It

1456-474: A southbound business-and-transit lane between Union and Madison streets and prohibiting certain turning movements at three intersections. Other reliability projects, including the installation of transit signal priority on Jackson Street and turn restrictions on Yesler Way, were completed in 2018. A streetcar network plan published by the city government in 2008 explored extensions of the First Hill line to

1560-403: A station located east of 12th Avenue South and make a turn north onto 14th Avenue South, stopping at South Washington Street near Bailey Gatzert Elementary School and Wisteria Park . The line turns west onto East Yesler Way and continues around the north side of the elementary school campus, traveling uphill into the expanded Yesler Terrace housing development. The streetcar stops in front of

1664-946: A well-known tourist attraction . A single cable line also survives in Wellington (rebuilt in 1979 as a funicular but still called the " Wellington Cable Car "). Another system, with two separate cable lines and a shared power station in the middle, operates from the Welsh town of Llandudno up to the top of the Great Orme hill in North Wales , UK. Hastings and some other tramways, for example Stockholms Spårvägar in Sweden and some lines in Karachi , used petrol trams. Galveston Island Trolley in Texas operated diesel trams due to

1768-789: Is located at the northeast corner of the International District/Chinatown light rail station and the Union Station office complex. It then continues across the International District and stops at 7th Avenue South near the Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience . The streetcar crosses a spur track on 8th Avenue South that leads to the line's operations and maintenance facility and then travels under Interstate 5 into Little Saigon . Trains then stop at

1872-640: Is still in operation in modernised form. The earliest tram system in Canada was built by John Joseph Wright , brother of the famous mining entrepreneur Whitaker Wright , in Toronto in 1883, introducing electric trams in 1892. In the US, multiple experimental electric trams were exhibited at the 1884 World Cotton Centennial World's Fair in New Orleans, Louisiana , but they were not deemed good enough to replace

1976-734: Is the sole survivor of the fleet). In Italy, in Trieste , the Trieste–Opicina tramway was opened in 1902, with the steepest section of the route being negotiated with the help of a funicular and its cables. Cable cars suffered from high infrastructure costs, since an expensive system of cables , pulleys , stationary engines and lengthy underground vault structures beneath the rails had to be provided. They also required physical strength and skill to operate, and alert operators to avoid obstructions and other cable cars. The cable had to be disconnected ("dropped") at designated locations to allow

2080-713: The Bleecker Street Line until its closure in 1917. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania , had its Sarah Street line drawn by horses until 1923. The last regular mule-drawn cars in the US ran in Sulphur Rock, Arkansas , until 1926 and were commemorated by a U.S. postage stamp issued in 1983. The last mule tram service in Mexico City ended in 1932, and a mule tram in Celaya, Mexico , survived until 1954. The last horse-drawn tram to be withdrawn from public service in

2184-670: The Central District and on Rainier Avenue , connecting Broadway to the Mount Baker light rail station at Martin Luther King Jr. Way. The initial plans for the First Hill line included service north of Denny Way to Aloha Street, but this section was eliminated under the Sound Transit 2 funding plan. The 1 ⁄ 2 -mile (0.8 km) streetcar extension was supported by community groups and merchants in

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2288-533: The Klondike gold rush , jade green for Little Saigon, hot pink for Capitol Hill, and red and yellow for Chinatown-International District. The First Hill line requires six streetcars during normal operations, with five in service and one operational spare . An additional vehicle would be required for the North Broadway extension. The streetcars are stored at an operations and maintenance facility within

2392-933: The Lamm fireless engines then propelling the St. Charles Avenue Streetcar in that city. The first commercial installation of an electric streetcar in the United States was built in 1884 in Cleveland, Ohio , and operated for a period of one year by the East Cleveland Street Railway Company. The first city-wide electric streetcar system was implemented in 1886 in Montgomery, Alabama , by the Capital City Street Railway Company, and ran for 50 years. In 1888,

2496-715: The Richmond Union Passenger Railway began to operate trams in Richmond, Virginia , that Frank J. Sprague had built. Sprague later developed multiple unit control, first demonstrated in Chicago in 1897, allowing multiple cars to be coupled together and operated by a single motorman. This gave rise to the modern subway train. Following the improvement of an overhead "trolley" system on streetcars for collecting electricity from overhead wires by Sprague, electric tram systems were rapidly adopted across

2600-808: The South Lake Union Streetcar , opened in 2007; and the First Hill Streetcar , opened in 2016. In addition to road funding, SDOT also provides funding for public transit improvements through partner agencies. The 2015 "Move Seattle" levy includes funding for expansion of King County Metro 's RapidRide system into Seattle, replacing existing bus routes. Since the passage of "Bridging the Gap" levy in 2006, SDOT has funded $ 36 million in bicycle infrastructure, including 129 miles (208 km) of bicycle lanes and sharrows , 98 miles (158 km) of signed bicycle routes, and 2,230 bicycle parking spaces. A bikeshare system, Pronto Cycle Share , debuted in 2014 and

2704-576: The University District , passed by voters in 1996. A technical study revealed tunneling through the weak soil under First Hill involved high risks and would cost $ 350 million beyond the project's proposed budget, so the Sound Transit board voted in July 2005 to remove the First Hill station from their preferred light rail route. In lieu of light rail service, Sound Transit commissioned studies on alternative means of improving transit service to

2808-824: The West Midlands Metro in Birmingham , England adopted battery-powered trams on sections through the city centre close to Grade I listed Birmingham Town Hall . Paris and Berne (Switzerland) operated trams that were powered by compressed air using the Mekarski system . Trials on street tramways in Britain, including by the North Metropolitan Tramway Company between Kings Cross and Holloway, London (1883), achieved acceptable results but were found not to be economic because of

2912-711: The "Culture Connector", remains unfunded and suspended as of 2023. A report released in January 2024 estimated that the project would take seven years to construct and cost $ 410 million—a 43 percent increase from the 2018 estimate. The First Hill Streetcar line travels 2.5 miles (4.0 km) from Pioneer Square in Downtown Seattle , east through the International District , and north through Yesler Terrace and First Hill to Capitol Hill , generally following South Jackson Street and Broadway . Trains take approximately 18 minutes to traverse

3016-416: The $ 365 million "Bridging the Gap" levy was approved by Seattle voters, using property taxes and parking fees to fund nine years of transportation improvements. The levy was replaced in 2015 by the voter-approved "Move Seattle" levy, funded by a new property tax, that will provide $ 930 million over a nine-year period. SDOT maintains the citywide streetcar network, which consists of two lines, as of 2016 :

3120-480: The 12 Trio models used for the South Lake Union line, the 121 Trio features an on-board energy storage system that allows streetcars to run off-wire on downhill sections of the route and recharge the battery using regenerative braking . The streetcars are painted in colors to represent neighborhoods on the route, including baby blue for First Hill's hospitals, metallic gold for Pioneer Square's role in

3224-1241: The 1850s, after which the "animal railway" became an increasingly common feature in the larger towns. The first permanent tram line in continental Europe was opened in Paris in 1855 by Alphonse Loubat who had previously worked on American streetcar lines. The tram was developed in numerous cities of Europe (some of the most extensive systems were found in Berlin, Budapest , Birmingham , Saint Petersburg , Lisbon , London , Manchester , Paris , Kyiv ). The first tram in South America opened in 1858 in Santiago, Chile . The first trams in Australia opened in 1860 in Sydney . Africa's first tram service started in Alexandria on 8 January 1863. The first trams in Asia opened in 1869 in Batavia (Jakarta), Netherlands East Indies (Indonesia) . Limitations of horsecars included

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3328-713: The 1894-built horse tram at Victor Harbor in South Australia . New horse-drawn systems have been established at the Hokkaidō Museum in Japan and also in Disneyland . A horse-tram route in Polish gmina Mrozy , first built in 1902, was reopened in 2012. The first mechanical trams were powered by steam . Generally, there were two types of steam tram. The first and most common had a small steam locomotive (called

3432-420: The 1980s. The history of passenger trams, streetcars and trolley systems, began in the early nineteenth century. It can be divided into several distinct periods defined by the principal means of power used. Precursors to the tramway included the wooden or stone wagonways that were used in central Europe to transport mine carts with unflanged wheels since the 1500s, and the paved limestone trackways designed by

3536-481: The Australian state of Queensland between 1909 and 1939. Stockholm , Sweden, had a steam tram line at the island of Södermalm between 1887 and 1901. Tram engines usually had modifications to make them suitable for street running in residential areas. The wheels, and other moving parts of the machinery, were usually enclosed for safety reasons and to make the engines quieter. Measures were often taken to prevent

3640-462: The British newspaper Newcastle Daily Chronicle reported that, "A large number of London's discarded horse tramcars have been sent to Lincolnshire where they are used as sleeping rooms for potato pickers ". Horses continued to be used for light shunting well into the 20th century, and many large metropolitan lines lasted into the early 20th century. New York City had a regular horsecar service on

3744-469: The Broadway and Yesler stops use side platforms due to the streets' widths. Each is equipped with a low platform for level boarding that measures 60 to 70 feet (18 to 21 m) long and 10 to 12 feet (3.0 to 3.7 m) wide. The platforms include a basic steel and glass shelter, a digital display with real-time arrivals , wayfinding maps and signs, benches, and leaning rails. Passengers pay for rides using an ORCA card reader or via paper tickets printed at

3848-556: The Broadway business district, who lobbied the city to study and design the $ 20 million project in 2010. A car tab fee rejected by city voters in 2011 would have funded $ 18 million for various streetcar projects, including the Aloha extension. As design work progressed, the cost of the project rose to $ 25 million, which would be covered by a Puget Sound Regional Council grant and a local improvement district levied on local property owners. The city government completed 90 percent design of

3952-774: The Entertainment Centre, and work is progressing on further extensions. Sydney re-introduced trams (or light rail) on 31 August 1997. A completely new system, known as G:link , was introduced on the Gold Coast, Queensland , on 20 July 2014. The Newcastle Light Rail opened in February 2019, while the Canberra light rail opened on 20 April 2019. This is the first time that there have been trams in Canberra, even though Walter Burley Griffin 's 1914–1920 plans for

4056-547: The First Hill line in December as part of a citywide streetcar network that would expand on the existing South Lake Union Streetcar . An interlocal agreement between the city and Sound Transit was signed in October 2009 to allow the city to design and construct the streetcar while using funds from the transit expansion plan, which would also cover the $ 5.2 million annual operating budget. While initially projected to open in 2016,

4160-503: The International District. Due to the existing trolleybus and electrical wires above Broadway and South Jackson Street, SDOT elected to forgo wiring for its downhill, inbound track and instead rely on an onboard battery. Street construction and electrical installation were completed in late 2014, but the commencement of service was delayed to the following year due to procurement issues with the Czech streetcar manufacturer, Inekon Trams , and

4264-583: The Irish coach builder John Stephenson , in New York City which began service in the year 1832. The New York and Harlem Railroad's Fourth Avenue Line ran along the Bowery and Fourth Avenue in New York City. It was followed in 1835 by the New Orleans and Carrollton Railroad in New Orleans, Louisiana , which still operates as the St. Charles Streetcar Line . Other American cities did not follow until

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4368-545: The Netherlands. The first trams in Bendigo, Australia, in 1892, were battery-powered, but within as little as three months they were replaced with horse-drawn trams. In New York City some minor lines also used storage batteries. Then, more recently during the 1950s, a longer battery-operated tramway line ran from Milan to Bergamo . In China there is a Nanjing battery Tram line and has been running since 2014. In 2019,

4472-436: The North Sydney line from 1886 to 1900, and the King Street line from 1892 to 1905. In Dresden , Germany, in 1901 an elevated suspended cable car following the Eugen Langen one-railed floating tram system started operating. Cable cars operated on Highgate Hill in North London and Kennington to Brixton Hill in South London. They also worked around "Upper Douglas" in the Isle of Man from 1897 to 1929 (cable car 72/73

4576-463: The Romans for heavy horse and ox-drawn transportation. By the 1700s, paved plateways with cast iron rails were introduced in England for transporting coal, stone or iron ore from the mines to the urban factories and docks. The world's first passenger train or tram was the Swansea and Mumbles Railway , in Wales , UK. The British Parliament passed the Mumbles Railway Act in 1804, and horse-drawn service started in 1807. The service closed in 1827, but

4680-413: The Second Street Cable Railroad, which operated from 1885 to 1889, and the Temple Street Cable Railway, which operated from 1886 to 1898. From 1885 to 1940, the city of Melbourne , Victoria, Australia operated one of the largest cable systems in the world, at its peak running 592 trams on 75 kilometres (47 mi) of track. There were also two isolated cable lines in Sydney , New South Wales, Australia;

4784-562: The UK at Lytham St Annes , Trafford Park , Manchester (1897–1908) and Neath , Wales (1896–1920). Comparatively little has been published about gas trams. However, research on the subject was carried out for an article in the October 2011 edition of "The Times", the historical journal of the Australian Association of Timetable Collectors, later renamed the Australian Timetable Association. The world's first electric tram line operated in Sestroretsk near Saint Petersburg invented and tested by inventor Fyodor Pirotsky in 1875. Later, using

4888-410: The UK took passengers from Fintona railway station to Fintona Junction one mile away on the main Omagh to Enniskillen railway in Northern Ireland. The tram made its last journey on 30 September 1957 when the Omagh to Enniskillen line closed. The "van" is preserved at the Ulster Transport Museum . Horse-drawn trams still operate on the 1876-built Douglas Bay Horse Tramway on the Isle of Man , and at

4992-508: The advantages over earlier forms of transit was the low rolling resistance of metal wheels on steel rails, allowing the trams to haul a greater load for a given effort. Another factor which contributed to the rise of trams was the high total cost of ownership of horses. Electric trams largely replaced animal power in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Improvements in other vehicles such as buses led to decline of trams in early to mid 20th century. However, trams have seen resurgence since

5096-460: The busiest tram line in Europe, with a tram running once per minute at rush hour. Bucharest and Belgrade ran a regular service from 1894. Ljubljana introduced its tram system in 1901 – it closed in 1958. Oslo had the first tramway in Scandinavia , starting operation on 2 March 1894. The first electric tramway in Australia was a Sprague system demonstrated at the 1888 Melbourne Centennial Exhibition in Melbourne ; afterwards, this

5200-439: The capital then in the planning stage did propose a Canberra tram system. In Japan, the Kyoto Electric railroad was the first tram system, starting operation in 1895. By 1932, the network had grown to 82 railway companies in 65 cities, with a total network length of 1,479 km (919 mi). By the 1960s the tram had generally died out in Japan. Two rare but significant alternatives were conduit current collection , which

5304-458: The car up the hill at a steady pace, unlike a low-powered steam or horse-drawn car. Cable cars do have wheel brakes and track brakes , but the cable also helps restrain the car to going downhill at a constant speed. Performance in steep terrain partially explains the survival of cable cars in San Francisco. The San Francisco cable cars , though significantly reduced in number, continue to provide regular transportation service, in addition to being

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5408-402: The cars to coast by inertia, for example when crossing another cable line. The cable then had to be "picked up" to resume progress, the whole operation requiring precise timing to avoid damage to the cable and the grip mechanism. Breaks and frays in the cable, which occurred frequently, required the complete cessation of services over a cable route while the cable was repaired. Due to overall wear,

5512-405: The city's Charles Street Service Center, connected via a spur track on 8th Avenue South. The facility has capacity for seven streetcars, including three within the maintenance shop, and is expandable using outdoor storage tracks. The building was awarded LEED Gold certification for its sustainable construction, including a green roof and solar panels , and also houses administrative offices for

5616-409: The city's hurricane-prone location, which would have resulted in frequent damage to an electrical supply system. Although Portland, Victoria promotes its tourist tram as being a cable car it actually operates using a diesel motor. The tram, which runs on a circular route around the town of Portland, uses dummies and salons formerly used on the Melbourne cable tramway system and since restored. In

5720-410: The city. SDOT planned to install a rubber flange filler between the track and concrete, but found that it would cause additional hazards and not last an adequate amount of time. Streetcar service on the First Hill line was halted indefinitely on March 2, 2017, due to an incident where a streetcar lost electrical power and slid uncontrolled downhill for over two blocks after a brake failure. The vehicle

5824-484: The classic tramway built in the early 20th century with the tram system operating in mixed traffic, and the later type which is most often associated with the tram system having its own right of way. Tram systems that have their own right of way are often called light rail but this does not always hold true. Though these two systems differ in their operation, their equipment is much the same. Seattle Department of Transportation The Seattle Transportation Department

5928-416: The combined coal consumption of the stationary compressor and the onboard steam boiler. The Trieste–Opicina tramway in Trieste operates a hybrid funicular tramway system. Conventional electric trams are operated in street running and on reserved track for most of their route. However, on one steep segment of track, they are assisted by cable tractors, which push the trams uphill and act as brakes for

6032-430: The downhill run. For safety, the cable tractors are always deployed on the downhill side of the tram vehicle. Similar systems were used elsewhere in the past, notably on the Queen Anne Counterbalance in Seattle and the Darling Street wharf line in Sydney. In the mid-20th century many tram systems were disbanded, replaced by buses, trolleybuses , automobiles or rapid transit . The General Motors streetcar conspiracy

6136-454: The early morning, evenings, Sundays, and holidays. The streetcar had an annual ridership of 882,219 passengers in 2017. The streetcar is owned by the City of Seattle and is currently operated by King County Metro under a contract with the city government. The line's operating budget is primarily covered by a $ 5 million annual contribution from Sound Transit, with the city government paying other costs. Metro operates bus replacement services in

6240-506: The east side of Broadway that was added as a result of cycling accidents on the South Lake Union line. Track-laying began over the summer on Yesler Way and on Broadway between Pine and Howell streets, causing street closures and other traffic disruptions. During work on the Broadway section, Stacy and Witbeck contractors excavated railroad ties used by the original streetcar system until the 1940s. Trackwork on South Jackson Street began in early 2013 after completion of sewer and utility work in

6344-446: The engines from emitting visible smoke or steam. Usually the engines used coke rather than coal as fuel to avoid emitting smoke; condensers or superheating were used to avoid emitting visible steam. A major drawback of this style of tram was the limited space for the engine, so that these trams were usually underpowered. Steam trams faded out around the 1890s to 1900s, being replaced by electric trams. Another motive system for trams

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6448-429: The entire length of cable (typically several kilometres) had to be replaced on a regular schedule. After the development of reliable electrically powered trams, the costly high-maintenance cable car systems were rapidly replaced in most locations. Cable cars remained especially effective in hilly cities, since their nondriven wheels did not lose traction as they climbed or descended a steep hill. The moving cable pulled

6552-470: The event of service disruptions. The First Hill Streetcar uses a fleet of six low-floor Inekon 121 Trio streetcars that are maintained and operated by King County Metro. The articulated streetcars measure 66 feet (20 m) long, 8 feet (2.4 m) wide, and have two operator's cabs for bidirectional operations. They each have 30 seats and capacity for 40 additional standing passengers, along with two wheelchair locations; to board wheelchairs and bicycles,

6656-409: The existing South Lake Union line was planned in the 2008 city network as part of the Seattle Center – Downtown Seattle – King Street Station line. Planning on the project, named the Center City Connector , began in 2012 and was approved two years later by the city council to run for 1.2 miles (1.9 km) primarily on 1st Avenue. It would cost $ 110 million to construct and would carry streetcars at

6760-439: The fact that any given animal could only work so many hours on a given day, had to be housed, groomed, fed and cared for day in and day out, and produced prodigious amounts of manure, which the streetcar company was charged with storing and then disposing. Since a typical horse pulled a streetcar for about a dozen miles a day and worked for four or five hours, many systems needed ten or more horses in stable for each horsecar. In 1905

6864-444: The late 19th and early 20th centuries a number of systems in various parts of the world employed trams powered by gas, naphtha gas or coal gas in particular. Gas trams are known to have operated between Alphington and Clifton Hill in the northern suburbs of Melbourne , Australia (1886–1888); in Berlin and Dresden , Germany; in Estonia (1921–1951); between Jelenia Góra , Cieplice , and Sobieszów in Poland (from 1897); and in

6968-402: The late 19th and early 20th centuries. There was one particular hazard associated with trams powered from a trolley pole off an overhead line on the early electrified systems. Since the tram relies on contact with the rails for the current return path, a problem arises if the tram is derailed or (more usually) if it halts on a section of track that has been heavily sanded by a previous tram, and

7072-457: The line from end to end. The line begins in the median of South Jackson Street at Occidental Avenue in the Pioneer Square historic district , located near the city's waterfront and between Lumen Field and Occidental Park . Streetcars travel east on South Jackson Street, passing the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park and King Street Station —the city's intercity rail station—before reaching its second stop at 5th Avenue South. The stop

7176-475: The necessity of overhead wire and a trolley pole for street cars and railways. While at the University of Denver he conducted experiments which established that multiple unit powered cars were a better way to operate trains and trolleys. Electric tramways spread to many European cities in the 1890s, such as: Sarajevo built a citywide system of electric trams in 1895. Budapest established its tramway system in 1887, and its ring line has grown to be

7280-463: The neighborhood, leading King County Executive Ron Sims to suggest a streetcar connecting with the Capitol Hill light rail station . Sound Transit, the city government, and neighborhood stakeholders convened The First Hill Work Program to investigate alternative modes and projects, among them bus improvements to the Broadway and Madison Street corridors and a streetcar from International District/Chinatown station to Capitol Hill. The Work Program

7384-415: The office of Director of Transportation. Greg Spotts was nominated in 2022 for the position. In 2015, SDOT had an adopted budget of $ 429 million. The largest portion of the budget, approximately $ 186 million, is allocated to major capital projects, including collaborations with regional and state agencies. Much of SDOT's long-term funding comes from voter-approved funding levies and other taxes. In 2006,

7488-533: The oldest operating electric tramway in the world. Also in 1883, Mödling and Hinterbrühl Tram was opened near Vienna in Austria. It was the first tram in the world in regular service that was run with electricity served by an overhead line with pantograph current collectors . The Blackpool Tramway was opened in Blackpool, UK on 29 September 1885 using conduit collection along Blackpool Promenade. This system

7592-637: The poor paving of the streets in American cities which made them unsuitable for horsebuses , which were then common on the well-paved streets of European cities. Running the horsecars on rails allowed for a much smoother ride. There are records of a street railway running in Baltimore as early as 1828, however the first authenticated streetcar in America, was the New York and Harlem Railroad developed by

7696-407: The private and municipal streetcar system , beginning with the first line constructed in 1891 and ending in 1941 with the introduction of city trolleybuses . First Hill, a major regional destination due to its concentration of medical facilities and Seattle University , was slated to receive an underground Link light rail station under the system's first planned expansion from Downtown Seattle to

7800-504: The project in 2015, choosing a terminus at Roy Street and an intermediate stop at Harrison Street, but business leaders grew skeptical of the streetcar's cost and design, which would limit truck access. Work on the project was halted in December 2016 and put on indefinite hold in October 2017 alongside street improvements, including the protected bicycle lane extension. An extension of the First Hill Streetcar to connect with

7904-517: The project timeline was accelerated by three years under the agreement. The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) presented three basic route alignments for public consideration in December 2009: beginning with a common corridor on Jackson Street with a one-way loop between Pioneer Square and International District/Chinatown station, the streetcar would use either 12th or 14th avenues to reach Yesler Terrace , then continue north on Broadway, Boren Avenue, or 12th Avenue. Near Capitol Hill station,

8008-411: The streetcar averaged 3,050 weekday riders and met year-end projections, but by June 2017 the line was under-performing in ridership and fare revenue projections. The First Hill line was criticized for its slow, meandering route without transit-only lanes or other priority measures to give it a time advantage over buses or pedestrians. While SDOT included bicycle-friendly features and pathways parallel to

8112-584: The streetcar system. Streetcar A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in the United States) is a type of urban rail transit consisting of either individual railcars or self-propelled multiple unit trains that run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way . The tramlines or tram networks operated as public transport are called tramways or simply trams/streetcars. Because of their close similarities, trams are commonly included in

8216-495: The streetcar would split into a one-way couplet between Broadway and 11th Avenue with a terminal at Denny Way. Despite community support for the 12th Avenue option and First Hill organizations backing the Boren option, SDOT recommended the Broadway route with no couplet or one-way loop. Other activists also petitioned the city for an extension to the business district on North Broadway, terminating near Aloha Street, which would require

8320-423: The streetcar, the tracks remained the cause of serious crashes, including a fatal incident on Yesler Way in May 2016. A lawsuit alleging fault for the cyclist's death was filed against the city government and Sound Transit by her family and settled in 2018. Another crash, which resulted in severe injuries to a cyclist at South Jackson Street and 12th Avenue South, was settled in 2019 with $ 1.55 million paid for by

8424-542: The suburban tramway lines around Milan and Padua ; the last Gamba de Legn ("Peg-Leg") tramway ran on the Milan- Magenta -Castano Primo route in late 1957. The other style of steam tram had the steam engine in the body of the tram, referred to as a tram engine (UK) or steam dummy (US). The most notable system to adopt such trams was in Paris. French-designed steam trams also operated in Rockhampton , in

8528-558: The tracks. Siemens later designed his own version of overhead current collection, called the bow collector . One of the first systems to use it was in Thorold, Ontario , opened in 1887, and it was considered quite successful. While this line proved quite versatile as one of the earliest fully functional electric streetcar installations, it required horse-drawn support while climbing the Niagara Escarpment and for two months of

8632-416: The tram and completing the earth return circuit with their body could receive a serious electric shock. If "grounded", the driver was required to jump off the tram (avoiding simultaneous contact with the tram and the ground) and pull down the trolley pole, before allowing passengers off the tram. Unless derailed, the tram could usually be recovered by running water down the running rails from a point higher than

8736-466: The tram loses electrical contact with the rails. In this event, the underframe of the tram, by virtue of a circuit path through ancillary loads (such as interior lighting), is live at the full supply voltage, typically 600 volts DC. In British terminology, such a tram was said to be 'grounded'—not to be confused with the US English use of the term, which means the exact opposite. Any person stepping off

8840-427: The tram, the water providing a conducting bridge between the tram and the rails. With improved technology, this ceased to be an problem. In the 2000s, several companies introduced catenary-free designs: Alstom's Citadis line uses a third rail, Bombardier's PRIMOVE LRV is charged by contactless induction plates embedded in the trackway and CAF URBOS tram uses ultracaps technology As early as 1834, Thomas Davenport ,

8944-588: The vehicles for the South Lake Union line and the Portland Streetcar system. The fleet was manufactured in Ostrava by Inekon and shipped to Seattle for final assembly by Pacifica Marine in 2015, falling significantly behind schedule and delaying the start of service. The streetcars draw their electrical power from overhead catenary that is energized at 750 volts direct current . Unlike

9048-804: The wider term light rail , which also includes systems separated from other traffic. Tram vehicles are usually lighter and shorter than main line and rapid transit trains. Most trams use electrical power, usually fed by a pantograph sliding on an overhead line ; older systems may use a trolley pole or a bow collector . In some cases, a contact shoe on a third rail is used. If necessary, they may have dual power systems—electricity in city streets and diesel in more rural environments. Occasionally, trams also carry freight . Some trams, known as tram-trains , may have segments that run on mainline railway tracks, similar to interurban systems. The differences between these modes of rail transport are often indistinct, and systems may combine multiple features. One of

9152-409: The winter when hydroelectricity was not available. It continued in service in its original form into the 1950s. Sidney Howe Short designed and produced the first electric motor that operated a streetcar without gears. The motor had its armature direct-connected to the streetcar 's axle for the driving force. Short pioneered "use of a conduit system of concealed feed" thereby eliminating

9256-532: The world's first hydrogen fuel cell vehicle tramcar at an assembly facility in Qingdao . The chief engineer of the CSR subsidiary CSR Sifang Co Ltd. , Liang Jianying, said that the company is studying how to reduce the running costs of the tram. Trams have been used for two main purposes: for carrying passengers and for carrying cargo. There are several types of passenger tram: There are two main types of tramways,

9360-401: The world. Earlier electric trains proved difficult or unreliable and experienced limited success until the second half of the 1880s, when new types of current collectors were developed. Siemens' line, for example, provided power through a live rail and a return rail, like a model train , limiting the voltage that could be used, and delivering electric shocks to people and animals crossing

9464-682: Was a case study of the decline of trams in the United States. In the 21st century, trams have been re-introduced in cities where they had been closed down for decades (such as Tramlink in London), or kept in heritage use (such as Spårväg City in Stockholm). Most trams made since the 1990s (such as the Bombardier Flexity series and Alstom Citadis ) are articulated low-floor trams with features such as regenerative braking . In March 2015, China South Rail Corporation (CSR) demonstrated

9568-491: Was built by Werner von Siemens who contacted Pirotsky. This was the world's first commercially successful electric tram. It drew current from the rails at first, with overhead wire being installed in 1883. In Britain, Volk's Electric Railway was opened in 1883 in Brighton. This two kilometer line along the seafront, re-gauged to 2 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ( 825 mm ) in 1884, remains in service as

9672-487: Was completed in April 2007 and concluded a two-mile (3.2 km) streetcar on Broadway and South Jackson Street would be a feasible way to connect First Hill with the light rail system while acting as a potential catalyst for new transit-oriented development . A preliminary analysis in 2005 found the streetcar would cost up to $ 122 million to construct and attract 3,000 weekday riders if built. The First Hill Streetcar project

9776-753: Was formed in 1996, as part of the re-organization and eventual dissolution of the Seattle Engineering Department. The division was renamed to the "Seattle Department of Transportation" in 2004. The department is managed by the Director of Transportation, a position appointed by the Mayor of Seattle and confirmed by a majority vote from the Seattle City Council . The position is subject to re-appointment and re-confirmation every four years. Since 1997, nine people have held

9880-569: Was included in the Sound Transit 2 plan, which was approved by the Sound Transit board and placed on the Roads and Transit ballot measure for the November 2007 election. The ballot measure was rejected by voters, but Sound Transit 2 was passed by voters as a standalone ballot measure in November 2008 and included $ 120 million in funding for the streetcar. The Seattle City Council approved

9984-405: Was initially operated by a non-profit organization until it ran into financial issues a year later. SDOT took over operations until the system was shut down in early 2017. It was replaced with a permitting system for private companies operating dockless bikeshare that launched in 2017. The permitting system was expanded beyond its initial pilot to several companies with bicycles distributed across

10088-487: Was installed as a commercial venture operating between the outer Melbourne suburb of Box Hill and the then tourist-oriented country town Doncaster from 1889 to 1896. Electric systems were also built in Adelaide , Ballarat , Bendigo , Brisbane , Fremantle , Geelong , Hobart , Kalgoorlie , Launceston , Leonora , Newcastle , Perth , and Sydney . By the 1970s, the only full tramway system remaining in Australia

10192-404: Was proposed in 2005 as an alternative to a cancelled Link light rail station on First Hill, with the goal of connecting the neighborhood to other light rail stations. The $ 135 million project, funded primarily by Sound Transit , was approved by voters and the city council in 2008. The city government selected the Broadway corridor and began construction on the line in April 2012, also working on

10296-566: Was restarted in 1860, again using horses. It was worked by steam from 1877, and then, from 1929, by very large (106-seat) electric tramcars, until closure in 1960. The Swansea and Mumbles Railway was something of a one-off however, and no street tramway appeared in Britain until 1860 when one was built in Birkenhead by the American George Francis Train . Street railways developed in America before Europe, due to

10400-469: Was stopped at a curve in the tracks by an emergency parking brake that engaged automatically; the two passengers on board were uninjured and there was no damage. Service resumed on March 20 after modifications to the load contactor were installed and tested; streetcars, however, remained temporarily restricted to 7 miles per hour (11 km/h) on the steepest sections of Broadway. SDOT announced plans in 2018 to improve streetcar service on Broadway by adding

10504-628: Was tested in San Francisco , in 1873. Part of its success is attributed to the development of an effective and reliable cable grip mechanism, to grab and release the moving cable without damage. The second city to operate cable trams was Dunedin , from 1881 to 1957. The most extensive cable system in the US was built in Chicago in stages between 1859 and 1892. New York City developed multiple cable car lines, that operated from 1883 to 1909. Los Angeles also had several cable car lines, including

10608-635: Was the Melbourne tram system. However, there were also a few single lines remaining elsewhere: the Glenelg tram line , connecting Adelaide to the beachside suburb of Glenelg , and tourist trams in the Victorian Goldfields cities of Bendigo and Ballarat. In recent years the Melbourne system, generally recognised as the largest urban tram network in the world, has been considerably modernised and expanded. The Adelaide line has been extended to

10712-411: Was the cable car, which was pulled along a fixed track by a moving steel cable, the cable usually running in a slot below the street level. The power to move the cable was normally provided at a "powerhouse" site a distance away from the actual vehicle. The London and Blackwall Railway , which opened for passengers in east London, England, in 1840 used such a system. The first practical cable car line

10816-878: Was widely used in London, Washington, D.C., and New York City, and the surface contact collection method, used in Wolverhampton (the Lorain system), Torquay and Hastings in the UK (the Dolter stud system), and in Bordeaux , France (the ground-level power supply system). The convenience and economy of electricity resulted in its rapid adoption once the technical problems of production and transmission of electricity were solved. Electric trams largely replaced animal power and other forms of motive power including cable and steam, in

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