Streetcars are returning to Tucson. The initial line will extend about four miles, through downtown Tucson and northeast to the University of Arizona and Arizona Health Science Center. There will be 19 stations. Modern streetcars were chosen as the preferred alternative in 2006, at the conclusion of an Alternatives Analysis study; local funding was approved the same year as part of the successful Regional Transportation Authority Plan referendum. Track construction began in 2008, as part of a project to rebuild a street underpass beneath the Union Pacific Railroad’s Sunset Route main line. Approval of a federal grant under the Small Starts program is pending.

A 50% local and 50% federal funding split is contemplated for the $140 million project.

LTK’s role has been to serve on a team acting as the City’s consulting engineers for the design of the streetcar system. Our specific responsibilities to date have been procurement of streetcar vehicles and development of preliminary designs for all Systems elements of the project. Additionally, LTK has assisted in establishing functional requirements for the maintenance facility. In particular, LTK is assisting the City of Tucson in the procurement of approximately seven modern streetcars to be used on the 3.9 mile, double-tracked alignment through downtown Tucson. LTK developed and is helping to implement the procurement process for these vehicles. LTK prepared a technical specification, which was circulated to potential suppliers for comment, after which the document was finalized and price proposals were solicited. As of late 2008, LTK is assisting the City in evaluating suppliers’ proposals prior to recommending award of a contract. Following carbuilder selection, LTK will be responsible for review of the vehicle design, inspection and testing oversight.

LTK is also completing preliminary design of all Systems elements and is preparing to advance the Systems elements into final design. These encompass Traction Power, including substations, OCS and corrosion control; Train-to-Wayside (TWC) control to protect train movements in city streets; Communications, including CCTV and integration of the bus AVL and communications system into the streetcar design; and Fare Collection. LTK also prepared the function layout for the vehicle maintenance facility.

LTK played a significant role in the opening of the Tacoma Link, a 1.6-mile streetcar line in downtown Tacoma from Tacoma Dome Station (a transit hub for city busses, express bus service to Seattle, commuter train service to Seattle and Everett and Amtrak service) to the Theatre District. From the Tacoma Dome a single track heads west, up 25th Street, turns north on Pacific Avenue, and becomes double track at 21st and Pacific. It proceeds another mile through downtown Tacoma and ends at 9th and Commerce Street. Along the way, it runs through the business and banking district, serves three world-class museums, the new Tacoma campus of the University of Washington, a new hotel and convention center, and the Theater District. The line opened August 22, 2003.

LTK was involved in conceptual design, preliminary engineering and final design as well as construction management for the Tacoma Line. The firm’s scope of work included serving as vehicle engineers and inspectors for three low-floor modern streetcars built by Inekon/Skoda in the Czech Republic. The streetcars were purchased through an option in the City of Portland’s contract with Inekon/Skoda to equip the Portland Streetcar Inc. fleet. Firm experts were also involved in design of the operations and maintenance facility, electrical systems, traction power and OCS, train-to-wayside communications (TWC), and signals.

The streetcar line is expandable at both ends and designed to accommodate the larger Sound Transit Central Link (light rail) cars as needed. The streetcar helped relieve Tacoma of a severe downtown parking shortage. At the Tacoma Dome, a newly completed parking garage has spaces for over 800 vehicles. At the North end of the line are existing parking garages that were under utilized.

The Portland Streetcar service, a 2.4-mile line with a total of seven cars, has been in operation since July 20, 2001. City officials call this the “first modern streetcar system built in the U.S. in 50 years.” LTK provided assistance to the City of Portland during all stages of the project.

LTK’s efforts to assist the City of Portland in planning and implementing for the trolley line began in 1990. Following a feasibility study conducted by LTK, conceptual design standards, capital and operating cost estimates were prepared for several lines being evaluated to provide a network of vintage trolley routes that could be developed incrementally to serve as local distributors and people movers within downtown Portland and adjacent neighborhoods. Preliminary engineering and operations planning were completed for a circulator line to link downtown Portland and its immediately adjacent neighborhoods using new low-floor streetcars.

LTK was involved in the final design, specification and procurement of the new streetcars, the traction electrification system, traffic signal interfaces and a streetcar maintenance facility. The OCS work included five 90-degree crossings and used building attachments instead of poles in a number of areas. In areas where poles were installed, the pole design was coordinated with artwork using totem pole sculptures covering the poles. Firm specialists provided expertise during the design, construction and testing of the multi-colored low-floor cars, built by Inekon/Skoda in Plzen, Czech Republic. The cars are 66-feet long bumper-to-bumper and just over 8 feet wide. Double-ended and double-sided, the streetcars feature two trucks per vehicle, both powered. LTK staff also helped coordinate the signal protection system for the crossing with TriMet light rail vehicles.

LTK worked for the Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon during the late 1980s to design and implement vintage trolley service that shares the tracks and other facilities of the regional light rail system. The goal was to offer the public a nostalgic ride on streetcars as like as possible to the trolleys that graced Portland’s city streets during the first half of the twentieth century.

LTK prepared a feasibility study to provide conceptual operations and engineering analyses for several proposed vintage trolley lines. The firm also provided engineering services relating to the integration of historic trolley operation with the new Banfield light rail line, including maintenance considerations, trackage requirements and modification of vintage trolley cars.

Once decisions were made on the scope of the vintage trolley operation, LTK provided engineering services and procurement specifications for procurement of four replica vintage trolley cars, trackwork and overhead line extensions and a running maintenance facility for vintage trolleys on the Banfield Light Rail Line. The maintenance facility was constructed with large windows and incorporated as a visual focal point within the area of a major LRT and bus transit center, so that residents and visitors can view the vintage trolleys, even when they are not in service.

Vintage trolleys operated on the downtown Portland-to-Lloyd Center portion of Eastside MAX throughout the 1990s. When the Portland Streetcar project opened in 2001, ownership of two vintage trolleys was transferred from TriMet to the City of Portland; and these two cars were moved to the new streetcar line. Now, weekend vintage trolley service can be enjoyed on two routes, with the cars inter-mixed with modern streetcars on one line, and MAX LRVs on the other.

San Francisco Municipal Railway’s historic streetcar F-Line has proven to be a very popular and well-used addition to the City’s transit system. The line currently runs from Castro and Market Streets down Market Street to the Embarcadero, then north to Jones Street at Fisherman’s Wharf. The line carries an average daily ridership of 20,000 commuters, tourists and shoppers. An additional service along the waterfront from the Caltrain depot to Fisherman’s Wharf, also using historic streetcars, is expected to start in the next few years. This line is to be designated the E-Line.

Not far to the west of Fisherman’s Wharf are two important urban units of the National Parks System: the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, based at the Hyde Street Pier’s collection of historic ships, and the Fort Mason and Presidio of San Francisco sites within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The Maritime historic Park, Fort Mason and the Presidio of San Francisco are National Historic Landmark Districts with high visitor levels and poor transit access.

To address this deficiency, a study of the potential of streetcar service has been undertaken. LTK Engineering Services is part of a team which is examining the feasibility of extending the E-Line streetcar service, and potentially the F-Line as well, from Fisherman’s Wharf to Fort Mason and the Presidio. The right-of-way of the former Belt Railroad system, which was used primarily for freight access to the former military sites, is available in many places for this purpose. Among other attractive aspects of this right-of-way, is the availability of an abandoned railroad tunnel under Fort Mason that would be key to providing streetcar access to the Fort Mason Center pier area and would be indispensable as part of a possible eventual route to the Presidio.

In this feasibility study, LTK’s responsibilities include: operational analysis of the streetcar service; appraisal of operating issues of the various alignment alternatives; conceptual design of some alignments and terminals; estimation of traction power requirements for the extension; and operations and maintenance costs. Conceptualization of the signaling system required for tunnel operation will also be performed by LTK. The proposed operation of the service will be analyzed in sufficient detail to provide information on minimum operable headways possible, and make recommendations on service levels, capacity, travel time and equipment requirements. Additional maintenance and rolling stock storage requirements will be identified. Any improvements required on existing trackage will also be identified. The analysis will address any applicable California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) issues regarding safety and signaling requirements for operations related to single-track operations and in other areas where required.

Atlanta is currently proposing to add a new form of transit in the downtown area and adjacent neighborhoods. The Atlanta Streetcar would serve as a local circulator along the Peachtree Corridor to deliver residents, conventioneers and tourists, office workers and suburban commuters closer to their destinations. By providing a distribution system and connecting it to existing and proposed mass transit infrastructures, the streetcar will offer a safe, efficient and enjoyable means of transportation.

The proposed Atlanta Streetcar route could extend from the West End, through downtown Atlanta through the heart of Midtown and Buckhead. If the streetcar project is implemented according to plan, stops will be located two to three blocks apart so that the streetcar will offer a local circulation and distribution service that compliments MARTA’s generally parallel North-South heavy rail rapid transit trunk express operation.

Streetcar costs are estimated at $335 million to build and $23 million a year to operate. The streetcar is projected to serve more than 21,500 riders daily and generate $4.4 billion in economic development along Peachtree alone. A total of 44 stops are planned for the 12-mile Peachtree line from south of downtown up to Buckhead, and another 15 on the downtown circuit between such attractions as the new Georgia Aquarium, which opens Wednesday, and the Martin Luther King Jr. historic district.

LTK Engineering Services was instrumental in the Feasibility Study developing the plan for Atlanta’s streetcar service. LTK was responsible for alignment definition, operations planning and technical assistance for the Peachtree Corridor Streetcar Feasibility Study.

The City of Seattle’s South Lake Union Streetcar Project is a 1.3-mile line extending from Westlake Center in downtown Seattle to the vicinity of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center near South Lake Union. From Westlake Center two tracks, one for each direction, operate in the right-hand traffic lanes until Thomas Street, where the northbound track splits and then runs in Terry Street, parallel to Westlake Avenue, until it rejoins the southbound track in separate right of way on the southern fringe of Lake Union Park. From there the two tracks enter the median of Fairview Avenue and proceed to a stub-end terminus at Yale Avenue. There are eleven station stops along this alignment, including three serving the streetcar service in both directions and eight curb stops, four in each direction, where the tracks are on opposite sides of Westlake Avenue or in the Westlake-Terry couplet.

The line is powered by simple overhead contact wire energized at a nominal 750Vdc.

Service is provided by three ‘Trio’ streetcars manufactured by Inekon Trams of the Czech Republic.

LTK assisted with the initial alignment and operations studies, provided in-factory oversight of streetcar production and acceptance testing, and facilitated commissioning and start-up of the vehicles prior to inauguration of revenue service. Service began at 12:12pm on December 12, 2007.

The City is currently exploring additional streetcar lines close to downtown.

The Anacostia Streetcar project is the first phase of a planned 30-35-mile DC Streetcar network connecting neighborhoods in the District of Columbia. This initial 1.5-mile segment will link the Anacostia Metro Green Line Station, one of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s (WMATA) largest transit centers, with the Bolling Air Force Base, a major employer in the area. There will be two intermediate stations. The alignment consists of a combination of in-street track on Firth Stirling Street, on which streetcars will operate in mixed traffic, and track on exclusive right-of-way along the west side of South Capital Street. A simple operations and maintenance facility with three maintenance/storage bays will be constructed on District land on the east side of this arterial.

LTK has participated in this project in three key areas: the vehicles, systems, and operations and maintenance contracting. Three streetcars were purchased by WMATA, serving as the District’s agent, from Inekon Trams using an option in the City of Portland’s contract with this supplier. LTK performed design review services for all changes from the original Portland streetcars, and provided manufacturing and testing oversight services during the production in Ostrava, Czech Republic. The cars are largely identical to the Portland cars with the exception that they will accommodate level boarding from 14-inch high platforms, which required the installation of a load-leveling system to maintain the car floor height within ADA tolerances. The cars sport the livery of the District’s successful Circulator bus service.

The systems design was performed for the Infrastructure Project Management Administration (IPMA) of the District Department of Transportation (DDOT). LTK’s services include the design and specification for the traction power system, the overhead contact system, traffic interfaces and the operations and maintenance facility. The firm also assisted IPMA with the program management of the entire project.

DDOT is considering contracting for operation of the streetcar service. LTK assisted DDOT in drafting a Request for Proposals for this contract. Construction is anticipated to begin in 2008, with transit service starting in late 2008 or early 2009.

LTK is assisting TPC, LLC in developing a conceptual design for the modern streetcar line proposed to be constructed on Woodward Avenue by private interest. The line would extend 3.4 miles from the Hart Plaza, through the central business district, Foxtown/Stadium District, the Medical Center and Wayne State University to the New Center at Grand Boulevard. The line, initially offering urban circulator service, may also serve as the inner end of a future light rail line extending farther out Woodward Avenue.

In autumn 2008, LTK provided technical review and commentary on an earlier report prepared by others, the Woodward Transit Catalyst Project, confirming aspects of that work which were sound, and suggesting alternatives in the areas of system design and operating plan where initial assumptions needed to be modified or updated. LTK also developed conceptual designs for three alternative alignment s through downtown Detroit, between Grand Circus and Jefferson Boulevard, as well as a streetcar storage and maintenance facility for up to 15 revenue vehicles.

Nearly a century after trolley service first began in the Scranton area, it continues in this northeastern Pennsylvania community as part of the efforts to preserve the region’s history. LTK joined Lackawanna County’s quest to restore vintage trolley service to the area in the early in 1990s. Working in conjunction with local architects, LTK assisted in conceptual design for the conversion of the Silk Mill. A historically significant structure located on the Steamtown National Historic Site, the Silk Mill was redesigned for use as both an interpretive site and a working carbarn where rehabilitation and on-going maintenance of a fleet of antique trolley cars would take place.

An eclectic 10-car fleet donated by East Penn Valley Traction, a trolley enthusiast group, spans a wide range of vehicles from a single-truck Birney to the large interurban and Brill Bullet cars. The trolleys operate on tracks owned by Steamtown and the Lackawanna County Rail Authority, including a section of the former Lackawanna & Wyoming Valley “Laurel Line.”

LTK participated in efforts to develop suitable track alignments for the museum. A very cramped facility, the Silk Mill site presented significant challenges for LTK’s experts in designing an appropriate track alignment. The varying dimensions of the cars had to be considered in determining the necessary wayside and building clearances. LTK developed a track layout providing four tracks within the Silk Mill structure while respecting constraints posed by site geometry, car minimum curve radius, building dimensions and funding constraints. The proposed layout also maximized the interior space available to support restoration and maintenance work.
The firm also developed a pole layout for the overhead trolley wire system, although installation of overhead was deferred to a later phase due to funding limitations. In addition to technical expertise LTK staff members provided valuable management skills, facilitating the various discussions and negotiations between Lackawanna County, East Penn Valley Traction and the National Park Service needed to bring the project to completion.

Scranton was the first Pennsylvania city with a trolley line and the city eventually became known as “the Electric City.” The museum, which operates Wednesdays through Sundays from mid-April to late October and on various holidays, hosted 25,000 visitors in 2001.

The first of SEPTA’s rebuilt PCC-II cars dedicated for the Route 15 trolley was delivered September 9 to the Elmwood shop. A total of 18 retired trolleys, vintage 1947, were disassembled down to bare metal, corrosion repaired. The result is a unique vehicle, blending the historical look with modern passenger amenities. Improvements included air conditioning, accessibility, state-of-the-art propulsion/braking, and modern seating. Brookville Equipment Company of Brookville, PA performed the rebuild for a cost per car of $1,224,695.00.
Passenger Amenities:

• Automatic Heating and Air Conditioning
• Wheelchair access at center doors with flip-up seats and securement.
• New interior linings for thermal and sound isolation.
• Passenger Stop Request and PA system
• Original style “Art Deco” lighting
• Stainless steel seating with cloth-upholstered inserts

LTK and SEPTA developed several concepts, solicited industry suggestions, researched available hardware, and then developed a procurement document for this project. Staff specialists also evaluated proposals, studied HVAC alternatives, and oversaw all engineering testing.

After the September 9, 2003, delivery of 2320 by roll-on/roll-off truck, each trip delivered a car and took back a hulk. On arrival in Brookville each hulk was stripped to bare metal. Body repairs, new roofs and structural modifications were done with the extent of work decided on a case-by-case basis due the variations in hulk condition. New floors were then installed, HVAC ducting added, interior lining added, seats installed, and the car then repainted. The last car, 2337, was delivered on November 23, 2004.

The PCC-II features new Brookville Equipment Company- designed trucks, Vossloh/Kiepe electrical equipment, Brookville gear units, disc brakes, a ThermoKing roof-mounted LRV-style HVAC unit, and a solid state 24 volt APS battery supply. The Vossloh/Kiepe auxiliary power and propulsion equipments utilize modern IGBT technology with regenerative braking. New magnetic track brakes were fitted. The HVAC uses 407C environmentally friendly refrigerant.

The cars are 46 ft, . 6 in. in length and 8 ft., 5 in. in width with an overall height of 11 ft. 9 in. There is a seating capacity without wheelchairs of 46 and with two wheelcairs a capacity of 40. There is a total capacity of 70, seated and standing.

The electrical equipment from Germany and the air conditioners from the Czech Republic were shipped well ahead of being needed for each car. After finalization of the wiring on the pilot car, Brookville subcontracted wire bundle preparation and electrical cabinet fabrication to a specialty firm in Pittsburgh. The car has significant Pennsylvania content.

In 1888 in Richmond, Virginia, Frank Julian Sprague’s Richmond Union Passenger Railway Company placed into revenue service the world’s first truly successful electric streetcar system. Wishing to recapture that element of its history and adapt it to contemporary needs, the GRTC Transit System commissioned a Phase 1 study for a Downtown Richmond Streetcar to link the central business district and state capitol and office complex with the city’s convention center and immediately adjacent neighborhoods housing restaurants and other leisure-oriented venues.

LTK, as part of a multi-firm project ream, was responsible for operations planning, conceptualization and costing of vehicles and systems for the planned vintage streetcar line. In addition, LTK assisted the team in identifying and screening several alternative alignments and route patterns (straight line, loop/rectangle, “L”), developed estimates of streetcar fleet size, developed conceptual designs for fixed systems and a maintenance facility, and prepared estimates of initial capital and ongoing operating and maintenance costs.

The outcome of the study was a recommendation to carry two route alternatives into a second phase of more detailed evaluation. Recognizing Richmond’s unique place in the historic development of street railways, it is envisioned that the system would be operated with heritage streetcars, which will actually be new vehicles designed to the appearance of historic streetcars.
Richmond, VA

A slice of history is magnificently preserved at the Lowell National Park, where one of America’s oldest industrial areas, a complex of mills dating from the era of waterpower, is on display. Dedicated to honoring the history of the American Industrial revolution in Lowell, the park annually attracts nearly 500,000 visitors. Located on Market Street in Lowell, a suburb 30 miles outside of Boston, the park includes cotton textile mills, workers’ housing, a 5.6-mile power canal system, various industrial exhibits and a visitors’ center. In operation since 1984, electric streetcars, serving as people movers for park visitors, operate on some of the railroad tracks that once moved freight in and out of the mills. The trolleys operate several times daily from early March through late November.

Working in the early 1980s for the Lowell Historic Preservation Commission, LTK evaluated the availability, suitability and condition of European tramcars for possible use on the historic trolley line. LTK provided engineering services for the construction of replica open and closed electric trolleys modeled after streetcars typical of those that served eastern Massachusetts in the early twentieth century. The firm also participated in development of the traction electrification system as well as the conversion of a portion of a mill building to serve as a trolley maintenance facility. LTK assisted in the engineering necessary to modify the existing freight trackage to accommodate trolley operations and design short track extensions.

The City of Miami is planning to build a 10.6-mile streetcar line connecting major activity centers and communities in the city. Configured with one alignment oriented north/south and another east/west, the service is planned to operate in three loops: north/south between the Government Center in downtown Miami and the Miami Design District, west/south between the Civic Center/Health District and the Government Center, and north/west between the Miami Design District and the Civic Center/Health District. The junction of the two alignments will be near the new Carnival Center for the Performing Arts. The north/south alignment will pass through Midtown Miami, a 65-acre former railroad yard being developed into a new live-work-play community. The entire alignment will be situated in city streets, typically in a double-track configuration in the center of bi-directional streets and single track in curb lanes or adjacent to parking lanes in one-way streets. Streetcars will operate in mixed traffic. The alignment will cross the Florida East Coast Railroad at four locations. The city envisages the use of 20m long modern streetcars similar to those operating in Portland, Tacoma, Seattle, and soon Washington, DC. It is the city’s intention to implement this project through a design/finance/build/operate and maintain (DFBOM) contracting approach.

As part of the project management team, LTK participated in the feasibility study for this endeavor, prepared vehicle and systems design criteria, and provided preliminary design services for systems elements. These included traction power supply, the overhead contact system (OCS), signaling, communications, fare collection, and the operations and maintenance facility. One of the significant challenges in building the line will be accommodating the OCS under low highway overpasses, over the FEC Railroad which is requiring a 25-foot clearance over top of rail, and through the downtown with its signature traffic signal masts. LTK has proposed solutions for all of these areas.

LTK also assisted the development of performance parameters for the DFBOM contract.The City expects to advertise and award the DFBOM contract in 2009 and begin service in 2012.

In the late 1980s, it became clear that the wear and tear of many years of service on the historic St. Charles line made a major renovation of the line and its vehicles necessary. As it had done since 1924, the St. Charles line was in the commodious neutral ground (median strip) of its namesake avenue. The line and its vintage vehicles now are listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

During the planning stage of this rehabilitation project, LTK staff members reviewed the RTA’s inspection and redesign analysis, recommended modifications, and prepared rehabilitation specifications for historic streetcars, working within the requirement to keep the cars’ appearance visually authentic.

The firm provided detailed engineering for rehabilitation of 36 historic streetcars, including structural redesign and car system modifications. LTK also assisted in selection of a rehabilitation contractor and monitored the rehabilitation project.

Tampa Historic Streetcar, Inc. (THS) has returned electric trolley cars to Tampa in the form of the TECO Streetcar Line, serving Ybor City, Channelside and downtown Tampa. The first phase of the project created a 2.4 mile starter line that connects these three areas, providing fixed-route public transport that is cost-effective, visually appealing and environmentally friendly. The Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART) manages day-to-day operations and maintenance of the system under contract with THS.

In 2000, LTK Engineering Services provided a comprehensive range of system engineering services for the design and construction of the streetcar maintenance facility. LTK designed the entire traction power system for the facility, including the traction power substation, overhead contact system (OCS), return bonding, and OCS bridges for the doors. Features included warning lights to indicate when the OCS is powered; use of safety interlocks to prevent access to the inspection platforms when OCS is powered; provision of shop power for car testing purposes; and interface of the return bonding with the insulated joints. LTK also assisted in the specification and procurement of shop machinery and industrial equipment, including the car wash machine.

LTK provided support during the construction phase to accommodate several changes in the design to account for addition of rolling doors, change in the roof design, and deletion of a crossover in the yard. LTK also witnessed factory and commissioning tests.

LTK designed this economical maintenance facility to fit the modest scope and size of Tampa’s starter line. Yet despite its small size, the project was required to successfully address many of the same design challenges encountered on much larger rail shop projects. The facility was completed on schedule and began servicing the Gomaco-built streetcar fleet in October 2002. The facility and its equipment have operated reliably ever since.