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<!-- Operation -->| locale = [[New Orleans]], [[Louisiana]]
| open = September 1835 ([[steam locomotive]]s and [[horsecar]]s)<br />February 1893 (electric streetcars/[[tram]]s)
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| passengers = 21,600<ref name=APTA>{{cite web|title=Public Transportation Ridership Report First Quarter 2015|url=http://www.apta.com/resources/statistics/Documents/Ridership/2015-q1-ridership-APTA.pdf|publisher=American Public Transportation Association|access-date=August 21, 2015|page=3|date=May 27, 2015}}</ref>
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'''Streetcars in New Orleans''' have been an integral part of the city's [[public transportation]] network since the first half of the 19th century. The longest of [[New Orleans]]' [[Tram|streetcar]] lines, the [[St. Charles Streetcar Line|St. Charles Avenue line]], is the oldest continuously operating [[street railway]] system in the world.<ref name="Hennick & Charlton 1975">{{Cite book |last1=Hennick |first1=Louis C. |title=The Streetcars of New Orleans |last2=Charlton |first2=E. Harper |publisher=Jackson Square Press |year=1975 |isbn=978-1565545687}}</ref>{{rp|42}} Today, the streetcars are operated by the [[New Orleans Regional Transit Authority]] (RTA).
There are currently five operating streetcar lines in New Orleans: The [[St. Charles Streetcar Line|St. Charles Avenue Line]], the [[Riverfront Streetcar Line|UPT-Riverfront Line]], the [[Canal Streetcar Line|Canal Street Line]] (which has two branches), and the
The wide destruction wrought on the city by [[Hurricane Katrina]] and subsequent floods from the levee breaches in August 2005 knocked all the streetcar lines out of operation and damaged many of the streetcars. Service on a portion of the Canal Street line was restored in December of that year, with the remainder of the line and the Riverfront line returning to service in early 2006. On December 23, 2007, the Regional Transit Authority (RTA) extended service on the St. Charles line from Napoleon Avenue to the end of historic St. Charles Avenue (the "Riverbend"). On June 22, 2008, service was restored to the end of the line at [[South Carrollton Avenue]] & [[South Claiborne Avenue]].
The streetcars are often changed or decorated for holidays and major sports events. For example, they are usually decorated for Christmas.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rodriguez |first=Elena |date=2023-12-14 |title=New Orleans Decorates Their Street Cars for Christmas |url=https://bigglebit.com/new-orleans-decorates-street-cars-christmas/ |access-date=2023-12-16 |website=BiggleBit |language=en-US}}</ref>
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The area through which the St. Charles Avenue Line traveled fared comparatively well in [[Hurricane Katrina#New Orleans|Hurricane Katrina]]'s devastating impact on New Orleans at the end of August 2005, with moderate flooding only of the two ends of the line at Claiborne Avenue and at Canal Street. However, wind damage and falling trees took out many sections of [[Overhead lines|trolley wire]] along St. Charles Avenue, and vehicles parked on the neutral ground ([[Central reservation|traffic medians]]) over the inactive tracks degraded parts of the right-of-way. At the start of October 2005, as this part of town started being repopulated, bus service began running on the St. Charles line.
The section running from Canal Street to Lee Circle via Carondelet Street and St. Charles Street in the Central Business District was restored December 19, 2006 at 10:30 a.m. Central time. Service from Lee Circle to Napoleon Avenue in [[uptown New Orleans]] was restored November 10, 2007 at 2:00 p.m. RTA restored streetcar service on the rest of St. Charles Ave. on December 23, 2007. Service along the remainder of the line on Carrollton Ave. to Claiborne Avenue resumed June 22, 2008.<ref>{{cite web|last=Reid|first=Molly|title=Fanfare greets streetcar's return to part of Uptown|url=http://blog.nola.com/times-picayune/2007/11/fanfare_greets_streetcars_retu.html|work=NOLA.com|publisher=NOLA Media Group|access-date=April 9, 2014|date=November 10, 2007|archive-date=September 19, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120919205754/http://blog.nola.com/times-picayune/2007/11/fanfare_greets_streetcars_retu.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Eggler|first=Bruce|title=St. Charles streetcar route to grow again Sunday|url=http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2007/12/st_charles_streetcar_route_to.html|work=NOLA.com|publisher=NOLA Media Group|access-date=April 9, 2014|date=December 22, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Faciane|first=Valerie|title=Back on line: Streetcars return to South Carrollton|url=http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/06/back_on_line_streetcar_returns.html|work=NOLA.com|publisher=NOLA Media Group|access-date=April 9, 2014|date=June 22, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=St. Charles Streetcar Line Update|url=http://www.norta.com/StCharles/|publisher=New Orleans Regional Transit Authority|access-date=April 9, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081014190310/http://www.norta.com/StCharles/|archive-date=October 14, 2008|year=2008}}</ref> The time was needed to repair the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina and to perform other maintenance and upgrades to the lines that had been scheduled before the hurricane. Leaving the line shut down and the electrical system unpowered allowed the upgrades to be performed more safely and easily.
Perhaps more serious was the effect on the system's rolling stock. The vintage green streetcars rode out the storm in the sealed barn in a portion of Old Carrollton that did not flood, and were undamaged. However, the newer red cars (with the exception of one which was in Carrollton for repair work at the time) were in a different barn that unfortunately ''did'' flood, and all of them were rendered inoperable; early estimates were that each car would cost between $800,000 and $1,000,000 to restore. In December 2006, RTA received a $46 million grant to help pay for the car restoration efforts. The first restored cars were to be placed in service early in 2009.
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==Current lines==
* The {{rint|neworleans|stcharles}} '''[[St. Charles Streetcar Line]]''' is the oldest continuously operating streetcar line in the world, having opened in 1835. It runs from Canal Street all the way to the end of St. Charles Avenue at South Carrollton Avenue, then out South Carrollton Avenue to its terminal at Carrollton and Claiborne.
* The {{rint|neworleans|canal-cemeteries}}{{nnbsp}}{{rint|neworleans|canal-city-park-museum}} '''[[Canal Streetcar Line]]''', which originally operated from 1861 to 1964 and which was rebuilt and reopened in 2004, runs the entire length of Canal Street, from near the Mississippi River to the cemeteries at City Park Avenue. A branch streetcar line turns off of Canal Street into North Carrollton Avenue to the entrance of City Park at Esplanade Avenue, near the New Orleans Museum of Art. Beginning July 31, 2017, and completed on December 4, a new loop terminal for the Cemeteries Branch was built north of City Park Avenue on Canal Boulevard, providing passengers with better access to transfer between the streetcars and connecting bus lines. Following a month of testing and training, the new loop went into service January 7, 2018.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.norta.com/Getting-Around/Cemeteries-Transit-Center-Project|title=Cemeteries Transit Center Project|website=New Orleans RTA|access-date=October 7, 2017|archive-date=October 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171008030321/http://www.norta.com/Getting-Around/Cemeteries-Transit-Center-Project|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Canal streetcar to cross over City Park Avenue starting Sunday|url=http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2018/01/rta_canal_streetcar_celebratio.html|website=New Orleans RTA|access-date=January 8, 2018}}</ref> At times in the past, some Canal cars have operated through on the Riverfront tracks from the French Market terminal to Canal Street, before proceeding out Canal.
* The {{rint|neworleans|rampart-st-claude}} '''[[Rampart–St. Claude Streetcar Line|UPT-Riverfront Line]]''', originally known as the '''Loyola-UPT line,''' started service on January 28, 2013. It runs along Loyola Avenue from [[New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal]] to Canal Street, traversing Canal Street to Convention Center Boulevard before running along the riverfront in front of the French Quarter to the French Market at Esplanade Avenue. Service initially was only offered to Convention Center Boulevard and Canal with weekend extensions to the French Market. As a result of the 2019 Hard Rock Hotel collapse on Canal Street and construction of the Four Seasons Hotel preventing access to the Julia and Poydras street stops on the riverfront, in late 2021 Loyola streetcars began running the initial weekend-only route between UPT and the French Market daily; this route was officially renamed as the UPT-Riverfront line sometime in 2023.
* The {{rint|neworleans|riverfront}} '''[[Riverfront Streetcar Line]]''' opened October 14, 1988, and runs parallel to the river from Esplanade Avenue along the edge of the French Quarter, past Canal Street, to the Convention Center above Julia Street in the Arts District. In spring 2018, construction of the Four Seasons Hotel resulted in the Poydras and Julia Street stops to be removed from service; streetcars shuttled between Canal at Harrah's Casino and the French Market. As of 2023, it has been merged with the 49 Loyola-UPT Line to create the UPT-Riverfront Line.
* The
==Future network expansion==
RTA has plans to extend the Rampart-St. Claude line past its present terminal at St. Claude and Elysian Fields to Press Street, and also down Elysian Fields to the river to connect with the Riverfront line.<ref>{{cite news |title=St. Claude and Elysian Fields Streetcar Extensions, New Orleans, Louisiana |agency=U. S. Department of Transportation |date=May 2018}}</ref>
These plans are not funded, and are on hold as more urgent needs are considered for funding.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Evans |first1=Beau |title=Rampart-St. Claude streetcar extension study could move into slow lane |url=https://www.nola.com/news/politics/article_b4ddb14b-1a4a-55ef-94f1-7abcf2afbb9f.html |website=nola.com |date=March 2018 |access-date=February 20, 2021}}</ref>
There was a proposal, along with the general redevelopment of Claiborne Avenue, to build a streetcar line on N. Claiborne Avenue running from Poydras Street to Elysian Fields. However, it appears this proposal was never seriously considered and is unlikely to be fulfilled.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-04-08 |title=Claiborne Expressway campaign |url=https://www.cnu.org/what-we-do/build-great-places/claiborne-expressway-campaign |access-date=2024-05-02 |website=CNU |language=en}}</ref>
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Before Hurricane Katrina, the historic cars ran exclusively on the St. Charles Avenue Line, and the newer cars on the other two lines. However, in the wake of hurricane damage to the St. Charles line tracks and overhead wires, and to almost all of the new red cars, the older cars were run on Canal Street and Riverfront until the new cars could be repaired. Using whatever worked wherever it could be run continued for several years. By 2010 enough restored streetcars were back in service to again confine the historic Perley Thomas cars to the St. Charles line.
In late 2020, RTA reworked three, and later a fourth, of the ADA compliant Riverfront streetcars, numbers 460-463, to provide wheelchair service on the St.Charles streetcar line. They were repainted in the same shade of green as the iconic 900 series cars.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nola.com/multimedia/photos/photos-rta-introduces-three-st-charles-streetcars-with-ada-compliant-wheelchair-lifts/collection_600b4944-3418-11eb-bfd0-8fb64c33cb4d.html#1 | title=Photos: RTA introduces three St. Charles Streetcars with ADA compliant wheelchair lifts | date=December 2020 }}</ref>
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