San Diego – Fully-restored to its original 1981 glory, the first-ever Trolley car to go into service in San Diego was relaunched with a ceremony earlier today, celebrating the mood and style of the 1980s. As part of the 1000 series of Trolley cars, the Siemens U2 Light Rail Vehicles (LRVs) were the first to run on the MTS Trolley system 38 years ago.
The refurbished first Trolley car of that generation—the 1001— was unveiled to the public by MTS officials and city leaders from both sides of the border, and will return to service on the SDG&E Silver Line downtown loop on Saturday, July 13.
The 1001 Trolley marked the beginning of a new era in public transportation for San Diego. The success of the South Line, later renamed to UC San Diego Blue Line, sparked the light rail renaissance in North America in 1981. The Blue Line continues to be the busiest Trolley line in MTS’ system with an average daily ridership of over 55,000 trips.
“Trolley cars like the 1001 symbolize what we can achieve when we have a shared vision of transit,” said MTS Board Chair and San Diego City Council President Georgette Gómez. “The first Trolley transformed the lives of people on both sides of the border by providing a real choice for how they move throughout their day and connecting to jobs, schools, and recreation. It laid the foundation for where we are now and I believe we can do more for our transit in San Diego.”
Since then, MTS has introduced five generations of Trolley cars, each more advanced that the previous one. Trolley cars like the 1001 had no built-in computers and cost around $825,000 to build. The most recent generation of Trolley cars, the 5000 series unveiled last April, have 27 computers and cost close to $3.6 million. With each new generation of vehicles introduced to the public, there is an improvement in the riding experience for customers. “Our Trolley service has evolved considerably,” said MTS CEO, Paul Jablonski. “Since 1981, we’ve been growing our system, improving the passenger experience and helping more people get to destinations all over San Diego.”
The 1001 Trolley car will serve the SDG&E Silver Line along with the two other Vintage Trolleys MTS has restored, and will run every 30 minutes Friday through Sunday. One-Way tickets are $2.50 per adult and two kids 12 and under ride free with each adult.
MTS operates 95 bus routes and three Trolley lines on 53 miles of double-tracked railway. Every weekday 300,000 passenger trips are taken on MTS bus and Trolley services. In FY 2018, MTS served more than with 86 million riders. For more information on how you can use public transportation and save money, go to www.sdmts.com.
Photo (from L to R): Brian Riley, MTS Rail Superintendent; Wayne Terry, MTS Rail Chief Operating Officer; Nathan Fletcher, San Diego County Supervisor, District 4; Mona Rios, Councilmember for National City; David Gutierrez, Director of Light Rail Projects, Siemens; Georgette Gómez, San Diego City Council President & MTS Board Chair; Paul Jablonski, MTS Chief Executive Officer; Chris Cramer, CEO & Co-Founder, Karl Strauss Brewing Company
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