Get ready to ride a public streetcar through heart of Charlotte. Here’s when and where
Charlotte Area Transit System will begin passenger service on its CityLynx Gold Line streetcar next week.
Beginning Monday, Aug. 30, the streetcar will operate every 20 minutes from 5 a.m. to 2 a.m. seven days a week, CATS officials said Thursday. You can ride it for free until January, officials said.
CATS began testing streetcars on the alignment Thursday, and will continue to simulate passenger service 5 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Streetcar tracks have been extended 2.5 miles on the east and west ends of the line, now linking Historic West End with the Elizabeth neighborhood through uptown Charlotte.
CATS will operate five modern streetcars equipped with Siemens hybrid technology. The vehicles will operate “off-wire through the heart of uptown,” without overhead line equipment, according to a CATS news release.
CATS urges anyone who drives, walks, bikes or lives near the streetcar alignment to familiarize themselves with streetcar safety.
The streetcar will continue to use horns and bells to alert pedestrians and drivers, officials said,
The project contractor will continue related road and sidewalk work over the next few months, none of which will curtail street car operations, officials said.
Anyone with questions should call CATS Customer Service at 704-336-7433.
The 2.5-mile extension opening on Monday is the second of three phases of the 10-mile CityLYNX Gold Line, which will have 37 stops and connect all current and future rapid transit lines when full complete.
Those lines include the LYNX Blue Line, LYNX Silver Line and Charlotte Gateway District and Multimodal Station.
The 1.5-mile Phase 1 of the streetcar opened in 2015. The city is soon scheduled to begin early Phase 3 design work, officials said.
This story was originally published August 26, 2021 at 4:11 PM.