The Galveston Island Trolley is a

heritage streetcar Heritage streetcars or heritage trams are a part of the efforts to preserve rail transit heritage. In addition to preserving street-running rail vehicles, heritage streetcar operations can include upkeep of historic rail infrastructure. Working ...

network in

Galveston, Texas Galveston ( ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal resort town, resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island (Texas), Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a pop ...

, United States. As of late 2006, the total network length was 6.8 miles (10.9 km) with 22 stations. The Galveston Island Trolley is operated by Island Transit. The rail system reopened in 2021, after having been out of service for 13 years following severe damage caused by

Hurricane Ike Hurricane Ike () was a powerful tropical cyclone that swept through portions of the Greater Antilles and Northern America in September 2008, wreaking havoc on infrastructure and agriculture, particularly in Cuba and Texas. Ike took a sim ...

in 2008. Subsequent to the 2008 closure, the

Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Exec ...

(FEMA) and the Federal Transit Administration agreed to fund repairs. In January 2017, a contract was approved to restore three of the trolleys at a cost of $3.8 million. At that time, the trolleys were expected to be ready to return to service in 2018, but the date was later postponed to 2019 and later to 2021. By November 2020, two reconditioned trolleys had returned to Galveston. The line reopened for service in October 2021, limited to three days a week for now.

History

Galveston has had

streetcar A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some include s ...

s before. The first urban rail public transit system was introduced in 1868. The cars were pulled by

mule The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey, and a horse. It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes; of the two ...

s. In 1891, electric trolleys were introduced. Galveston's first streetcar system closed on May 22, 1938. Galveston Island Trolley, a heritage streetcar system, was opened on July 23, 1988. Barry Goodman Associates (now the Goodman Corporation) was a key consultant in the creation of the Trolley, leading the early design studies and helping to secure funding. The project was designed by

HNTB HNTB Corporation is an American infrastructure design firm. Founded in 1914 in Kansas City, Missouri, HNTB began with the partnership made by Ernest Emmanuel Howard with the firm Waddell & Harrington, founded in 1907. One of the most trusted U. ...

, engineers, who were responsible for all aspects of track and vehicle design; Ochsner Associates, architects, who were responsible for the maintenance facility and the passenger shelter (on 20th Street). Initially, the Galveston Island Trolley connected the historic Strand District on the north side of Galveston Island with the Seawall beach area. It was mainly used by tourists. In the 1990s, planning for an extension of the line began and was completed in 1995. A new branch to the

University of Texas Medical Branch The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) is a Public university, public Academic health science centre, academic health science center in Galveston, Texas, United States. It is part of the University of Texas System. UTMB includes the olde ...

(UTMB) opened on March 14, 2005. This line was popular among UTMB staff, students and patients. Service had been suspended in 2008 when the cars and tracks sustained heavy damage from

. Substitute service with replica buses was later put into place during the restoration process of the rolling stock.

Rolling stock

The Galveston Island Trolley cars look like vintage electric trolleys, but are actually modern-built and diesel-electric powered. Because of this there are no overhead wires, meaning the vehicles are not technically trolleys (since they do not "troll" for power from overhead wires) but rather streetcars. The Galveston trolley fleet consists of four cars. All of them are identical, though they are painted in different colors. The cars were built by Miner Railcar, now known as Kasgro Rail Corporation,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. Each car can accommodate up to 80 passengers; 40 sitting and 40 standing. Cars are designed for an operational speed of . Each car weighs . In 2005, all cars were equipped with

air conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C (US) or air con (UK), is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior temperature, and in some cases, also controlling the humidity of internal air. Air c ...

. Between 2017 and 2021, in the last part of the 13-year suspension of all service, three of the four cars were extensively restored by the

Gomaco Trolley Company The Gomaco Trolley Company is a manufacturer of Heritage streetcar, vintage-style tram, streetcars (alternatively called ''trolleys'' in the US, or ''trams'' in much of the world), located in Ida Grove, Iowa, Ida Grove, Iowa, United States. The ...

. In November 2022, the city council approved a contract to repair car 503, the only car not covered by the earlier contract with Gomaco, and that car was refurbished by Gomaco in 2023 and returned to Galveston in early 2024, restoring the size of the working fleet back to four streetcars.

Hours of operation

When trolley service was restarted on October 1, 2021, following the 13-year suspension, it was scheduled to run on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

References

Sources

Jon Bell: Galveston Island Trolley
* ''Trams 2007'' by B.A. Schenk and M.R. Van Den Toorn. Alk publishings, Netherlands, (book in Dutch)

External links

* {{Galveston, Texas 1988 establishments in Texas Heritage railroads in Texas Heritage streetcar systems Railway lines opened in 1988 Streetcars in Texas Tourist attractions in Galveston, Texas Transportation in Galveston, Texas