Washington, DC ― City Seeks Streetcar Funding

Rail Transit Online, May 2010

The District of Columbia government has filed an application for $25 million in federal funding for an extension of the proposed 2.2-mi. (3.5 km) streetcar line along H Street and Benning Road NE to Union Station. The line would cost $74 million and is part of the district's grand plan for a 37-mi. (59.5 km) streetcar network. Officials hope the H Street line will spur development in what is now a very poor neighborhood.

Tracks were installed along portions of H Street and Benning Road as part of a road reconstruction project and the district plans to build a completely enclosed maintenance facility between 1st Street and North Capitol Street. Expanding the route to Union Station would utilize the lower level of an existing Amtrak right-of-way. Still to be decided is how to provide traction power in the city's historic center, where overhead wires are now banned.

The District DoT hopes to have its first streetcars running by the spring 2012.