A Streetcar Named 'Frustration'

DC's long-delayed Anacostia streetcar line has been delayed again, this time to 2012. Click here for previous coverage of this embarrassing episode in DC transportation "planning".... The pic at right, from the Post's article, shows the revised route which, rightly, no longer runs down to Bolling Air Force Base along 295.

So it appears our pretty red, bought and paid-for streetcars will be doing a few more laps around Prague over the next three years (or more?)....

More Photos of DC Streetcars in Prague

These new-found pics of streetcars ordered by DC for the as-yet-unbuilt Anacostia streetcar line (see my previous post on this) appear to be older than the ones in my previous post, as they lack the yellow piping on the red-and-silver paint-scheme. However, they were new to me and show the three-section streetcars in action, being driven around Prague by their manufacturer to keep them functional.... until DC makes with the infrastructure already....

DC Streetcars - Lost in Prague

Is there a more obvious example of poor planning than that of the Anacostia streetcars? DC ordered the cars for a new streetcar line in Anacostia years ago. Since completion in 2007, the cars have been taking up space at the factory in Prague that produced them, which occasionally takes them out for a spin around town to keep them functioning.

Still - not an inch of track has been lain in Anacostia for these streetcars.... Maybe a few stimulous dollars can be applied to this much-delayed project. Let us hope this project can be successfully completed soon (though the city isn't committing to any timelines at this point).

BeyondDC has some great pics of the trolleys and their paint scheme, which resembles that of the Circulator buses. Link: http://beyonddc.com/log/?p=620

Here's another post from BeyondDC with older pics and details on the project: http://beyonddc.com/log/?p=161