MATA approves free fares for first two weeks of Main Street Trolley's return

The Main Street Trolley will offer free rides during its first two weeks back in service this spring.

The Memphis Area Transit Authority, which expects trolley service to resume in April, approved the fee waiver Tuesday.

MATA is gearing up to bring electric trolleys back to Downtown after a four-year absence.

The MATA board vote came as trolley driver training continues on the Main Street line through March 9.

Chief executive officer Gary Rosenfeld said the free fares are a way of welcoming the public back. MATA has been charging $1 for rides on the trolley routes, which are currently being served by rubber-tired trolley buses.

Trolley operations were suspended June 11, 2014, because of safety concerns following fires that destroyed two operating vehicles.

MATA had expected to restore service by the end of 2017, but announced in December that unexpected delays in refurbishing cars had pushed back the return by at least 90 days.

MATA is pushing to get service restored first along Main between Greenlaw and Central Station. Its timetable calls for the Riverfront loop to be added later this year and the Madison line in 2019.

When service halted, the trolleys were carrying about 1.5 million passengers a year, including about 700,000 out-of-town tourists.

MATA is training drivers on cars No. 453 and 540.

No. 453 is a replica Birney Trolley, purchased from Gomaco Trolley Company of Ida Grove, Iowa. Birney trolleys were built in the United States in the early 20th century.

No. 540 is a Melbourne trolley, a style built in Australia up until the mid-20th century. It already belonged to MATA and was refurbished in Memphis.

They are among six trolleys that MATA plans to operate when Main Street service resumes.

MATA sent some trolley drivers and supervisors to Tampa, Florida, to receive training on that city's system, in an effort to stay on schedule to bring the Main Street Line back as soon as possible, Rosenfeld said.

MATA expects to have 18 drivers trained to drive steel-wheeled cars on the Main Street Line and rubber-tired trolley buses on Madison and the riverfront when trolley service resumes.

Rosenfeld said the agency is still tallying the ultimate cost of bringing the trolleys back. Costs include repairs to rails and overhead electrical infrastructure, refurbishing and purchase of cars, and development of operations and maintenance procedures.

The board on Tuesday also approved a $400,000 change order bringing to $1.6 million the cost of a contract with SNC-Lavalin Rail & Transit Inc., a rail safety expert that's overseeing the line's relaunch.

Reach reporter Wayne Risher at (901) 529-2874 or wayne.risher@commercialappeal.com.