Some of New Orleans' historic wood-and-steel streetcars are back on track two years after Hurricane Katrina seriously damaged the line.

The portion of the system running on St. Charles Avenue through the city's famed Garden District to Napoleon Avenue reopened Saturday, the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau has announced.

The entire line, which was established in 1835 and suffered significant damage from Katrina, is expected to be back in service this spring.

Many of the streetcars escaped destruction because the antiquated car barn where they are housed is on high ground.

The reopening of part of the line is the latest in a series of milestones for New Orleans, with cultural festivals seeing record-breaking attendance, airlines adding new flights to Louis Armstrong International Airport and the French Quarter cleaner than it has been in decades, the bureau noted.  // Copyright 2007 by United Press International



Publication date: 13 November 2007   

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