Our new First Hill street car (a train car that runs on the street) has finally started operating here in Seattle – two years later than originally planned – and we went for a jolly ride on it today to check it out. There are six street cars, with a cost about $3.7 million each, and they were manufactured in the Czech Republic. The street cars have batteries and can travel briefly off-wire (to avoid conflicts with bus wires here and there), which complicated the design and construction.
After we had arrived at Pioneer Square, we walked around for a bit and then hopped onto the Link Light Rail train close by took it two stops up to downtown Seattle, and then took a city bus from there back up to Capitol Hill. All very nice; one just has to be prepared to wait for a little while (as much as 15 mins) at the transfer points.
