Footage of the El Paso Streetcars from the Early 70s

There really isn't a question of what we think of the new streetcars in El Paso. They were a waste of money. The idea sounded kind of cool, but the reality is... they aren't They were a TON of money wasted on something no one is ever going to use.

The style is pretty cool though. You have to admit that. They were patterned after what the old school streetcars looked like. Check out this video of some photos from the early 70s and the El Paso streetcars.

How about some history of the El Paso streetcars:

• There was a unified streetcar system between El Paso and Ciudad Juarez back in the 1800s, but it was horse and mule-drawn trolleys.
• Electric streetcars were brought in in 1902.
• The first urban streetcars showed up in 1913.
• There was a whopping 52 miles of trolley system from 1920 to 1925.
• The infrastructure was eventually phased out in the 1940s because of the popularity of the automobile.
• In 1974 the streetcars made their final trips and were sent out to an area near the airport where they eventually rusted and decayed. That is until...
• Construction began in December of 2015 on the new streetcar lines with the first test trip taking place on April 3rd of 2018.
• The new streetcar system officially opened up Friday, November 9th, 2018.
• Since the pandemic hit, the El Paso streetcars have been put on hiatus.
• If you want to complain about why Streetfest isn't where it used to be, blame the streetcars.