Memphis could get a new trolley soon.
On Tuesday, a council committee approved the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) to spend $950,000 to buy the refurbished trolley. The full council is expected to vote on the matter Tuesday evening.
MATA president Ron Garrison said the new trolley looks like the vintage trolleys that once rumbled through Memphis but was built with new technology, has a 25-year lifespan, and will be safer than the city’s vintage fleet.
The new trolley is the “closest to a new-built trolley that we could find,” Garrison said, noting that new trolleys can cost about $2.2 million.
He said two trolleys are now being rebuilt by MATA at present. With all of the funding MATA now has approved for the project, he said 10 trolleys could soon be fully rebuilt. That could “put us in a position to start service again.”
