New DC Street Cars On The Way

WASHINGTON, DC (WUSA) -- Three new street cars were being loaded onto ships in Europe on Tuesday and headed to the Nation's Capitol.

The cost was $10 million, and they were built in the Czech Republic for the District's new light rail system that is still in its infancy and may never reach its potential unless huge sums of federal dollars are included in the project.

Right now, light rail lines are being built in Northeast DC and the Anacostia neighborhood, with plans for a citywide system to come.

DC Officials are budgeting 25 million local dollars, but that won't begin to run the system. They'll need at least six more cars to get started in Northeast and Anacostia and as much as a billion dollars to build the light rail system into Georgetown, 14th Street, U Street and Georgia Avenue, among other parts of town.

If completed, transportation officials say it could bring up to 200,000 people back into the city and billions in neighborhood economic development.

"Metro rail moves people in and out of the city. The street cars will help move people from neighborhood to neighborhood," said Gabe Klein, director of the DC Department of Transportation.