Portland Streetcar has selected CAF USA to build 15 new vehicles to help expand service and replace its original Czech-built streetcars, which entered service in 2001 and are now reaching the end of their useful life. Portland Streetcar was established in 2001 and serves the area immediately around downtown.

The new streetcars will be built in Elmira, N.Y., and will be similar to those in use in Kansas City, Mo. The new cars will be hybrid battery-equipped, allowing them to serve a new off-wire portion of the system. The NS Line is presently being expanded to Montgomery Park in Northwest Portland. Construction of that line could begin in 2028, and revenue service could start in 2030, when the cars are expected to arrive.

—Bob Gallegos