United Streetcar Ships First Portland Production Streetcar
CLACKAMAS, Ore. — United Streetcar announced that they successfully shipped the first City of Portland Production Streetcar, late on the evening of January 21. This is the second streetcar delivered to Portland Streetcar, Inc., which currently operates United Streetcar’s one-of-a-kind prototype streetcar.
“This is an exciting time for United Streetcar, as we deliver the first of the six production cars to the City of Portland,” said Chandra Brown, Chief Executive Officer of United Streetcar. “I am proud of our workers and the work we have done to build a new manufacturing industry, creating well-paying jobs here and across the nation. I am looking forward to riding our streetcar when it goes into revenue service.”
The first production streetcar, Car 21, will now spend the next several weeks in testing on the streets of Portland during streetcar off-hours to not interfere with standard streetcar operations. Once it completes testing, the car will go into passenger service along with United Streetcar’s prototype streetcar.
“Portland Streetcar expects United Streetcar’s first production streetcar to be ready for passenger service in early March.,” said Rick Gustafson, Executive Director of Portland Streetcar. “We eagerly anticipate their streetcars passing testing quickly and entering into the passenger service phase.”
Oregon Iron Works, Inc. entered the modern streetcar market in 2005, when they answered the need for American-made modern streetcars here in Portland, Ore. When OIW entered into modern streetcar manufacturing, their goal was to produce a car with the highest content of American-made products as possible. OIW has worked hard to establish a supply chain of over 200 vendors in over 20 states across the nation, starting with the prototype modern streetcar, and continuing with production streetcars for other cities nationally. They strive every day to continue to grow this supply chain, which is creating and/or sustaining jobs right here in Oregon, and across the nation.