In a recent meeting with several Sierra Club transit activists, Gabe Klein, new Director of the District Department of Transportation, said that he wants to bring the three streetcars owned by the District government to Washington to show them off even before the streetcar tracks are in place.  He suggested they might put them on display at Union Station where they could be visible to the public as a way to get D.C. residents excited about streetcars before they actually go into service.  D.C.’s streetcars have remained in Ostrava, Czech Republic, were they were manufactured by Inekon Trams Company.

In another development, a Sierra Club volunteer recently found on the Internet and obtained permission for us to post photos of D.C.’s streetcars in the Czech Republic.

Photo of D.C. streetcar in Ostrava, Czech Republic (taken by Michal Rusek, a Czech transit enthusiast, and available on his website).

Photo of D.C. streetcar on a test track in Ostrava, Czech Republic (taken by Michal Rusek and available on his website).

Up until these photos surfaced recently, the only known photo of a D.C. streetcar appeared on DDOT’s website.

DDOT promotional photo of a D.C. streetcar in Ostrava, Czech Republic.

In the process of searching further, the following photo of what appears to be one of D.C.’s streetcars during manufacturing appears on Inekon’s website (although the photo file name indicates this is a Seattle streetcar, the tell-tale D.C. paint scheme seems to indicate otherwise).