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6/8/2011
Yesterday, New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (RTA) officials and U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood formally launched construction on the Union Passenger Terminal/Loyola Avenue streetcar project. “The New Orleans streetcar project will create jobs, economic opportunities and greater transit choices,” LaHood said in a prepared statement. In addition, LaHood announced the RTA will receive a $400,000 grant from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to establish a program to assist in the hiring and training of skilled streetcar maintenance workers. The streetcar extension, which received $45 million through the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program in 2010, is expected to begin service in June 2012. The extension will run through New Orleans’ central business district along Loyola Avenue from the Union Passenger Terminal to Canal Street. The terminal is a major southern hub for Amtrak, which operates three trains that serve the station.