13 things to know about the trolley’s return

“Clang, clang, clang went the trolley. Ding, ding, ding went the bell” — “The Trolley Song” Judy Garland famously sang of falling in love on public transportation in the 1944 film “Meet Me in St. Louis.”

Memphians and tourists get a chance to experience the romance of trolley riding on Main Street again when the line reopens Monday after nearly four years.

Here are things people may want to know about riding it, appreciating it and staying out of its way.

❚ At 11 a.m. Monday at the trolley barn at 547 N. Main, Memphis Area Transit Authority officials will cut a ribbon to reopen the Main Street line only. It runs between the North End and Central Station at 545 S. Main.

❚ The Riverfront loop, favored as a sightseeing ride for tourists, isn’t due back until 2019, and the Madison line to the Medical District won’t be back until late 2019 or early 2020. Rubber-tired trolley buses will continue to run those routes.

❚ Rides are free from Monday until May 14 as MATA’s way of thanking the public for its patience during the long process of repairing and upgrading the system. Regular fares are $1 a ride.

❚ The trolleys are noticeably quieter than the old ones, which seemed to grind their way down the tracks. MATA urges pedestrians to watch out for trolleys and each other, for their own personal safety and for the on-time operation of the trolley.

❚ Curbside parking spaces along North Main and South Main have been newly striped to show where vehicles can park. Vehicles parked over those lines risk blocking the trolley, a parking ticket for the owner and possible towing.

❚ The Downtown Memphis Commission will police the mall to make sure motorized and non-motorized vehicles don’t drive or park on the tracks. The commission kept horse-drawn carriages off the mall during driver training and trolley testing, and carriage companies have been told not to drive on the tracks after service resumes.

❚ Trolleys will run 6:45 a.m.-midnight Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-midnight Saturday and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday.

❚ Passengers can get on and off the trolleys at wheelchair-lift-equipped stops on Main Street and the Main Street Mall.

❚ MATA will initially deploy two trolleys Sunday-Thursday, with 30 minutes between cars; and three trolleys Friday and Saturday, with 20 minutes between cars.

❚ Three additional cars are scheduled for delivery in May and will enter service May 15, May 22 and May 28, respectively. Each addition will reduce waits.

❚ Monday will be the first time Memphis trolleys have carried customers since MATA announced on June 10, 2014, it was suspending service three to six months for a safety appraisal. The suspension followed two fires that broke out on trolleys while they were in service. An industry panel later criticized MATA’s maintenance practices and poor condition of cars.

❚ MATA spent more than $10 million to this point to bring the service back. It had some cars overhauled and bought new ones; inspected switches and electrical infrastructure and repaired or upgraded where necessary; stockpiled spare parts and generated 1 gigabyte of text about how the system is to be run and maintained.

❚ The Main Street Trolley went into service in 1993, followed by the Riverfront Loop in 1997 and the Madison line in 2004.

Reach reporter Wayne Risher at (901) 529-2874 or wayne.risher@commercialappeal.com.