“This is an historic day, decades in the making,” said Oklahoma City’s mayor Mr David Holt. “Our streetcar will be an important economic development tool for our entire city, accommodating visitors and residents alike. It will encourage walkability downtown, answer the question of how residents and visitors will circulate downtown once they arrive, and will inspire private investment all along the route. Already we’ve seen $US 1.6bn invested since the route was finalised, and we have every reason to believe that more will follow once the streetcar is open. The possibilities are endless and exciting.”

The $US 135m project is one of eight initiatives designed to revitalise the city under the $US 777m Maps 3 investment programme. Maps 3 was funded through a 1 cent sales tax which ran from April 2010 to December 2017.

The network consists of two single-track loops with 22 stops, each of which is fully accessible to disabled passengers. The 7.8km Downtown loop connects Bricktown and the business district with the Federal Court House, Automobile Alley, Midtown and St Anthony Hospital Campus, while the Bricktown loop forms a 3.3km east-west loop linking Bricktown with East Bricktown, the Sante Fe Hub and Arena. The Bricktown loop only operates on Fridays and Saturdays and no services are provided on Sundays unless large events are staged in Oklahoma.

The network is operated by a fleet of seven three-section bi-directional Liberty LRVs, each of which accommodates 104 passengers. The vehicles were supplied by Brookville Equipment Corporation and are fitted with batteries for catenary-free operation.

Oklahoma City Streetcar is operated by Herzog Transit Services under a six-year contract awarded in June 2017.