Streetcars originally operated in Atlanta downtown and into the surrounding areas from 1871 until the final line's closure in 1949.
The first such transportation began with horsecars in 1871, and electric streetcar service started in the 1880s. In addition to streetcars in Atlanta proper, there were also interurban railways from Atlanta to outlying towns. The last streetcar service on the old network ended in 1949; the streetcar system was quickly replaced by a trolleybus system and with buses.
After decades of planning, construction of a new streetcar system, the Atlanta Streetcar, began in early 2012. Consisting initially of a single route, this new streetcar line opened in December 2014. Planning for a larger network, including on an abandoned loop of intown rail tracks now known as the BeltLine is under way.
Streetcars 1871–1949
Timeline and streetcar operators
1871 Richard Peters and George Adair ran the first streetcars on the Atlanta Street Railway, service to West End 1872 West End & Atlanta Street Railroad Co. formed, service to West End and Westview Cemetery 1878 Adair sold out to Peters 1879 Gate City Street Railroad Co. formed, service to Angier Springs and Ponce de Leon Springs 1882 Metropolitan Street Railroad Co. formed, lines to the Confederate Soldiers' Home near Ormewood Park and to Decatur 1883 Fulton County Street Railroad Co. formed, lines would include the Nine-Mile Circle 1886 Joel Hurt formed the Atlanta & Edgewood Street Railroad Co., service out Edgewood Avenue to Hilliard and Highland and to Inman Park 1889 Hurt's streetcar - Atlanta's first electric line - began to run between Five Points and Inman Park and control of Peter's company passed to son Edward C. Peters; Fulton County Street RR Co. began its Nine-Mile Circle line to what is now Virginia Highland, powered by the electric Thomson-Houston system. 1890 Atlanta, West End & McPherson Barracks Ry. Co. began, powered by the electric Sprague system 1891 Law passed requiring segregation on streetcars "as much as practicable" and at the enforcement of streetcar conductors. Prior to this, it was common for Black and white passengers to sit next to each other on streetcars. 1891 (May) Atlanta Consolidated Street Railway Company formed, instigating the Second Battle of Atlanta 1892 Atlanta City Street Railway Co. began, powered by the electric Detroit system 1902 All street railways consolidated as Georgia Railway and Power Company 1916 Atlanta streetcar strike of 1916 began September 30 and ended January of the next year 1924 The Beeler Report issued to advise the financially ailing company 1926 Peak of passenger service (96,794,273) 1937 Trackless trolleys introduced 1949 Georgia Power ran its last streetcar (on the River Line to Riverside, leaving only trackless trolleys and buses
Routes
From 1889–1901, the famed Nine-Mile Circle line ran from Downtown Atlanta to Ponce de Leon Springs and what is now Virginia Highland.
In 1924, Georgia Power operated the following streetcar lines (see map above): 1 Decatur St.-Marietta St. 2 Ponce de Leon-West View (east terminus: Ponce at East Lake Rd.) 3 Boulevard-West Hunter 4 Inman Park-Georgia Ave. (alternative eastern termini: McLendon at Clifton and Emory) 5 Highland-South Pryor (north terminus: Virginia Ave. at N. Highland Ave.) 6 Forrest-Capitol (Forrest Ave. is now Ralph McGill Blvd.) (north terminus: Boulevard at Orme Cir.) 7 West Peachtree-East Hunter 8 Howell Mill Road-East Fair 10 Peachtree-Whitehall 11 Luckie-Woodward 12 Copper-Pine 13 Irwin-West Fair St. 14 Orme St.-Magnolia St. 15 Piedmont-Washington 16 Pine Street (see route 12) (eastern terminus: Ponce de Leon Park) 17 Main Decatur 18 South Decatur-East Lake 19 River Line 20 College Park & Hapeville 21 Stewart Ave. (see route 1) 22 English Ave.-Soldiers' Home 23 Buckhead & Oglethorpe 24 McDaniel St.
Former interurban lines
Georgia Railway and Power Company ran lines on private rights-of-way from Atlanta to: Marietta, the 16-mile Atlanta Northern line, from 1905–1947 Hopewell and Stone Mountain, 16 miles, 1913–1947 College Park and Fairburn
Proposed streetcar lines (21st century)
Peachtree
A much longer route along Peachtree Street, the city's main street. Originally, the line was to run from the Oakland City neighborhood through Downtown Atlanta, Midtown and Buckhead. However a more recent (2010) pared-down proposal would run between the Arts Center MARTA station in Midtown and the Five Points MARTA station downtown. In 2015, Buckhead business leaders and city councilpersons successfully had the portion of along Peachtree Rd, from Piedmont Hospital to Lenox Mall, removed from the long range plan.