Streetcars in Washington, D.C.

This article is about the streetcars that existed in Washington until 1962. For information on D.C.'s new streetcar line, see DC Streetcar.

Streetcars in Washington, D.C.
A Washington, D.C. street car, c. 1890
A Washington, D.C. street car, c. 1890
Overview
Transit typeStreetcar
Number of linesin 1946: 17
in 1958: 15
Operation
Began operationJuly 29, 1862 (horsecars)
October 17, 1888 (electric)
Ended operation? (horsecars)
January 28, 1962 (electric)
Operator(s)Capital Transit Company
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Electrification600 volt DC conduit/overhead current collection
Map of Washington, D.C.'s streetcar lines

Streetcars in Washington, D.C. transported people across the city and region from 1862 until 1962.

The first streetcars in Washington, D.C., were horse-drawn and carried people short distances on flat terrain. After brief experiments with cable cars, the late-19th-century introduction of electric streetcars opened development of the hilly terrain north of the old city and in Anacostia into streetcar suburbs. The extension of several of the lines into Maryland and of two Virginia lines across the Potomac River into the District helped expand the city's dense downtown core into today's Washington metropolitan area.

By 1901, a series of mergers dubbed the "Great Streetcar Consolidation" had gathered most local transit firms into two major companies: Capital Traction Company and Washington Railway and Electric Company. In 1933, a second consolidation brought all streetcars under one company, Capital Transit.

Over the next decades, the streetcar system shrank amid the growing usage of the automobile and pressure to switch to buses. After a strike in 1955, the company changed ownership and became D.C. Transit, with explicit instructions to switch to buses. The system was dismantled in the early 1960s; the last streetcar ran on January 28, 1962.

Today, some streetcars, car barns, trackage, stations, and rights-of-way exist in various states of usage. Visible remnants of tracks and conduit remain intact in the centers of O and P Streets NW between 33rd and 35th Streets NW in Georgetown. Remnants of tracks and conduit also remain visible near at an M Street door of the Georgetown Car Barn.