Eyes on the Street: OC Streetcar Construction Progress

Orange County streetcar construction is progressing, especially with recent installation of overhead wires. OCTA's 4-mile light rail line is expected to open in 2025.

By Joe Linton

1:28 PM PST on December 2, 2024

Eyes on the Street: OC Streetcar Construction Progress

OC Streetcar Fairview Street Station appears nearly complete. Photos by Joe Linton/Streetsblog

The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) is continuing construction on its OC Streetcar project, expected to open in mid-2025. The four-mile $579 million light rail line is located in the cities of Santa Ana and Garden Grove.

OC Streetcar project map – via project fact sheet

OC Streetcar vehicle at 2023 APTA expo event – photo via OCTA

Streetsblog last reported on OC Streetcar construction in June. Revisiting the route last weekend, the stations look pretty much complete and overhead catenary wire installation appears much further along, especially toward the western end of the line.

OC Streetcar Raitt Street station in June – with no wires overhead

The same OC Streetcar Raitt Street Station last weekend

Below are additional OC Streetcar photos taken last weekend – from east to west.

The east end of the OC Streetcar at Santa Ana’s train station (officially the Santa Ana Regional Transit Center – SARTC) where streetcar riders can connect to Amtrak, Metrolink, and many (OCTA and other) bus lines.

Tracks and landscaped median on Santa Ana Boulevard

Overhead catenary wire work at Santa Ana Boulevard and Western Avenue. West of this intersection the catenary wires appear complete. To the east, support wires are in place, but not electric power wires.

OC Streetcar maintenance and storage facility on 5th Street. See inside via flythrough video rendering.

OC Streetcar overhead wire just off 5th Street

For additional OC Streetcar project information, see June SBCA coverage or OCTA project website.

Joe Linton

Locales | Orange County | Rail | streetcars

Streetsblog has migrated to a new comment system. New commenters can register directly in the comments section of any article. Returning commenters: your previous comments and display name have been preserved, but you'll need to reclaim your account by clicking "Forgot your password?" on the sign-in form, entering your email, and following the verification link to set a new password — this is required because passwords could not be carried over during the migration. For questions, contact tips@streetsblog.org.