Councilmember Tom Rasmussen
Seattle City Councilmember Rasmussen applauds plans to build new streetcars in Seattle
Seattle – Seattle City Councilmember and Transportation Committee Chair, Tom Rasmussen hailed today’s announcement that the vehicles for the new First Hill Streetcar will be assembled in Seattle. The streetcars will be assembled by Seattle-based Pacifica, a company that specializes in the assembly and refurbishment of ground transportation vehicles in partnership with Inekon of the Czech Republic.
"This is great news for our local economy and creates a foothold for a new industry based in Seattle," said Councilmember Rasmussen. "Twenty jobs will be created through this agreement, all of which will be filled by members of the Aerospace Machinists union, Local 751.
"This consortium will be in place to compete for new streetcar projects now under way in Dallas, Charlotte, Cincinnati and Washington, DC. I would like to see Seattle become the North American center of manufacturing of streetcars, electric trolley buses other high capacity public transit vehicles in the 21st Century. I am hopeful that these 20 family wage jobs are just the beginning for the Inekon-Pacifica consortium."
The six vehicles that will be constructed for the First Hill Streetcar line between Capitol Hill and Pioneer Square, opening in 2013, will be assembled at Pacifica’s plant on West Marginal Way in the Duwamish manufacturing/industrial center in Seattle. The three vehicles manufactured for the South Lake Union Streetcar, also designed by Inekon, were assembled in the company’s native Czech Republic and then shipped to the Puget Sound region.
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