Streetcars in Indianapolis

Mirroring its status as a hub of railroad activity, electric railways also concentrated services in Indianapolis with both a large system of local trolleys as well as a widespread network of interurbans.

Public transit arrived in Indianapolis on October 3, 1864, in the form of 12-seat mule-drawn streetcars which began operating between Union Station and Military Park.

Catherwood, managed several streetcar lines running on a hub-and-spoke system radiating from downtown Indianapolis to outlying neighborhoods.

[5][6] Electrification of the city's streetcar system dramatically improved efficiency and expediency, allowing residents to live further from the civic and business center of downtown.

[9] Like most American cities following World War II, Indianapolis's electric streetcar ridership declined as personal automobile ownership increased.