If sightseers in Centennial Olympic Park spot a passenger rail car Thursday or Friday afternoon, it’s not because Atlanta has a new addition to its transit system -- at least not yet. Charlotte’s two-year-old light rail system is taking delivery of a new rail car, and on the way there this week it is scheduled for a layover, so Atlantans can take a peek. Light rail is a hot topic now, since Atlanta advocates are hoping the city will win about $300 million in federal grants to build a streetcar that would run on Peachtree Street and to the King Center, and the proposed Beltline loop around Atlanta’s core could use similar cars. In the 20th century Atlanta had a network of streetcars but they were torn up to make way for automobiles.
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