Oklahoma City’s EMBARK awarded a contract with Herzog Transit Services Inc. for the start-up, operation, and maintenance of the seven-vehicle Oklahoma City Streetcar system that's expected to begin passenger service in late 2018. The $131 million MAPS 3 project started construction in January.

The six-year contract with Herzog will provide turnkey operations, vehicle maintenance, and facility maintenance for the streetcar system. The firm will provide all required operations and maintenance functions, from preparing detailed operating procedures and readying the system for start-up, to providing all necessary day-to-day streetcar operations functions, including scheduling, training, and maintenance of the 4.8 miles of revenue track, .4 miles of non-revenue track and all streetcar assets; including the streetcar fleet, track and switches, power systems, overhead catenary system (OCS), support vehicles, and its 22 passenger platforms.

“Herzog’s extensive passenger-rail experience contributed to their selection,” says Jason Ferbrache, EMBARK administrator. “Their partnership brings the expertise needed to introduce urban rail service to Oklahoma City.”

Herzog operates 13 other rail-based passenger projects in the U.S., including the Kansas City Streetcar that began operations mid-2016. The company was selected as the preferred proposer by the EMBARK selection committee in 2016. Negotiations have been underway since Dec. 21, 2016.