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Final Atlanta streetcar delivered to wrong place

ATLANTA — The final streetcar arrived in Atlanta Wednesday, but was a week late.

Built in California, a manufacturer reportedly shipped the fourth street car, to the wrong state.

It was supposed to have arrived at the maintenance facility for testing last week.

"I really don't know where it went, but somehow it got switched to the wrong line and went somewhere else,” Deputy chief operating officer Tom Weyandt said.

Weyandt said the street car was supposed to be put on a train and sent to Atlanta, but was on the wrong tracks.

Channel 2's John Bachman placed a call to the metro Atlanta Siemens office to find out where this streetcar was shipped to originally, but had not heard back at the time of his report.

"You know when you're doing something of this magnitude you expect bumps in the road. This was one of them, but it wasn't much we could do about this one," Weyandt said.

The streetcar project is taking longer to complete than first expected, but Weyandt said it is not just because of delay with the fourth streetcar.

"The late arrival of this streetcar doesn't really affect the end date we have for getting the system open,” he said.

Weyandt said the issue will not have a lasting impact on the streetcar's relationship with Siemens.

"I see no issue going forward,” he said. “Siemens has been a good partner. This is a good vehicle.”

The focus, Weyandt said, is now on testing the system and getting safety approval, which he said could take months.

"We want to have a safe, efficient, effective streetcar for citizens of Atlanta," he said.

Weyandt said that the goal is to be finished by late summer.