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Milwaukee's streetcar will expand service again for Summerfest 2025
Milwaukee's streetcar, The Hop, will again run both of its lines merged together with service to the lakefront during Summerfest, the agency announced June 10.
The Festivals Line will replace the streetcar's existing operations from June 15 through July 5 with service starting at 5 a.m. on weekdays and 7 a.m. on weekends with extended service until 1 a.m. during each of the nine Summerfest nights.
Northbound vehicles will deviate from the traditional M-Line route to include the loop east on Michigan Street, through the Couture Transit Concourse and back west on Clybourn Street before returning toward Burns Commons. While southbound vehicles from Burns Commons will travel along the M-Line route.
On the Festivals Line, passengers boarding at the Intermodal Station will reach the lakefront in 12 minutes, and traveling to the festival grounds from Burns Commons will take about 36 minutes, according to the release.
The Festivals Line was introduced last year, and was extended until the end of the summer, before Milwaukee Common Council decided to end the route. Unlike last summer, the Festivals Line will not run throughout the entire summer, confirmed spokesperson Mark Rosenberg.
'Summerfest is one of Milwaukee's busiest times, and that extends to The Hop,' Milwaukee Commissioner of Public Works Jerrel Kruschke said in a statement. In 2024, ridership increased 30% year-over-year during Summerfest with 28,383 total trips during the festival. An average of 3,154 passengers took the Hop during Summerfest, which ran nine days over a three-weekend stretch (June 20-22, June 27-29 and July 4-6).
Milwaukee's streetcar, known as The Hop, launched in 2018 on a 2.1-mile route known as the M-Line. That line runs in a loop through eastern downtown to the edge of the Historic Third Ward. Another 0.4-mile lakefront line through the Couture high-rise, known as the L-Line, opened last year.
Outside of the modified schedule, the Hop M-Line operates Monday through Friday from 5 a.m. to midnight, Saturday from 7 a.m. to midnight, and Sunday from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Streetcars arrive every 15 minutes during peak hours and every 20 minutes during off peak hours and on Sunday.
The L-Line streetcar provides service to existing stations at Wisconsin Avenue northbound and southbound, City Hall northbound and southbound, the Historic Third Ward eastbound, and stations Michigan at Jackson eastbound, Clybourn at Jefferson westbound, and the lakefront inside the Couture transit plaza.
Yes, passengers can ride the streetcar for free.
Complete ridership data for The Hop is available online at
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee streetcar The Hop runs Festivals Line during Summerfest 2025
