Do you remember TIG/m Modern Street Railways? It’s a Chatsworth company that builds antique-style but hydrogen-powered trolley cars that can cost upwards of $3 million. It made the car that takes tourists and shoppers around The Grove outdoor mall in Los Angeles, and the Business Journal featured the company in a May 2013 profile. Now, it has a deal to deliver trolley cars to Dubai on a 5-kilometer-long track – which seems appropriate considering the Middle Eastern city equips its police force with Lamborghinis and other exotic cars. Two years ago, TIG/m installed a similar $6 million trolley system on the Caribbean Island of Aruba, but the United Arab Emirates system is more sophisticated. “The vehicles in Dubai are convertible cars with three air conditioning cabs and an upper deck that’s open air. They have fuel cells and onboard amenities that the Aruba cars do not have,” said TIG/m President Brad Read, who declined to disclose the exact price. The bright red, double-deckers will carry up to 74 tourist and residents to five-star hotels, the 1,200 storefront Dubai Mall, and other downtown attractions. And when the proposed track is completed, it will encircle the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa. The company is currently under a two-car contract with Dubai developer Emaar Properties, but expects to sign a full contract in the next few months to build six more trolleys. TIG/m is building the second streetcar for Dubai and expects to deliver it next year. Read said that the company is laying track for modern trolleys all over the world and has ongoing projects in Mexico, Aruba and one in the pipeline domestically. “We build them all here in Chatsworth,” he said. “And we are looking for projects all over the world.” – Mateo M. Melero