The St. Charles tourist trolley will be back March 16, after a six-year hiatus caused by budget concerns, Mayor Sally Faith said.

The St. Charles City Council set aside money in this year’s budget to restore the free shuttle.

According to Faith, the trolley will operate until after Christmas Eve at a cost of $18,000 a year.

“It’s a whole new city now; we have city of St. Charles, SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital, new apartment, traffic improvements,” she said. “And we need something that connects all that vibrancy.”

The trolley had been linking the Main Street shopping district with other areas of the city on and off since 1989.

The trolley will run Mondays through Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

There will be three stops in the city’s Main Street business district, including the Foundry Art Centre on the street’s north end.

Other stops will be the St. Charles Convention Center, Ameristar Casino, the Lewis and Clark Boathouse and Nature Center, the Frenchtown Heritage Museum and the Mark Twain Village shopping complex, which includes the Bass Pro store.

The firm plans to use two 28-passenger trolleys, with one to be called Lewis and the other Clark.