Louisville Zoo expansion includes getting another train

THE EXCITEMENT FOR MANY ZOO GOERS. IT’S BEEN ALMOST FIVE YEARS SINCE THE LAST TRAIN RIDE HAPPENED. AT THESE TRACKS. YOU CAN SEE IT’S BEEN PULLED UP SINCE, BUT THERE’S EXCITEMENT HERE AT THE LOUISVILLE ZOO BECAUSE THERE ARE PLANS TO BRING IT BACK BIGGER AND BETTER. WE CAME AS A FIELD TRIP WHEN I WAS IN GIRL SCOUTS, AND WE RODE THE TRAIN. WE HAD A GREAT TIME AND NOW AS A PARENT, DOROTHY COOK SAYS SHE’S LOOKING FORWARD TO HER SON THOMAS MAKING THOSE SAME MEMORIES. AND HE GOT TO RIDE IT A COUPLE TIMES WHEN HE WAS LITTLE. BUT WE ARE VERY EXCITED ABOUT THE TRAIN COMING BACK THIS NEW TRAIN WILL BE PART OF THE NEW KENTUCKY TRAILS EXHIBIT, A ROUGHLY $40 MILLION PROJECT IN THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE ZOO. 10 MILLION WILL COME FROM STATE FUNDING. BACK IN 2019, THE TRAIN WENT OFF LINE AFTER A MASSIVE SINKHOLE DEVELOPED WITHIN 25FT OF THE TRAIN TUNNEL. ZOO DIRECTOR DAN MALONEY SAYS THE NEW ELECTRIC TRAIN WILL BE STATE OF THE ART AND RUN ON A FLAT SURFACE. ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE HAD HEARD ABOUT THE PREVIOUS TRAIN EXPERIENCE IS THAT IT DIDN’T GET ALL THAT CLOSE TO THE ANIMALS AND AS PART OF THE NEW EXHIBIT, THE TRAIN ROUTE WILL BE CHANGED. WHILE THIS TRAIN EXPERIENCE IS ONLY GOING THROUGH KENTUCKY TRAILS, IT WILL GET MUCH CLOSER TO THE ANIMALS. AND IT WILL BE, I THINK, A MUCH MORE ENJOYABLE RIDE IN THAT REGARD. MALONEY SAYS. THE LIST ISN’T FINALIZED AS TO WHAT ANIMALS ZOO GOERS WILL BE ABLE TO SEE, BUT DON’T BE SURPRISED IF YOU SEE ELK, BISON AND MAYBE BEARS. I WANT TO SEE SOME MORE. I WANT TO SEE SOME LIONS, YOU KNOW WHAT I’M SAYING? SOME SOME SOME SOME TIGERS. SOMETHING LIKE THAT. ALSO, DON’T EXPECT TO PUNCH YOUR TICKETS ABOARD THE TRAIN ANY TIME SOON. MALONEY SAYS THEY’RE STILL IN THE DESIGN PHASE, WHICH IS EXPECTED TO BE COMPLETED IN THE COMING MONTHS, BUT IT’S STILL ENOUGH TO GET PARENTS EXCITED ABOUT WHAT’S TO COME. I’M EXCITED MYSELF THIS YEAR BECAUSE MAN, WHEN I WROTE THIS, I WAS PROBABLY THAT AGE TOO.