LOWELL, Mass. (AP) – The city is exploring whether to revive part of its past by expanding trolley service beyond a 1.2-mile rail line used by tourists visiting Lowell National Historic Park.

A $572,000 federally funded study is under way on a proposal to link that trolley line with the Gallager Intermodal Terminal. Options include extending the line to the city’s sports attractions, such as Tsongas Arena and LeLacheur Ballpark, or to dormitories at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell. An extension also could allow residents of new downtown condominiums to use the trolley for shopping at a local supermarket.

Local and federal officials will solicit public opinion and consider options over the next nine months, including costs and the effects on downtown traffic and the environment.

“We’re presenting an opportunity,” said Peter Aucella, assistant superintendent for development for the Lowell national park. “It’s up to the community to decide if it’s a good fit. There are tradeoffs to be made, and if the community says no, that’s an acceptable answer.”

Depending on the study results, the Federal Transit Administration and National Park Service may split the cost.

“Nobody wants to be tackling pie-in-the-sky projects, but there seems to be a very viable funding source to get this done,” said J. Matthew Coggins, Lowell’s assistant city manager for planning and development.

According to the 2002 feasibility study on the project, by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Volpe Center in Cambridge, horse-drawn trolleys were introduced in Lowell in 1864. Electric trolleys began running routes in the city in 1889 and operated until 1935.

The Lowell national park began running “historic replica” electric trolleys between several of its attractions in 1984.

Diana Prideaux-Brune, UMass Lowell’s vice chancellor for facilities, said the project would fit historically.

“The trolleys used to be a major part of how goods and people were moved in this city. I honestly believe that if a trolley went to our dorms, they’d get a lot more students going to the downtown,” she said.

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Information from: The Sun, http://www.lowellsun.com