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In June 2019, the Port Authority proposed raising AirTrain Newark's fare from $5 to $7.75, which was approved that September. The fare increase took effect that year on November 1, representing the first fare raise in sixteen years.
The AirTrain has three major stations within the airport, one for each main terminal (A, B, and C). These stations sit on top of the terminal buildings. There are three other stations (P2, P3, and P4) for the parking lots and rental car facilities plus a seventh (RaiLink station) at the Northeast Corridor. Automated announcements recorded by traffic reporter Bernie Wagenblast tell riders which airlines can be found in each terminal, as well as connections at other stations. In 2007, the average daily paid ridership was 4,930.
The Yellow Line is a rapid transit line of the Washington Metro system, consisting of 21 stations in Fairfax County, Alexandria, and Arlington County, Virginia, as well as Washington, D.C. and Prince George's County, Maryland. The Yellow Line runs from Huntington in Virginia to Greenbelt station during all times since May 2019. Before then, it used to short turns at Mount Vernon Square during peak hours and ended at Fort Totten station during off-peak hours.
The line shares tracks with the Green Line from L'Enfant Plaza northward to Greenbelt. It is a quick link between downtown Washington and National Airport, and shares nearly all of its track with either the Green or Blue Line. The Yellow Line has only two stations that are not shared by any other lines (Eisenhower Avenue and Huntington), and only two sections of track that are not shared by any other lines – the section at the south end of the line, and the section between the Pentagon and L'Enfant Plaza stations, crossing the Potomac River.
While a cut-and-fill tunnel for Yellow Line was built under 7th Street and U Street, both street traffic and pedestrian access on those streets were difficult. The result was the loss of the traditional retail businesses along the route. The downtown segment of the line was originally projected to open in September 1977. Obtaining approval of the District of Columbia and Prince Georges' County of the exact alignment of the Yellow Line north of U Street delayed construction. Originally, the ARS called for the line to be placed in the median strip of the planned North Central Freeway, but after that road was cancelled, the route of the replacement subway tunnel became controversial, resulting in years of expensive delays.
Service on the Yellow Line began on April 30, 1983, adding Archives to the system and linking the two already-built stations of Gallery Place and Pentagon with a bridge across the Potomac River. It was extended beyond National Airport by four stations to Huntington on December 17, 1983, the first station outside the Capital Beltway. When the Green Line link to U Street opened on May 11, 1991, it acted as an extension of the Yellow Line until the southern Green Line branch was completed. When Green Line service began, the Yellow Line was truncated at Mount Vernon Square, where a pocket track exists to relay trains.
The Yellow Line was originally planned to follow a slightly different route in Virginia. The plan would have sent Yellow Line trains to Franconia–Springfield, with Blue Line trains serving Huntington. This was changed due to a shortage of rail cars at the time of the completion of the line to Huntington. Because fewer rail cars were required to operate Yellow Line service than would be required to run Blue Line service out to Huntington – due to the Yellow Line's shorter route – the line designations were switched. From 1999 to 2008, the Yellow Line operated to Franconia–Springfield on July 4, as part of Metro's special service pattern on that day.
In 1998, Congress changed the name of the Washington National Airport to the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport with the law specifying that no money be spent to implement the name change. As a result, WMATA did not change the name of the National Airport station (which never included the full name of the airport). In response to repeated inquiries from Republican congressmen that the station be renamed, WMATA stated that stations are renamed only at the request of the local jurisdiction. Because both Arlington County and the District of Columbia were controlled by Democrats, the name change was blocked. Finally, in 2001, Congress made changing the station's name a condition of further federal funding.
In May 2018, Metro announced an extensive renovation of platforms at twenty stations across the system. To accommodate these platform reconstructions, the Blue and Yellow Lines south of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport would be closed from May 25, to September 8, 2019, in what would be the longest line closure in Metro's history. As a result, all Yellow and Blue line services terminated at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport during the closure.
From March 26, 2020 until June 28, 2020, trains were bypassing , , , and stations due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. All stations were reopened beginning on June 28, 2020.
Between February 13 and May 13, 2021, additional Yellow Line trains began operating between Mount Vernon Square and at all times replacing the Blue Line due to it being suspended because of platform reconstruction at and .
Starting June 18, 2012, the Yellow Line was extended as part of the Rush Plus initiative trial, to operate all the way up to Greenbelt on the northern end and several trains were diverted to Franconia-Springfield on the southern end. However the service was discontinued on June 25, 2017 due to budget cuts. In 2019, Metro announced that Yellow Line trains will be re-extend from Mt Vernon Sq/Fort Totten back to Greenbelt at all times beginning May 25, 2019 in order to provide extra service to the Green Line.
The Yellow Line needs 10 six-car trains (60 rail cars) to run at peak capacity. Internally, the Yellow Line in Virginia was called the "Huntington Route" (C) and the route through the District of Columbia and beyond to Greenbelt as the "Greenbelt Route" (E). As of March 2018, all Yellow Line trains are required to only run 8 car trains.
The following stations are along the line, from south to north.
On November 16, 1995, WMATA and the developer of the Potomac Yard area of Alexandria, Virginia, signed an agreement to construct a new station between Braddock Road and National Airport that will be financed by the developer. The Federal Transit Administration, in cooperation with WMATA, the National Park Service and The City of Alexandria government, completed an environmental impact statement for the project in June 2016. The station will be completed by Spring 2022.
A second improvement project involves building a pedestrian tunnel to interconnect the Gallery Place station with Metro Center. A July 2005 study proposed connecting the eastern mezzanine of Metro Center with the western mezzanine of Gallery Place that are only one block apart. The proposed connection would reduce the number of passengers that use the Red Line to transfer between the Yellow Line and the Blue and Orange lines at Metro Center. As of 2011, the project remained unfunded.
The JFK Express, advertised as The Train to The Plane, was a limited express service of the New York City Subway, connecting Midtown Manhattan to John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK Airport). It operated between 1978 and 1990. Passengers paid extra, premium fares to ride JFK Express trains. Its route bullet was colored and contained an aircraft symbol.
For most of its history, the JFK Express operated along the IND Sixth Avenue Line; IND Fulton Street Line; and IND Rockaway Line between its northern terminal at 57th Street–Sixth Avenue in Manhattan and its southern terminal at Howard Beach–JFK Airport in Queens. At Howard Beach, passengers had to transfer to shuttle buses to reach the airport itself. During the JFK Express's last six months of operation, it was extended northward along the IND 63rd Street Line to 21st Street–Queensbridge, also in Queens. The service primarily used R46 subway cars.
The premium fare for the JFK Express was collected by train conductors on board, who punched the tickets that passengers had to purchase prior to boarding. In addition to the conductors, there were transit police officers aboard to provide protection for travelers. The initial fare was $3.50, and the fare for the shuttle bus itself was $1.00. On January 1, 1979, airline and airport employees were provided a discounted book of twenty tickets, selling for $25. On July 3, 1981 the fare was raised to $4 from $5. When the service was discontinued in 1990, the fare was $6.75.
The JFK Express used R46s exclusively for most of its existence, although near its end R44s were used after major service changes took place on December 11, 1988. The trains were initially three cars long or in length. They later were four cars long or long, half the length of a typical B Division train. The cars featured luggage racks for airport-bound passengers.
Within a few years of its inauguration, the service was being criticized as a poor use of resources. The JFK Express proved to be unsuccessful, seeing low ridership in part because the service did not actually serve any airline terminals, but rather transferred passengers to a shuttle bus service that was several hundred yards from the station. In May 1980, the MTA executive director, John Simpson, recommended that the express train be discontinued, stating that ridership on the line stabilized at 1.3 million yearly riders, and the yearly deficit rose to $2.5 million. In June 1980, members of the MTA board voted to make the JFK Express a permanent service, stating that a mass transit link to JFK Airport was necessary.
In June 1983, the New York City Transit Authority, along with other service changes, planned to change service on the JFK Express. The JFK Express would have been extended to Rockaway Park–Beach 116th Street, and the $5 fare and the special guard would be eliminated, making it like any other subway line. Trains would be 8 cars long instead of 4 cars long, and the headway between trains would be 18 minutes, instead of 20 minutes. The proposal was still being reviewed in January 1984; it never came to fruition.
At times, regular passengers were allowed on the trains and no fares were charged due to disruptions on other services; this included the 1988 closure of the Williamsburg Bridge, when trains on the BMT Nassau Street Line and BMT Jamaica Line were rerouted. Between December 11, 1988 and October 29, 1989 on weekday evenings between 9 p.m. and 1 a.m., passengers were allowed to ride the JFK Express between 57th Street and 47th–50th Streets–Rockefeller Center without paying the extra fare as it was the only service running between these two stations during those times. Some passengers paid the extra fare to get to Aqueduct Racetrack during racing days, when the JFK Express would stop at Aqueduct Racetrack station.
In October 1989, the NYCTA proposed eliminating the JFK Express, citing that it had not attracted enough passengers. At the time, 3,200 people were using the train per day, down from a high of between 4,000 and 5,000 riders that used it at the beginning of the service's operation. The executive vice president of the NYCTA, George Miller, said that eliminating the service would save $7 million a year and free 144 transit workers and 12 subway cars for more cost-efficient subway runs. It was determined that 47 percent of the riders of the JFK Express were commuters from Howard Beach and the Rockaways who were willing to pay for the premium service. Trains were running every hour by this point.
On October 29, 1989, the IND 63rd Street Line opened and the JFK Express was extended to 21st Street–Queensbridge, skipping Roosevelt Island. This extension was short-lived, as service was discontinued on April 15, 1990 due to low ridership, with as few as 3,200 riders per day. The bus service, connecting the Howard Beach–JFK Airport station and the airport proper, continued after JFK Express service ended, and was the only link between the airport and the Howard Beach station at the time. Passengers preferred the A train, which was cheaper and ran more often. Ridership on the A to the airport increased after the discontinuation of the JFK Express; in 1995, about 1 million passengers used the A to the airport.
Since the discontinuation of the JFK Express, the A train has continued to serve the Howard Beach–JFK Airport station. The JFK shuttle bus service remained in operation until the AirTrain JFK, a Port Authority of New York and New Jersey-operated people mover system, replaced it on December 17, 2003. The AirTrain JFK also connects with the Long Island Rail Road at Jamaica, and with the to Manhattan at Sutphin Boulevard–Archer Avenue. A proposal, referred to as the Lower Manhattan–Jamaica/JFK Transportation Project, would provide express train service between JFK Airport and Lower Manhattan through Brooklyn. This would be similar to the JFK Express except that the service would be an extension of AirTrain JFK and operate via the LIRR's Atlantic Branch, providing a one-seat ride to the airport terminals.
The following lines were used by the JFK Express service:
Light RailLink (formerly Baltimore Light Rail, and also known simply as the "Light Rail") is a light rail system serving Baltimore, Maryland, United States, as well as its surrounding suburbs. It is operated by the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA Maryland). In downtown Baltimore, it uses city streets. Outside the central portions of the city, the line is built on private rights-of-way, mostly from the defunct Northern Central Railway, Baltimore and Annapolis Railroad and Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railway.
The origins of the Light Rail ultimately lie in a transit plan drawn up for the Baltimore area in 1966 that envisioned six rapid transit lines radiating out from the city center. By 1983, only a single line was built: the "Northwest" line, which became the current Baltimore Metro Subway. Much of the plan's "North" and "South" lines ran along right-of-way that was once used by interurban streetcar and commuter rail routes—the Northern Central Railway, Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railway and Baltimore and Annapolis Railroad—that still remained available for transit development.
Beginning in the late 1980s, Governor William Donald Schaefer (a former mayor of Baltimore) pushed for building a transit line along this corridor, motivated in part by a desire to establish a rail transit link to the new downtown baseball park being built at Camden Yards for the Baltimore Orioles. The Light Rail lines were built quickly and inexpensively and without money from the U.S. federal government, a rarity in late 20th century U.S. transit projects. The initial system was a single line, all at-grade except for a bridge over the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River just south of downtown Baltimore. The line ran from Timonium in Baltimore County in the north to Glen Burnie in Anne Arundel County in the south.
The line opened in stages over a 14-month period. The initial segment from Timonium to Camden Yards opened for limited service for Orioles games on April 2, 1992, and for full service on May 17. A three-station extension to Patapsco opened on August 20, 1992, followed by a 4-station extension to Linthicum on April 2, 1993, and an additional 2-station extension to Glen Burnie on May 20, 1993.
Station placement and design were intended to be flexible and change over time, as stations could be built or closed at low cost. However, they were at times dictated by politics rather planning: proposed stops in Ruxton, Riderwood, and Village of Cross Keys were not built due to local opposition, while nearly-cut Mt. Royal and Timonium Business Park stations were built because the University of Baltimore and a local business group funded them. Falls Road station was built with less parking than ridership required because community requests and a fence—erected in response to a homeowner objecting to the visual impact of the station—prevented riders from accessing a nearby commercial building.
Three extensions to the system were added in 1997. On September 9, the line was extended north to Hunt Valley, adding five stations that served a major business park and a mall. On December 6, two short but important branches were added to the system: a spur in Baltimore that provided a link to the Penn Station intercity rail hub, and a spur to the terminal of BWI Airport.
On September 6, 1998, the Hamburg Street station opened as an infill station between the existing Westport and Camden Yards stations. Adjacent to M&T Bank Stadium, it was initially only open during Ravens games and other major stadium events; however, it became a full-time stop on July 1, 2005.
To save money, much of the system was built as single-track. While this allowed the Light Rail to be built and opened quickly, it made it difficult to build flexibility into the system: much of the line was restricted to 17-minute headways, with no way to reduce headways during peak hours. Federal money was acquired to make the vast majority of the system double-tracked; much of the line south of downtown Baltimore was shut down in 2004 and north of downtown shut down in 2005 in order to complete this project. The northern section up to Timonium reopened in December 2005; the rest opened in February 2006. The line north of the Gilroy Road station & on the BWI Airport spur remain single tracked.
On July 10, 2019, part of the northbound platform at Convention Center station fell into a sinkhole caused by a broken water main. The line was closed between Camden and North Avenue until August 19.
The Light Rail network consists of a main north–south line that serves 28 of the system's 33 stops; a spur in Baltimore City that connects a single stop (Penn Station) to the main line and two branches at the south end of the line that serve two stops apiece. Because of the track arrangement, trains can only enter the Penn Station spur from the mainline heading north and leave it heading south; there are still single-track sections north of Timonium, limiting headways in that section to 15 minutes.
Various routing strategies have been used on the network. there are three basic services (and one additional off-peak service):
Although these routes are colored blue, red and yellow respectively on some MTA maps and schedules, they do not have official names as such. Some trains heading north from either BWI Airport or Glen Burnie may terminate at North Avenue to go out of service until peak operation hours resume. During these times, ridership is not high enough to send trains all the way through.
Most of the light rail's route is on a dedicated right-of-way, with occasional grade crossings equipped with crossing gates. However, on the downtown portion of the route that runs along Howard Street (between the University of Baltimore/Mt. Royal and Camden Yards stations), trains mix with automobile traffic and their movement is controlled by traffic signals. In 2007, a transit signal priority system was implemented on this portion of the route, resulting in time savings of 25%. From south of Falls Road to North Avenue, the light rail runs parallel to the Jones Falls Expressway, and from Camden Yards to north of Westport, it parallels Interstate 395. North of Falls Road and south of Westport, it follows its own path towards its respective termini.
The space mean speed between Hunt Valley and BWI (based on a scheduled running time of 1:20 and a distance of ) is about .
MTA fares are identical for the Metro Subway, the Light Rail, and local buses: a one-way trip costs $1.90. Daily, weekly, and monthly unlimited-ride passes are also available that are good on all three transit modes. A passenger with a one-way ticket can change Light Rail trains if necessary to complete their journey, the only instance of a one-way MTA ticket being good for a ride on more than one vehicle, but transferring to a bus or the Metro Subway requires a new one-way fare or a pass. Automated ticket vending machines that sell tickets and passes are available at all Light Rail stations.
The Light Rail's ticketing is based on a proof-of-payment system. Passengers must have a ticket or pass before boarding. Maryland Transit Administration Police officers ride some trains and randomly check passengers to make sure that they are carrying a valid ticket or pass and can issue criminal citations for those without one. Civilian Fare Inspectors also conduct ticket checks, alighting those without fare.
Most Light Rail stations are served by several MTA bus routes and passengers can make platform-to-platform transfers with the MARC Camden Line at Camden Yards and with the MARC Penn Line at Penn Station. There are no cross-platform connections with the Metro Subway. The Lexington Market subway and light rail stations are a block apart and connected only via surface streets.
Baltimore's Light Rail vehicles (LRVs) were built by ABB Traction, the U.S. division of Asea Brown Boveri. The initial set was delivered in 1991–1992 as the line was being built; a supplemental order of essentially identical cars was delivered in 1997 when the extensions came into service.
Baltimore LRVs are quite large, much larger than traditional streetcars and bigger even than those used on San Francisco's Muni Metro or Boston's Green Line. The articulated cars are long (over coupler faces), wide, high (excluding the pantograph) and can accommodate 85 seated and 91 standing passengers. These cars operate on track. One-, two- and three-car trains are all routinely seen in service. Trains are powered by 750 volt DC which is taken by a pantograph from overhead lines and have a maximum speed of . When delivered, they were the first transit vehicles in the United States to employ A/C propulsion. Each LRV is powered by four motors ( total); the middle truck is unpowered.
The MTA currently owns 53 individual light rail cars. During typical weekday peak-time service, approximately 30 to 35 cars are required; a somewhat higher number of cars are put into service immediately after Orioles and Ravens games. For weekday service, as well as on days of Orioles games or events at the Royal Farms Arena or Baltimore Convention Center, trains going from Hunt Valley to Cromwell and BWI Airport are generally run with two cars, while three-car trains are put into service for Ravens games and major downtown events. Usually the Penn Station-Camden Yards shuttle is operated with one-car trains. The MTA also owns a variety of maintenance of way equipment, which can use diesel power in emergencies.
A mid-life upgrade of the light rail vehicles began in 2013. On September 9, 2013, a contract for mid-life overhauls of the light rail vehicles was awarded to Alstom. Five vehicles at a time were sent for rebuilding, involving testing, removal of all interior and exterior components and replacement with new propulsion systems. The overhaul is scheduled for completion in March 2018. The overhauled cars are expected to begin testing in early 2016.
There are no immediate plans to add track length to the current Light Rail system. An independent commission on Baltimore-area transit made a number of suggestions in a 2002 report for new lines and expansions of existing lines. Newer proposals include expanding service on the existing Central Light Rail line by extending Sunday service via the BaltimoreLink plan, as well as new stations and spurs.
There are plans to add an infill station at Texas, between the existing Timonium and Warren Road stations. An island was built at this point on the line in conjunction with the 2005 double-tracking work to provide a turn-back point for trains not going all the way to Hunt Valley; it would also be relatively simple to convert this into a revenue station.
In the 2015 South Baltimore Gateway Masterplan, the city of Baltimore proposed a new light rail stop along the Central Light Rail line at Stockholm Street, in between Hamburg Street Station and Westport Station. The new station would be located near the also-proposed new station for the MARC Train located west of Russell Street. The new station will provide additional access to the Baltimore Greyhound Bus Terminal, the Horseshoe Casino, and new businesses in the Carroll-Camden Industrial Area.
In January 2016, plans were unveiled by Sagamore Development Company, owned by Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank, regarding the redevelopment of Port Covington in South Baltimore. The new plan for Port Covington calls for two proposed new light rail stations, along with new residential and commercial development. The first station would be located west of Hanover Street, and the other would be located at the intersection of East McComas Street and East Cromwell Street, just south of Federal Hill. This proposed extension would create a new spur from the Central Light Rail line by crossing the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River south of Interstate 95.
The Red Line was a planned , 19-station light rail line traveling east–west that would intersect with the existing Light Rail downtown; this would be a separate service, with no track connection to the existing Light Rail, though there would be opportunities for transfer between the two in the vicinity of University Center / Baltimore Street. The line would operate in a total of of tunnels through the downtown area (and along Cooks Lane), with the majority of the rest of the system operating at-grade and just a few aerial sections, as well as in the median of the former Interstate 170 freeway; however, the Red Line was cancelled by Governor Larry Hogan on June 25, 2015.
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority light rail
VTA Light Rail is a light rail system in San Jose and nearby cities in Silicon Valley located in Santa Clara County, California. It is operated by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, or VTA, and consists of of network comprising three main lines on standard gauge tracks. Originally opened on December 11, 1987, the light rail system has gradually expanded since then, and currently has 60 light rail stations in operation. VTA operates a fleet of Kinki Sharyo Low Floor Light Rail Vehicles (LFLRV) to service its passengers. The system's average weekday daily ridership as of the end of 2019 is 26,700 passengers and a total annual ridership of 8,335,100 passengers.
VTA operates of light rail route on 3 lines. All the lines and the corridors they run through are designed to move passengers from the suburban areas of Santa Clara Valley into the major business areas in Downtown, the Santa Clara County Civic Center, and northern Silicon Valley, site of many high-tech company offices.
Light Rail also serves to connect travelers to other transportation systems at several key points: Diridon station offers connections to Caltrain, ACE, Amtrak's "Coast Starlight", the Capitol Corridor trains; Milpitas station offer connections the BART system; and Metro/Airport station offers a connection to the San Jose International Airport via VTA Bus route 60.
Lines runs for 20 hours per day on weekdays, with headways of 15 minutes for most of the day. On weekends, the train runs at 20-minute headways for most of the day. After around 8 pm on weekdays and weekends trains run at 30-minute headways.
From north to south, the Blue Line starts at Baypointe station in North San Jose, travels south on First Street on tracks shared with the Green Line through downtown San Jose, until reaching the San Jose Convention Center where the line enters the median of State Route 87, until it approaches the interchange with State Route 85, where it briefly exits the median to serve Ohlone/Chynoweth station and enters the median of State Route 85 to its terminus at the Santa Teresa station in South San Jose. The route is approximately long and takes approximately 55 minutes for the entire trip.
From north to south, the Green Line starts at Old Ironsides station in Santa Clara, travels east along a section of track in the median of Tasman Drive, shared with the Orange Line, at First Street, the line turns south onto tracks shared with the Blue Line through downtown San Jose, until reaching the San Jose Convention Center where lines split the Green Line continues west to Diridon Station, then turns towards the southwest to its terminus at the Winchester station in southern Campbell. The route is approximately long and takes approximately one hour for the entire trip.
From west to east, the Orange Line starts at Downtown Mountain View station in Mountain View, California, travels toward the east, passing under U.S. Route 101 at Ellis Avenue, following Mathilda Avenue to Java Drive, crossing State Route 237 and turning east on Tasman Drive, which eventually becomes Capitol Avenue. For the rest of the trip, the line follows Capitol Avenue until it reaches its terminus, the Alum Rock Transit Center in San Jose. The route is approximately long and takes approximately one hour for the entire trip.
The Almaden shuttle was a 3-stop spur from the Ohlone/Chyoweth station to Almaden station at the Almaden Expressway in the Almaden Valley. The shuttle, which ran a single 1-car train, took about 4 minutes to travel between Ohlone/Chynoweth and Almaden. This line had one track, with sidings at Almaden and Ohlone/Chynoweth. The line was discontinued in December 2019 and replaced by bus service.
The Commuter Express service operated along the same route as the current Blue Line between Baypointe and Santa Teresa stations, with nonstop service between Convention Center and Ohlone/Chynoweth stations. This weekday, peak-period service offered three trips in the morning and three trips in the evening. The service was introduced in October 2010 and was eliminated in August 2018 due to low ridership.
Unusually for light rail systems in the United States, most VTA Light Rail stops are made by request. Similar to VTA's bus network, passengers must be visible to the operator while waiting at stations, and must notify the operator using the bell before the train arrives at their destination. Trains will typically skip stops (other than line termini) if no one is waiting on the platform and no one requests to disembark.
, the fare for one single ride for adult passengers is $2.50. This fare is standard for both Light Rail and Bus transit, and is good for two hours of travel. No transfer fees between light rail vehicles are required, but upon inquiry riders must provide a proof-of-payment. Passengers without a ticket could be fined up to $250, under Penal Code 640.
Monthly passes loaded onto Clipper cards are also valid on Light Rail.
In 2002, VTA introduced new Kinki Sharyo low-floor LRVs. The Kinki Sharyo LRVs are equipped with a low floor over 70% of the passenger area at above top-of-rail (ATOR), with the remaining high-floor area ATOR; up to three LRVs may be coupled into a single train. The low-floor LRVs initially operated only on the Tasman West line (Downtown Mountain View to I-880/Milpitas), because their floor height only matched the platform height along that line. After VTA reconstructed platforms along North First Street from the Japantown/Ayer stop northward (with wooden ramps provided for the lead car's front door elsewhere), VTA replaced the entire fleet in 2003 with low-floor LRVs. Currently, all stations provide level boarding at all doors.
On March 21, 2008, at approximately 7:10 p.m., a southbound 2-car light rail train derailed just north of the Virginia station. Four people, including the train operator, were injured, and the train was heavily damaged. At the time of the accident, trains were operating on a single track through the area because of construction at three nearby light rail stations. The train involved was attempting to switch between tracks when it derailed. VTA ruled out mechanical or equipment failure as a cause for the accident. An investigation indicated human error ("the train traveling southbound stopped over the switch and reversed, which are violations of operating rules").
On July 8, 2018, at around 12:34 p.m., a northbound single car light rail train collided with a car in the Lincoln Avenue crossing near Auzerais Avenue on the Mountain View-Winchester Line. Two occupants of the car were killed. The train operator was taken to a hospital according to standard operating procedures. The twenty passengers on the train were not seriously injured. The lead segment of the train (934B) left the tracks and knocked down a pole supporting the LRT catenary wires.
The VTA light rail system consists of multiple rail corridors, mostly double-tracked, with overhead catenary wires. The Guadalupe Corridor was the first, opened to revenue service in four stages between 1987 and 1991; the short Almaden Corridor was also opened when Guadalupe was completed in 1991. The first major expansion opened in 1999, extending the rails via the Tasman West extension to Mountain View. Mountain View is the second connection between VTA light rail and Caltrain, after the Tamien station was added to the Guadalupe Corridor in 1990.
In 2000, voters approved Measure A, which promised the construction of a Downtown/East Valley light rail line, connecting downtown, San Jose City Hall, and San Jose State University via a new alignment along Santa Clara Street, meeting the Capitol line at Alum Rock station and then turning south to Eastridge Mall. Measure A also provided funds to develop plans for two new light rail corridors. Other potential corridors that were studied using Measure A funds included:
The Tasman East extension pushed into Milpitas by 2001, and was completed in 2004 along with the Capitol extension, which extended the line east to Alum Rock station. The first phase of the Vasona extension was completed in 2005, extending the VTA light rail line from downtown San Jose through Campbell to Winchester. The Vasona extension mostly followed the Union Pacific right-of-way and also added a third connection to Caltrain at San Jose Diridon.
Since 2005, no new lines have been added to the system, but VTA has proposed several more. By 2007, VTA was planning for the Downtown/East Valley route along Alum Rock and Santa Clara to Downtown San Jose (either by rail or bus), and the Capitol Expressway extension south from Alum Rock.
The extensions with the most complete plans are the Capitol Expressway extension (phase 1, to Eastridge) and completion of the Vasona extension (phase 2, to Vasona Junction). VTA completed most of the Vasona extension in 2005, and planned to begin construction on the light rail extension along Capitol Expressway in 2012. However, VTA lacked sufficient funds to build the Santa Clara / Alum Rock corridor as light rail. That route as well as another route along El Camino Real/Monterey Road, will instead be built as bus rapid transit (BRT). With the completion of the Berryessa phase of the Silicon Valley BART extension, the first connection between BART and VTA light rail will be at the Montague (to be renamed Milpitas) station.
VTA has considered plans to increase the overall speed of its light rail system. These include adding fences along track on North First Street, which would increase speed along this corridor to 45 mph, and a new Great America station to better facilitate transfers to commuter rail. These were eventually bundled with other capital improvements into a larger Light Rail Efficiency Project, which resulted in two completed sub-projects:
The original scope of the Light Rail Efficiency Project included the following planned improvements:
The planned improvements would result in predicted 23-30% reductions in travel times at a total cost of $60 million. The Light Rail Efficiency Project was anticipated to complete in 2017.
On January 5, 2017, VTA published the Draft Transit Service Plan as part of the Next Network Project to update routing and frequency with the anticipated commencement of BART service to San Jose. Light rail and bus operations would be reconfigured to provide increased ridership, serving high-ridership areas with shorter headways and decreasing service to low-ridership areas. Lines would be referred to by colors, starting in Fall 2017:
The New Transit Service Plan was developed from the 2017 Next Network Project. Lines would be renamed in accordance with the prior Next Network Project, with two exceptions: the new Blue Line would be truncated at Baypointe, and service on the new Purple Line would be discontinued entirely and replaced with a new bus route. Proposed lines are:
In addition, two stations would be renamed: Montague would be renamed to Milpitas upon completion of the new intermodal station for the Berryessa BART extension, and I-880/Milpitas would be changed to Alder to avoid confusion with the renamed Milpitas intermodal station.
In 2018, VTA began installing Orange Line signage at stations in anticipation of the route reconfiguration.
Using Measure A funds, VTA planned to add two new light rail corridors and provide BRT services from downtown San Jose south along Monterey Road. The two new corridors would be:
The projected headway for both lines was 10 to 12 minutes. The Santa Clara / Alum Rock Corridor also would have added two additional connections to the BART extension.
In 2005, VTA extended light rail service to Winchester station, completing most of a proposed light rail extension to Los Gatos, California. The Vasona Light Rail Extension would complete the original proposed extension. The additional extension is 1.57 miles long and will run alongside Union Pacific Railroad lines. Construction will include lengthening of platforms at the Winchester, Campbell, Hamilton, Bascom, Fruitdale and Race stations. Two new stations (Hacienda and Vasona) will be constructed with the entire project costs projected to be $157 million. The VTA Board of Directors approved a Supplemental Environment Impact Report in February 2014. The construction schedule is dependent upon available funding.
The second phase of extension would travel south of Eastridge along Capitol Expressway into South San Jose, adding a fourth connection to Caltrain at Monterey Road (Capitol), terminating at VTA's Capitol station.
The Metro Blue Line (formerly called the 55 - Hiawatha Line) is a light rail line in Hennepin County, Minnesota that extends from downtown Minneapolis to the southern suburb of Bloomington. The line was originally named after Hiawatha Avenue which runs parallel to a good portion of the line. Major locations on the line include the Mall of America, Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport and Target Field in downtown Minneapolis.
The Blue Line is operated by Metro Transit, which is also the primary operator of buses in the Twin Cities. The line accounts for about 13% of Metro Transit's total ridership. Less than two years after opening, the line had already exceeded its 2020 weekday ridership goal of 24,800. The line carried 10.6 million riders in 2015.
Blue Line stations serving the Lindbergh and Humphrey terminals of MSP Airport operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The remainder of the Blue Line operates from 3:29 a.m. to 1:54 a.m. Monday through Thursday, and 24 hours a day from 3:29 a.m. on Friday morning to 1:54 a.m. on Sunday morning.
In July 2011, the Metropolitan Council officially approved renaming the Hiawatha Line as the Blue Line. This is part of a broader color scheme for identifying Twin Cities transit lines, including the Green Line light rail to St. Paul, the proposed Orange Line bus rapid transit along I-35W, and the operational Red Line bus rapid transit service along Cedar Avenue. The name officially changed on Friday, May 17, 2013.
Each of the 19 stations along the route is designed in a unique architectural style reflective of the station's surrounding community. This is not an entirely new idea for the region, as many of the higher-traffic bus stops around the city have distinctive designs. Due to the unique makeup of Minneapolis' population, ticket-dispensing machines present instructions in four languages: English, Spanish, Somali and Hmong. Travel time is roughly two to three minutes between most stations.
The airport used to operate a bus shuttle between the two terminals, but the light-rail line has replaced that service. No fare is required to ride between the two airport stations and trains run between these 2 stations 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. During the summer of 2009, work began on lengthening the station platforms. This allowed the use of three-car trains, instead of the two-car trains that were the previous maximum. This allowed the line to meet the continually growing demand without adding additional trains to the schedule or adding more drivers. The expansions were completed in 2010.
In November 2008, track welding was completed to extend the line several blocks northwest to reach the site of the Target Field Station. The station opened on November 14, 2009 and is adjacent to Target Field, the Minnesota Twins' new ballpark. The two-level station has light rail platforms on the upper level for use by Blue Line and Green Line light rail trains, and platforms next to the BNSF mainline tracks passing beneath the station to serve the Northstar Line commuter rail. In addition, some routing options for the future Southwest Corridor Green Line extension would connect directly to the end of the Blue Line to share service with the station.
Federal money was secured for construction of the new American Boulevard Station in Bloomington between the Humphrey Terminal Station and Bloomington Central Station. This station was included in the line's original plans, but was postponed until future demand and funds were moved to a new park and ride station in Bloomington. Because much of the necessary underground infrastructure for the station was installed when the line was constructed, the station was built without interrupting regular service and opened on December 12, 2009.
Light rail staff, security, and volunteers produced a largely hitch-free opening day for the new rail system on June 26, 2004. Officials estimated 30,000 people boarded the electric-powered trains during the transit system's first day of service. Train rides were free. Each station featured live entertainment and food as a diversion for the long waits to board the trains. Predicted daily ridership was 19,300 for 2005 and 24,600 for 2020.
Passengers who ride the rail system are charged the same fare as they would pay for the local Metro Transit bus system, and they are able to use their bus transfer cards to switch between the two different modes of transportation without making another payment. A new payment system using smart cards (locally known as Go-To Cards) was initially expected to be introduced along with the rail line in June 2004, but software bugs delayed introduction. By September 2006, the bugs were worked out and the Go-To Cards became operational.
In basic service trains operate every 10 to 15 minutes and operate less frequently in the early morning and late-night. Additional trains operate on Friday and Saturday nights. The line shuts down for about two hours each night, except for a shuttle service between the two terminals at the MSP airport and for the northbound trips between Cedar-Riverside and Target Field Station which run 24 hours a day. Vehicles have a capacity of 66 seated passengers and 120 standing. Currently two or three vehicles are run together to increase capacity.
The line was originally named for Hiawatha Avenue, also known as Minnesota State Highway 55, which runs parallel to the train tracks for much of its distance. The line also runs for a few miles on the former Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Short Line roadbed which brought "Hiawatha" passenger trains to the downtown depot. To integrate the light rail route with the rest of the area's bus system, it was also given the name Route 55. In extremely heavy travel periods and when the rail line is out of service for any reason, buses use that route number. Before the second phase was completed, a temporary bus line known as Route 155 provided a link to the destinations south of Fort Snelling station.
There are two stretches where tunnels are used on the line. A short tunnel parallel to Hiawatha Avenue travels under Minnehaha Parkway just north of the 50th Street station and at the airport, twin tunnels (one each for the northbound and southbound trains) go underground for to reach the Lindbergh Terminal station, the only stop that is totally underground— below the surface. Trains return to the surface as they near Humphrey Terminal. Some of the sections under the airport required the use of a tunnel boring machine.
The noses of these vehicles are built to a different design than is standard for the Flexity Swift, containing a small scoop-shaped area. This assists in the removal of snow, but the anticipated snow-management method is merely to run trains on a frequent basis rather than actually using snow removal equipment (this was what the earlier streetcar system usually did to keep lines clear, though they also often featured small scrapers in front of the lead wheels).
Each vehicle has a number of cameras on board, pointing both inward and outward, to monitor passenger activity and other areas of interest for security and safety. Train stations also have cameras. Video feeds and the position of each vehicle on the line are monitored in a control room at the system's maintenance facility, located between Cedar-Riverside and Franklin Avenue stations.

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