page_title: MAX Blue Line
section_title: Service
hierarchical_section_title: MAX Blue Line / Service
caption_attribution_description: A westbound two-car train on Portland's MAX light rail system crossing the 1912-built Steel Bridge. Headed for Hillsboro on TriMet's MAX Blue Line, the train is composed of cars 306 + 307 (of TriMet's "Type 3"), which are Siemens SD660 light rail vehicles built in 2003. The Steel Bridge is the only vertical-lift bridge (type with towers and counterweights) crossed by light rail or streetcars in North America. For 20 years, from the completion of the first MAX line in 1986 until 2006, it was the only drawbridge (moveable bridge) of any type to carry that distinction in North America – since at least the early 1970s. However, in 2006 it was joined by two bascule bridges on San Francisco's T (Third St.) line, and in 2012 by another Portland bridge, the Broadway Bridge (also a bascule type), crossed by the Portland Streetcar's CL Line, then in 2018 by the St. Paul Avenue Bridge (a table-lift bridge) on Milwaukee's The Hop streetcar line.
context_page_description: The MAX Blue Line is a light rail service in Portland, Oregon, United States, operated by TriMet as part of the MAX Light Rail system. The longest line in the network, it travels mainly east–west for approximately 33 miles in the cities of Hillsboro, Beaverton, Portland, and Gresham, serving 48 stations between Hatfield Government Center and Cleveland Avenue. The line is the busiest of the five MAX lines, carrying an average 55,370 riders per day on weekdays in September 2018. It runs for 22​¹⁄₂ hours per day from Monday to Thursday, with headways of between 30 minutes off-peak and five minutes during rush hour. Service runs later in the evening on Fridays and Saturdays and ends earlier on Sundays.
  The success of local freeway revolts in the early 1970s led to the reallocation of federal assistance funds from the proposed Mount Hood Freeway and Interstate 505 projects to mass transit. Local governments approved the construction of a light rail line in Portland in 1978.
context_section_description: From Monday to Thursday, the Blue Line runs for 22​¹⁄₂ hours per day. The first train goes westbound from Elmonica/Southwest 170th Avenue station at 3:31 am and the last trip goes eastbound from Rose Quarter Transit Center to Ruby Junction/East 197th Avenue station at 1:29 am the following day. Additional late-night trips are provided on Fridays, with the last trip going eastbound from Hatfield Government Center station to Elmonica/Southwest 170th Avenue station at 2:01 am. Except for additional late-night trips on Saturdays, weekend service runs on a slightly reduced schedule. The first trains run westbound from Ruby Junction/East 197th Avenue station at 3:35 am and the last trains run eastbound from Hatfield Government Center station at 1:51 am and Rose Quarter Transit Center at 1:33 am, respectively. Select early morning trains operate as through services of the Red Line and the Yellow Line. End-to-end travel time is approximately 105 minutes. TriMet designates the Blue Line as a "Frequent Service" route along with the rest of the light rail system, ensuring service runs on a 15-minute headway for most of each day. Blue Line trains run most frequently during weekday rush hours, operating on headways as short as five minutes. During the early mornings and late evenings, headways increase to 30 minutes.
caption: A Blue Line train on the Steel Bridge in 2009
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