[as of June-2005]

MetroLink is a light rail system in Saint Louis, Missouri. The network currently consists of one 38 mile line that connects Lambert-St. Louis International Airport in Bridgeton, MO with Scott Air Force Base near Shiloh, IL. In 2003 it carried an average of 44,539 people each weekday. MetroLink is a part of Metro agency, which also operates St. Louis' MetroBus.

HISTORY

Construction on the initial MetroLink alignment from Lambert-St. Louis International Airport to the 5th & Missouri station in East St. Louis, IL began in 1990. The initial alignment opened on 7 July 1993. The East Riverfront station in Illinois and the Lambert Main Terminal station at the Airport opened in 1994. The Lambert East Terminal station opened in 1998. The capital cost to build the initial phase of MetroLink was $464 million, of which $348 million was supplied by the Federal Transit Administration.

MetroLink hugely exceeded initial estimates of its ridership. However, its popularity did not translate into quick expansion. Construction has been slowed by the increasing scarcity of Federal light rail construction funds. As time has passed, an ever-greater share of the costs has been borne by state and local governments. The most recent work has been entirely funded by local dollars.

Construction on the St. Clair County MetroLink extension from the 5th & Missouri station to the College station in Belleville, Illinois began in May 1998. The St. Clair County MetroLink extension opened in 7 May 2001. Eight new stations and seven park-ride lots were added to the extension.

On 23 June 2003, a 3.5-mile extension from Southwestern Illinois College to the Shiloh-Scott station opened.

SERVICE

Rush hour headway is 7.5 minutes, off peak is 10-15 minutes, late nights - 30 minutes. Timetable adherence is exemplary. A ride along an entire line takes up to 1hr 25min.

Two-car trains are used on all runs.

A free lunchtime shuttle is provided between downtown and the Union Station.

FARE COLLECTION

Tickets must be acquired from a vending machine. Tickets then must be validated at a validation machine. The ticket is good for 2 hours in the direction passenger boards. Unvalidated tickets expire 24 hours after purchase. Day passes do not require validation and allow 24 hours of unlimited travel. There are also 10-day and monthly passes.

RIGHT-OF-WAY

An entire line is on the segregated right-of-way. Gates are used at all grade crossings.

The line goes through an abandoned freight railroad 1.8 mile tunnel beneath downtown St. Louis, which features an impressive arched roof visible at the mouth of the tunnel at the two underground stations. The westward branch uses about 14 miles of former railroad right-of-way. Just west of downtown it also shares the space with the existing railroad corridor, at which point the line is built just south of main passenger-generating corridors of Lindell Blvd and Delmar Blvd. There is also a new small tunnel west of the University North Station. Worthy of note is an elevated section between the airport and the North Hanley station, where the line uses a curvy viaduct high above freeway overpasses. The section within the Lambert - St. Louis Airport is mostly elevated.

The line utilizes the Eads Bridge over the Mississippi River as it crosses from Missouri into Illinois. The bridge ramp descends into an elevated structure in East St. Louis. The newest easternmost part of the line goes through undeveloped rural terrain and cornfields, thus the ride has a genuine interurban flavor.

CARS

31 Siemens-Duewag SD400 high-floor articulated cars, the 1000 series (1992-1993)
24 Siemens-Duewag SD460 high-floor articulated cars, the 2/3000 series (1998-1999)
9 Siemens-Duewag SD460 high-floor articulated cars, the 2/3000 series (2000-2001)
At least 4 Siemens-Duewag SD460 high-floor articulated cars, the 4000 series (????-2005)

All cars are equipped with stop request / door open request buttons that are never used.

STATIONS

The system currently includes 28 high-platform stations, all of them accessible for disabled. The 8th & Pine station and the Convention Center station in the downtown area are located in subway. The Busch Stadium station is outside the west mouth of the tunnel. The Laclede's Landing station is outside the east mouth, inside the arches formed by the Eads Bridge complex over the Mississippi River. There are three elevated stations: the East Riverfront station and both airport stations. Large park-and-ride facilities are built at most suburban Illinois stations. Almost all stations have security personnel from private security firm, or MetroLink security staff, or police officers on duty at all times. The 5th and Missouri station in the worse neighborhood in East St. Louis featured as many as 5 guards.

DEPOT

The main depot is west of downtown St. Louis. A secondary maintenance facility is halfway down the eastern branch in Illinois.

FUTURE DEVELOPMENT

Second line, the "Cross-County Extension", has been under construction since spring 2003. This 8-mile, 9-station line will connect Washington University, downtown Clayton, and Shrewsbury to the system. The original proposal included a street-running section into downtown Clayton, a suburban town and St. Louis County seat, with the courthouse, county administrative offices, and the business district. This idea, however, was buried and the plan now includes the use of a bus shuttle. The project is expected to be completed by fall 2006. Further extensions are under study, but no alignments have yet been chosen, engineered or funded.

The line currently ending at Scott Air Force Base is expected to be extended 5.3 mile eastward to Mid-America Airport (a vacant civilian airport sharing runways with Scott AFB), but the project remains unfunded.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Photography is explicitly ignored by MetroLink staff, which could probably pass for 'welcomed'. It is unambiguously ignored by security personnel even when shooting in subway stations, or on the bridge structure, or when pointing camera deep into tunnels, which hints an existence of some special system-wide policy regarding photographers. This generates a long-forgotten comfy feeling, allowing for worry-free railfanning.

Usage of material found herein is permitted provided the source is mentioned. Usage for public display is possible with authors' permission only.

Last update 10-Dec-2005