Red Line (St. Louis MetroLink)

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Red Line
Red Line train at Union Station
Overview
Status	Operational
Locale	Greater St. Louis, Missouri–Illinois, U.S.
Termini	Lambert Airport Terminal 1 (west) Shiloh–Scott (east)
Stations	29
Service
Type	Light rail
System	St. Louis MetroLink
Operator(s)	Metro
History
Opened	July 31, 1993 (1993-07-31)
Technical
Line length	38-mile (61 km)
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Electrification	750 V DC, overhead lines
Highest elevation	At-grade, elevated, and underground
Route diagram Legend Lambert Airport Terminal 1 Lambert Airport Terminal 2 I-70 North Hanley UMSL North UMSL South Rock Road Wellston Delmar Loop Blue Line to Shrewsbury-Lansdowne I-44 Forest Park–DeBaliviere Central West End Cortex I-64 / US 40 Grand Ewing Yard I-64 / US 40 Union Station Civic Center Stadium 8th & Pine Convention Center I-44 Laclede's Landing Eads Bridge over the Mississippi River MO IL East Riverfront 5th & Missouri I-64 Emerson Park Joyner-Kersee Center I-64 29th Street Yard Washington Park I-255 / US 50 Fairview Heights Memorial Hospital Swansea Belleville College Shiloh–Scott This diagram: view talk

The Red Line is the older and longer line of the MetroLink light rail service in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. It serves 28 stations in Greater St. Louis.

History[]

Transit planning along the Airport/Central Corridor began as early as 1971, when it was selected as the region's primary target for further study. In 1983, funding was approved to evaluate five mode alternatives, which culminated in a 1984 draft environmental impact statement. After a series of public hearings, the , a council composed of the region's local governments, adopted light rail as the preferred mode alternative.^[1]: 203

The project's capital expense budget was $287.7 million (equivalent to $554 million in 2020 dollars), which covered design and engineering, procurement, construction, and testing.^[1]: 201

Route[]

A train at Lambert Airport Terminal 1 station, then-named Lambert Airport Main

Union Station platform

The 38-mile (61 km) Red Line MetroLink alignment begins at Lambert St. Louis International Airport, making stops at the main and east terminal stations. It then proceeds through Kinloch before making a stop in North Hanley near Bel-Ridge. It makes 2 stops (UMSL North & South stations) at the University of Missouri St. Louis located in Normandy. After departing UMSL-North Station, the trains divert south onto the former Wabash/Norfolk & Western Railroad's Union Depot (U.D.) line that once brought passenger trains from Ferguson to Union Station. It further follows into 2 stops in Pagedale on St. Charles Rock Road and Wellston on Plymouth St., before crossing the St. Louis City/County boundary line at ; and making a stop at Delmar Boulevard, serving the popular Delmar Loop and located just below the original Wabash Railroad's Delmar Station building. The Red Line meets up with the Blue Line at the Forest Park-DeBaliviere station. From this station to the Fairview Heights station in Illinois, it creates the Shared Alignment track with the Blue Line. It terminates in Shiloh next to the Scott Air Force Base and close to the Mid-America Airport in Mascoutah.

Stations[]

From Lambert Airport to Shiloh-Scott (west to east)

Future extensions[]

Some of these extensions will make the Red Line one of the longest light rail lines in the United States.

St. Clair County Extension[]

St. Clair County Extension Phase 3 - Shiloh-Scott to MidAmerica Airport: the St. Clair County Extension Phase III will extend 5.3-mile (8.5 km) to MidAmerica Airport. Although design work for the extension has been completed, funding for construction hasn't been secured. It was originally part of the St. Clair County Extension Phase II project that extended to Shiloh-Scott, but was separated into its own project by the Federal Transit Administration due to projections of low ridership. If this extension had been built, it would have been 43.3-mile (69.7 km) on this route alone.

Madison County Corridors[]

Madison County Corridors - East St. Louis to Alton/Edwardsville: A study in 2005 was performed to investigate the potential costs, ridership, and impacts of extending Metrolink into Madison County, Illinois. According to the East-West Gateway Council of Governments, there are two recommended alignments for Madison County. Both of the alignments will start from the 5th & Missouri station out of East St Louis in St. Clair County to Granite City, Collinsville, Glen Carbon, Edwardsville, East Alton, Wood River, and Alton in Madison County, Illinois 21–23-mile (34–37 km) away. The alignments will junction off in Madison, Illinois into two alignments. In order to plan out the two alignments, Metro will have to collaborate with Madison County Transit.

St. Charles Corridor[]

St. Charles Corridor - Lambert Airport to St. Charles County: Possible plans to expand MetroLink 16–20-mile (26–32 km) from Lambert Airport northwestward to St. Charles County were abandoned after St. Charles County voters rejected a sales tax in 1996 to fund an extension; subsequently, all MetroBus service was ended. If the extension was funded, the route would have used the Old St. Charles Bridge (now demolished) as a crossing over the Missouri River to the City of St. Charles, St. Peters, and O'Fallon. In the near future, it may be considered a potential alignment to study.

See also[]

• List of St. Louis MetroLink stations
• Blue Line
• St. Clair County Transit District

References[]

External links[]

Route map:

• St. Clair County Transit District