Light Rail Shop Tour
Thurday's events were kicked off with a Light Rail Shop tour and a ride on the
recently opened light rail system. We began with a shop tour of the light rail
maintenance facilities in Minneapolis. The maintenance facility is located on
the former Milwaukee Road coach shops.
The light rail system, called the Hiawatha Line, is 12 miles in length and
connects three areas: downtown Minneapolis, the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport
and the Mall of America in Bloomington. The line is not yet open to the later
two destinations, however, it is expected that the entire system will be
complete by the end of the year. Service began less than a week prior to the
convention and already ridership is significantly higher than projected.
The Line utilized 24 vehicles manufactured by Bombardier. Each car is 94-feet
in length, can hold 66 seated passengers, has standing room for 120 people and
has four doorways. Luggage racks and bicycle hangers are provided in each car.
Service is provided on weekdays evern 7-1/2 minutes during rush hour and
between 10 and 30 minutes during other time periods. Total cost of the new line
was $715 million and construction took several years.
After touring the shop complex (see photo below) participants where permitted to ride
the line. For some, the highlight of the trip was the
vintage bus that provided transportation to and from the light rail shops. The vintage buses are part of the MTM collection and were used to shuttle people from the convention hotel to various events throughout the week.
Report by Jeffrey Smith
