Past Time For METRO To Build Rail To Hobby and IAH

When I travel to many east coast cities, the ATL, Chicago and even Dallas, one of the things all those cities have in common is a rail component of their local public transit systems that connects to the airport. 

Washington DC has alway had rail connected to Washington National Airport (I refuse to call it Reagan National), and you can catch a train from BWI to either DC or Baltimore.   You also have the option of taking a WMATA bus to DC to the terminus of the Green Line.

The state of Virginia right now is busy expanding the Silver Line subway from its current western terminus at the Wiehle-Reston East station to Dulles airport and beyond it.

When I was in Denver for #CC15, while the construction for the RTA A Line rail system expansion to DIA was completed, it hadn't been opened yet because it was still undergoing the mandatory testing necessary before it could open for passenger service.

Los Angeles has been exponentially expanding their rail system as part of their preparations for the 2028 Olympic Games with a combination of subway and light rail projects scheduled to be completed as early as 2024.  One of those rail projects is to connect to the under construction Crenshaw/LAX Line to LAX scheduled to open next year and the already in operation Green Line via an automated people mover.

I happily discovered when I attended #NN16 in St Louis that it has rail service from the airport to downtown.  That line crosses the Mississippi River to East St Louis, IL

While as a proud Houstonian I hate to admit that Dallas is better than Houston in anything, one area I must give Dallas props for is their over 100 miles of DART light rail that covers much of the city.

The DART Orange Line terminates at DFW's Terminal A, and is part of the largest light rail system in Texas.  The DART system also includes commuter rail lines to Denton and Ft Worth 

DART is now currently planning a subway through downtown Dallas to eliminate the system bottleneck that has all four lines converging and traveling through downtown on dual tracks along Pacific Avenue.   It's also planning the suburban Cotton Belt line which would connect Richardson, north Dallas and Addison to DFW Airport and the other existing light rail lines.  There's also the TexRail project under construction that will connect Fort Worth to DFW's Terminal B, the existing TRE commuter line and the DART Cotton Belt Line. 

But back to focusing on my end of I-45.  So why doesn't my hometown have rail to Hobby and Intercontinental airports despite METRO being founded in 1978 with the goal of city wide rail service in mind?

It's a combination of factors.   Rep John Culberson (R) and before him former Rep. Tom DeLay (R), along with the Harris County Republican Party, were militant rail opponents.  The bad case of NIMBY syndrome that the Afton Oaks neighborhood along Richmond Avenue has just east of the Galleria /Uptown Houston area has had the effect of messing with multiple METRO attempts to logically route rail along Richmond Avenue to the Galleria through that area.

You also have all the naysaying anti-rail peeps who think building or widening freeways is cheaper than rail, nobody will ride it, and building roads is the only option capable of solving our Houston area regional transit issues.

But back to Culberson.   At the behest of his Afton Oaks constituents and his party, he has repeatedly messed with METRO's plan to build the needed and necessary east west University (Blue) Line to connect the rest of the current system centered on downtown, the Texas Medical Center and the north east southeast sides of the city to the Galleria area and the Gold Line by messing with the federal funding. 

Federal funding that the DFW area said 'thank you very much Houston' for allowing us to get it to build our rail system. 

The Galleria area Gold Line that was approved by the 2003 rail referendum passed in large part by Black and Latinx voters is now being built as our first bus rapid transit (BRT) lane that can be easily converted to light rail in the future. 

The BRT lane currently being built along South Post Oak Blvd and the West Loop to its northern terminus at the Northwest Transit Center could be eventually extended to the future Houston terminus of the Texas Central Railway bullet train between Dallas and Houston scheduled to start construction next year. 

Their collective opposition to rail is so entrenched that Culberson is even bragging about in his campaign materials.  That Republican opposition to METRO getting its fair share of federal money to build rail here is a major reason why the Dallas Fort Worth area has quickly amassed over 100 miles of it and is building more while we spin our wheels dealing with nuisance litigation from anti-rail opponents. 

And yes, when the Katy Freeway was widened to a mind numbing 23 lanes at a cost of $2.8 billion, the MKT railroad corridor that ran parallel to it all the way to the western suburb of Katy was paved over.

That corridor could have been used for commuter or light rail.  Same with the corridor along Westpark Road in which freight rail tracks were ripped up for a toll road.

And as you probably guessed, travel times on the Katy Freeway have gotten worse, not better since it was expanded.   Since METRO paid for some of that project, one silver lining of it is the overpasses were built to handle the weight of rail cars if we finally go in that direction we should have and stick rail tracks in the middle of the freeway.

One of the major reasons that Houston was eliminated from the competition to get Amazon's second headquarters was lack of public rail transit to both major airports.   Chicago, which we will pass soon to become the third largest city in the US, has had rail connections to both major airports for decades.

Looks like METRO is finally getting ready to address that issue, and it's about time.

METRO is seeking to at least get Hobby connected to the METROrail system.   The current terminus of the Purple Line at the Palm Center Transit Center station is only three miles from Hobby airport.  The Green Line's eastern terminus at the Magnolia Park Transit Center station in the East End is roughly the same distance from Hobby.

The distance from IAH to the current northern terminus of the Red Line at the Northline/HCC station is 11.5 miles, about the length of track that was built to expand the Red Line from the UH Downtown station to that point.

How they route the Purple and Green Lines to get to Hobby and the Red Line to IAH from their current termination points, and how much is it going to cost is the question right now. 

While I'd like both projects to happen ASAFP, how fast that does occur depends on the upcoming 2018 midterm election in which Lizzie Fletcher is taking on Culberson.

In the wake of the failure to get Amazon's second HQ to locate here, and if Houston ever wants to see its Olympic hosting dreams come true, the incentive is there for Houston to handle its rail public transportation business.

And it needs to happen as quickly as possible.

METRORail Green and Purple Lines Opening Delayed Until 2015

One of the presents we Houston light rail enthusiasts were hoping to get this Christmas was the opening of the METRORail Green and Purple lines this month like METRO did for the Red Line extension last year.

The opening of the lines had already been delayed earlier this year to October.  Because of problems with the Siemens axle counters that help METRO keep track of the rail cars and construction damage to a chilled water pipe under the Purple Line downtown, it pushed the opening of the new lines back to April 2015.

The opening of those lines when it finally happens will add another 10 miles of track to the already operational METRORail Red Line.

Far from 'nobody riding it' as rail critics deriding it as 'the toy train' loudly sneer,  the METRORail is four years ahead of ridership projections with over 100 million boardings on just one 12.8 mile rail line.   It is the second heaviest traveled rail system in the southern US.

One of the things delaying the opening is the new 1000 room Marriott Marquis Convention Hotel being constructed near the shared tracks of the Green and Purple Lines by Minute Maid Park.   A chilled water pipe under that line was accidentally damaged by construction workers. 

The repairs to it required tearing up the roadway, the section of light rail track above the damaged chilled water line it along with the fiber optics and communications, and then rebuilding and testing it to ensure it works properly.  That process took twelve weeks, making it next to impossible for METRO to open the lines this year.

While we're waiting for service to start on the Green and Purple Lines, there has been progress made in getting the CAF rolling stock that will be transiting the new lines when they finally do open for revenue service.   

Out of the 39 cars contracted for by METRO, 12 have been delivered.  Car 301, the lead one in the CAF ordered rail vehicles has successfully completed its 'burn-through' testing..

Construction has also been completed on the Central Transit Station which although it isn't as show stopping as the one the design contest winners came up with, will be ready when the Green and Purple lines finally open for service.

DART Orange Line To DFW Opens

As you TransGriot readers know, I'm an unabashed mass transit supporter, especially when that transit system in question contains a rail component.

Normally as a proud Houstonian, I'm usually hating on anything Dallas related with a passion, but for once you're going to see me write something that praises Dallas. 

And naw, hell ain't freezing over and we aren't experiencing blizzard conditions in H-town right now . 
While former congresscritter Tom Delay, Rep. John Culberson (R-TX), and the Harris County Republican Party have been fighting METRO tooth and nail to keep them from getting the federal funding to build light rail here in Houston,  DART has been gleefully taking the federal money METRO hasn't been able to and began getting busy assembling the largest light-rail network in the United States with 90 miles (137 km) of track, a commuter rail line that terminates in Denton, TX with another rail line to Ft Worth .

As a matter of fact, to build the initial 7.5 mile segment of the METRORail Red Line that opened ten years ago, METRO had to use its own money to do so


I finally got a chance to ride the DART Orange and Red Line trains during the recent Black Trans Advocacy Conference back in late April and May.   The Doubletree Campbell Center hotel that hosts BTAC is near the Lovers Lane station on the northern end of the Orange and Red Lines.  

When I get off the Megabus from H-town at the DART East Olive Street transit center downtown, I'm a short two block walk from the St. Paul and Pearl Arts Stations.   Those stations are on that Bryan Avenue-Pacific St corridor in which all four DART light rail lines currently converge in their run through downtown Dallas.

Even better, the St Paul station has a 7-Eleven nearby so I can get my Slurpee fix before I shell out the $2.50 for my northbound DART train ticket to Lovers Lane.        

I was well aware of DART's Orange Line being extended toward DFW Airport through Irving.  Construction had started on the DFW Airport station that was scheduled to open in November.  

In my conversations with this year's BTAC attendees, they lamented the fact it wasn't open, and were hopeful that when they returned to Dallas for the 2015 edition of the conference, the DART light rail line would be open for revenue service from DFW.    

Well peeps, you got your wish.  The extension and the DFW Airport Station in Terminal A was finally completed four months early and under budget.   It opened for revenue service on August 18.  

That's great news for all the peeps who travel to Dallas to attend conferences.  It also makes me hopeful that with our own METRORail Purple Line being just 5.5 miles from its current Palm Center termination point to Hobby Airport, funding can be found (hint hint) to extend it and connect at least one of our airports to the rail system like Dallas has done for DFW. 

But nice to know that the next time I fly into DFW, I can take the train into downtown and anywhere else along the DART Rail network .

Aww, METRORail Purple Line Opening Delayed Until December

I live about five blocks from where the METRORail Purple Line will terminate, and I have had a ringside seat for its construction, soon to be completion and anxiously anticipated by moi opening.

That was supposed to happen in October for the new Purple and Green Lines, but according to  Swamplot, that's not going to happen until December for several reason not including the delay in getting the needed 39 railcars from CAF USA to start the new service.

Houston Rapid Transit, the contractor building the two new rail lines, won't be ready to turn the rail lines over to METRO until September 30.  It will then take METRO sixty days to prepare the rail lines for revenue service. 

In addition, the live wire testing is happening on both lines along with the initial construction of the second downtown 1000 room convention center area  hotel scheduled to open in 2016. 


The Altic and Cesar Chavez stations on the far end of the Green Line won't be accessible until the rail only overpass crossing the Union Pacific freight railroad tracks is completed.  

It was going to be a rial and traffic underpass, but chemical contamination combined with liability concerns caused METRO despite the desires of the community to go with the overpass option.

Well, we've waited this long for the new Purple and Green Lines, what's another few weeks?  

Now if we can get the federal funding we need to get the east-west Blue Line started to connect the rest of our rail system with the planned Bus Rapid Transit Gold Line in the Galleria area.

Construction Starting On METRORail Central Station

And unfortunately it won't look like this Snohetta design.  It'll be just another standardized cookie cutter generic design of the current METRORail stations with art work added. 

Central Station's design was supposed to be selected from a competition in which five finalists  presented futuristic designs that they hoped would become the signature station of the METRORail system.  

But delays, cost overruns, the winner not being selected until September 2013 and fears that Central Station wouldn't be completed in time for the third quarter 2014 opening of the Green and Purple Lines to revenue service led METRO to scrap it last November and replace it with the generic stations platform 

The Red Line is shut down this weekend from the Downtown Transit Center to the Northline TC to begin construction of the Central Station platforms.  

But it would have been nice to see the signature Snohetta design going up.  

White Suburban Houstonians-If You Want Rail...

Tell your GOP legislators representing you to stop messing with METRO's ability to get federal dollars so we can build it faster.

As y'all know I am an enthusiastic proponent of public transit, especially when it comes to adding rail to the mix. 

One of the reasons our local transit agency METRO was founded in 1978 was to take over the HouTran bus system which was plagued with frequent service problems and an elderly bus fleet ina rapidly growing city.   Part of the sizzle that sold the initial creation of METRO and the 1 cent tax many of us in the area pay to fund it was the promise of a heavy rail subway system that was supposed to have become operational in the 1990's.  

But fighting the creation of that METRO rail component has been a staple of local conservafool politics since the 1980's.   A coalition comprised of the Harris County Republican Party, right wing Houston Republican councilmembers like Rob Todd in concert with Rep Tom DeLay and Rep. John Culberson along with the useful fools with NIMBY syndrome have fought every METRO plan to that sough to add a rail component to our large bus oriented system citing cots or other specious reasons as our city continued to grow along with the traffic problems on our expansive freeway system. 

DeLay as part of those efforts to block rail got $65 million in federal funding stripped from the project.  But other leaders and visionaries who had Houston's long term future in mind also noted that a city as expansive as ours could no longer have a transit system exclusively reliant on buses, needed a rail component and fought just as fiercely to make it happen.  
They got around the federal funding roadblock that DeLay placed in its way by coming up with a locally funded plan to build a 7.5 mile long light rail line from Reliant Stadium to downtown Houston terminating at UH Downtown.

That plan was fought in the courts with rail proponents prevailing, and on March 13, 2001 ground was broken on the METRORail Red Line that opened to service January 1, 2004. 

A subsequent narrowly approved 2003 referendum authorized the expansion of METRORail with non-white communities providing the critical votes to get that victory.  Construction subsequently started on the North Line (Red Line extension), East End (Green) and Southeast (Purple) lines while planning on the University (Blue) and Uptown (Gold) continues.

While the sorely needed east-west oriented Blue Line has gotten the final FTA approval it needs before construction can begin, it's the lack of federal money that's the problem. 

The start of construction on the Blue and Gold Lines has been on hold pending additional federal funding, but a BRT (bus rapid transit) proposal to get the Gold Line through the Galleria corridor started has been gaining ground.  One of the appealing parts of the plan is that it could be completed as early as 2017 with the ability to convert it to light rail later if needed.

Where the grousing has been coming from is the outside I-610 Loopers whining about the fact the initial rail lines have not only been built inside the Loop, but have been extended to predominately Black and Latino neighborhoods.

Well, let's be real about that.  Black and Latino voters were the major reasons the 2003 rail expansion referendum passed, and it's logical and only fair that the first expanded lines went to serve those neighborhoods who actually use public transportation.

Since the goal is to eventually connect the light rail system to Hobby and Intercontinental airports via the Red and Purple lines, the ideal routes to get there pass through those same predominately Black and Latino neighborhoods chock full of people who have no qualms taking public transpeople and who will use the light-rail system once it is built because it's faster than taking the bus.

The Purple Line passes by the University of Houston on its way to its current southern terminus at the Palm Center Transit Center which is 5.5 miles from Hobby. (and a few tantalizing blocks from where I currently live)   The Green Line on its 3.3. mile journey passes BBVA Compass Stadium.  Once the lines merge at the stadium they share track together into downtown past the George R. Brown Convention Center, Discovery Green, Minute Maid Park and terminate just past the Wortham and Hobby Centers.

The Outside the Loopers not only want light rail routes to their areas, but also want commuter rail.  I agree with them. 

I'd like that too as an Inside the Looper   I'd love to have another way to get to Galveston besides driving down I-45 south or a Greyhound bus ride.  A commuter rail route would be just the ticket to do so, especially if it made a stop in the Clear Lake area so you could access NASA, Space Center Houston and the Kemah Boardwalk.  Since Galveston now has cruise ships departing from it, would be nice to have a way to get down there for those cruises and leave your car parked in your driveway   

Frankly we could also use commuter rail from Katy eastbound to connect with the future Gold Line and in that 290 Cypress-Jersey Village corridor to that point as well.   A commuter rail line would also be helpful coming from the Woodlands and Kingwood south, from Baytown going west and the Pearland-Manvel area going north.   There is a commuter rail line being discussed and studied that would run from Missouri City-Sugar Land to connect with the METRORail Red Line Fannin South terminus. 

But here the rub to making that all happen.  Money is the first issue.  The other is many of those areas I mentioned are represented by Republicans, a party that as I have noted is anti-public transportation, anti-progress and anti-rail.   
        
The bottom line is that we cannot keep building freeways in the Houston metro area forever. We are now working on a third freeway loop around the city of Houston primarily connecting the exurbs called the Grand Parkway, and building freeways is more expense than the initial costs for installing a rail system the anti-rail folks like to harp on..

White suburban Houstonians, the onus is on you if you want much needed rail in your Outside the Loop and exurban locales.  You have to help us Inside the Loopers fight for it, too. You need to tell your GOP legislators to back up off of METRO and let the federal money flow toward building an extensive rail network across this area.   And if they aren't willing to do that, then you replace them with legislators who will fight for rail in this area as part of a smart and comprehensive transit plan for our Houston metro area..      

METRORail Test Train Phase Beginning On East End Line

METRO just opened the North Line extension to daily revenue service last weekend, and now comes word that the testing phase on the East End/Green Line from the EaDo/Stadium station serving BBVA Compass Stadium to the Altic/Howard Hughes station will begin in early January.

As was done on the North Line earlier this year, the initial phase will be with an unpowered rail car being pushed or towed along the tracks at no faster than five miles per hour and escorted by METRO police.

Just as was the case when the unpowered train testing was done on the North Line, the tests are to ensure there are no bends or bumps in the Green Line tracks.   The workers will be checking train clearance, ensuring signals are working properly and if that isn't the case, the train is stopped and the location of the problem logged so that it can expeditiously be corrected.

Once those unpowered tests are done, then it will move to electrical wiring tests and running powered test trains on the tracks to get METRORail train operators familiar with this new section of rail before it opens for service to the East End as they complete the 9 stations and the decorative touches around them.

At the moment the Green Line opens for revenue service, METRORail will truly become a light rail system and not just one 12.8 mile long line from the south side Fannin South Station to the Northline TC/HCC one via the Med Center and downtown.

And yeah, it goes without saying,  I can't wait for the Purple Line near me to open as well.

TransGriot Update: The start of the testing phase on the East End/Green Line got delayed until January 24

METRO's Early Christmas Present To H-Town Opening December 21

Since late October, METRO has been doing final testing runs on the METRORail North Line extension in preparation for opening the 5.3 mile line to revenue service.

In making sure everything is working properly like the signals and the boarding platform security cameras as one young tagger found out to his dismay recently, the trains have been simulating passenger runs, stopping, opening and closing doors at the various stations between UH Downtown and the soon to be new termination point of the Red Line at the Northline Transit Center/HCC Station.

To remind everyone in H-town that revenue service is starting on the new light rail line soon, a train was wrapped in a holiday motif to remind everyone that the opening date for revenue passenger service on the North/Red line will be December 21.

There are plans to have a dedication ceremony and concert in Moody Park from 11-5 PM on that date with area vendors and food trucks.   Best of all, rides on METRORail are free that day.

Hmm, probably need to take advantage of it on that date so I can get a feel for where the stations are in relation to each other, get the general lay of the land and what's in the area at each one.

And as a rail transit lover, just want to ride it from one end of the line to the other just so I can say I did it.

METRORail One Step Closer To Red Line Extension Opening

In my last transit post about the status of the METRORail Red Line's North Line Extension, it was ahead of schedule construction wise and the initial unpowered train clearance tests were being run on the completed 5.3 mile extension section of the original 7.5 mile light rail line along Main Street that opened for business in 2004.

Another series of unpowered train clearance test runs were conducted August 26-29 in addition to electrical power line testing and checking the overhead catenary power wires on both sets of tracks be fore the powered rail car testing took place last month.

The station art is being installed on the eight new stations on the North Line extension along with the landscaping along that route.  


While that was going on, the badly needed 19 additional Siemens rail cars METRO purchased from Utah arrived in December 2012 and have been added to beefed up regular service with the original 18 Siemens cars on the Main Street Line.  METRO also took bids in February 2011 on an additional 39 cars with options to buy more. 

Since light rail service started in January 2004, METRORail to the disgust of the knuckle dragging mass transit naysayers has passed the 100 million boardings mark four years earlier than projections.

Since METRO apparently has had no issues with either the unpowered or powered train test runs and electrical testing, it seems that all systems are go for a December revenue service launch on the North Line extension.  The Green and Purple Lines construction, especially around the University of Houston has ramped up along with construction of the stations along it. 

The Green and Purple Lines, which run from downtown near the Theater District to the East End and Southeast are projected to enter service sometime in the second quarter of 2014.

I noted yesterday when I took the train from the Downtown Transit Center station to the Wheeler Station the new Red Line signs had been installed showing the North Line extension, its eight stations, and the soon to be constructed Central Station where the Downtown Purple and Green Lines cross the Red Line on Capitol and Rusk Streets between the Main Street Square and Preston Stations and will act as the transfer point between the rail lines .

Central Station's design will be selected from a competition in which 70 internationally renowned architectural firms were pared down to five finalists who hoped after their presentations their futuristic designs would become the signature station of the METRORail system.   .  

Still haven't found out as of yet which of the five designs won the competition, but this is the one I like from SHoP Architects of New York.   Then again, I'm not on the board making the final decision for it either. 


Can't wait for all the new lines to open.  With the North Line being the first of the three, it'll give me an excuse to go check out Northline Mall. .
  

METRORail North Line Test Train Run Begins

Getting another step closer to service starting on the METRORail Red Line North extension later this year.

Construction on this 5.3 mile extension to the existing Red Line line is ahead of schedule, more than 80% complete.and the stations are well underway despite the local congressional conservafools attempts to frack with its funding.  

Since the line isn't powered up yet, METRORail towed a test car at 3-5 mph along the track from the Northline Transit Center station to the UH Downtown one escorted by METRO police.  They were to test train clearance, making sure there are no bends or bumps on the tracks and if they ran into that situation, the train was stopped so the location of the problem could be recorded and photographed.

Crews were on board the train monitoring its progress to ensure the operational train functions (tracks, poles, underground and overhead wiring) are in order before electrical testing and operational train speed tests begin this summer.

If it passes all those tests, H-town will get an early Christmas present and see the North Line open for service in December.   Now if they could get cracking on the Southeast and East End lines and expeditiously finish those up, I'll be a happy transit camper.

METRORail Passes 100 Million Boardings Mark

I went downtown Tuesday to run some errands that required me to ride the METRORail to do so.  I was pleased to find out that my rail trip was free.

I missed the April 9 ceremony they had at METRO headquarters right next to the Red Line where it crosses under the Pierce Elevated (I-45) to celebrate achieving the 100 million METRORail boardings milestone 4 years ahead of schedule.

All trips on the METRORail were gratis for the entire day until midnight in celebration of achieving the milestone.

METRORail only has at the moment (no thanks to Tom DeLay and the Republicans obstructing the federal funding) the starter 7.5 mile long Red Line that opened for service in January 2004 just before the Super Bowl.   It runs from UH Downtown (where I'll be part of a panel discussion on the 17th) to the Fannin South Transit Center just past Reliant Park (the Dome, Reliant Arena and Reliant Stadium complex).  That line also passes Rice University, Hermann Park, the Texas Medical Center and through the Museum District as well.

METRORail accomplished the feat with 18 Siemens S70 rail cars (and no backup cars) that have traveled more than four million miles in their nine years of operation.  METRORail is now starting to take delivery through 2013 and work into service 19 additional Siemens S70 H2 rail cars in preparation for the opening of two new lines and the 5.3 mile Red Line extension to the Northline Transit Center.  

The two new lines under construction in addition to the Red Line extension are the 3.3 mile Green Line that starts in the Theater District and terminates at the Magnolia Park Station in the East End.  

The 6.1 mile long Purple Line terminates a mere six blocks from my house and passes the University of Houston, Minute Maid Park, Discovery Green, and joins with the Green Line at BBVA Compass Stadium to terminate on the west side of downtown in the Theater District.  

Been keeping close tabs on the construction of these new METRORail lines that supposed to be operational in 2014.  There are two additional lines, the Blue and Gold in the planning stages.  The Blue Line will be a much needed east-west one that will run from the Hillcroft Transit Center to the Eastwood Transit Center just past the University of Houston.  The Gold Line will run north-south from Bellaire through the Galleria area to the Northwest Transit Center 

We'll see if that promised 2014 start date happens, but the 100 million boardings in just 9 years of operation is a sign that Houstonians have no problem riding the rails if the trains quickly and safely take you where you need to go.