Moni Does The METRORail North Line Opening

I wasn't here in town when the METRORail starter Red Line rail line opened back in 2004, so I was determined to be part of the action that took place for the grand opening of the 5.3 mile North Line.

In addition to the free concert that was happening at Moody Park along with the snow area for the kids, rides were free all day on METRORail.  So my game plan was to catch the bus to the Downtown Transit Center station, then board the train from there. 

But one complication for this big civic party was our Saturday weather.  We had a fast moving front coming through the area that was due to hit town right around the time that much of the grand opening festivities were planned to happen.  It was also projected to because it was moving at 50 mph create high winds, possible severe weather and drop a lot of heavy rain.

So I did spend a few hours watching the Doppler radar sweeps online,  Once the heavy rain passed through the area and didn't produce the predicted high winds, I bounced from the house on my missions to travel the new section of the North Line and also ride it from end to end

I got downtown about noon and started my rail riding mission from the Downtown Transit Center stop which is in front of METRO headquarters on the Red Line.  When we arrived at the UH Downtown stop that used to be the terminus for it, noted that they had people gathering in the covered plaza area.  There was a podium, camera and a microphone set up there for what I later discovered was the ribbon cutting ceremony along with METRO.employees, city and county officials and guests with passes getting off the train and heading to that event. 

Then as the train pulled out of the UH Downtown station we were on the new 5.3 mile section of the North Line that dives under I-10, then enters an elevated platform to take it over railroad tracks toward the elevated Burnet Transit Center /Casa de Amigos Station.   There are plans to build an intermodal train and bus station at that location that on hold for now, but what I did notice was there was another wrapped train there parked on one of the side tracks on that platform.   

I eventually passed by Moody Park, where the free concert featuring Selena's brother (yeah, that Selena) AB Quintanilla and his band were the headline performers was cranking up and the crowd was gathering for all the fun and festivities there.  .   

I started to get off and walk around it for a few moments but I decided to stay on the train because I was having  nice chat at the time with a retired METRO employee who worked in the training department and the last few years he worked for METRO was as part of its rail operations.

We eventually ended up at its new terminus of the Northline TC/HCC Station.   Going to be interesting to see in the near future where and how they take this line up to IAH and I pondered that as I waited for the train operator to switch ends of the train and reverse direction for the trip from the north side of town to past Reliant Stadium and the southern terminus of the line at the Fannin South station.  

At this point a Latino family joined me who was doing the same thing I was.   We had interesting conversations during that 35 minute ride from there to Fannin South.  They noted along with their kids the line passed through downtown, the Museum District, Hermann Park/Houston Zoo, the Texas Medical Center and past Reliant Stadium and how much driving time, parking hassles and gas money it would save them to just take the train to those places. 

As we made it to Fannin South that trailing rainband I'd noted earlier in the morning finally made it to where I was located and a sudden blinding rainstorm dropped visibility to the point I couldn't even see Reliant Stadium.  By the time I started moving back north up the Red Line and hit the TMC Transit Center station it had cleared out as fast as it had moved in and ensured that when I got off the train I wouldn't need my umbrella.
 
I said goodbye to my traveling companions when I arrived at my Downtown Transit Center stop.  The new year for us in Houston will see even more expansion of our light rail from just one long 12.8 mile long line to a true system with multiple lines (the Green and Purple) in just a few months.  

And one of them, the Purple Line terminates just five blocks from my house.   Can't wait until it opens.

 

METRO Monthly Board Meeting To Finalize Rail Station Names

I've been keeping track of the developments on the METRORail light rail lines that are currently either under construction or are being studied for development like the University (Blue) and Uptown (Gold) Lines.

I noted that rail is being laid on the Southeast Line that will terminate a few blocks from my undisclosed location in beautiful southeast Houston with that Purple Line eventually slated in the future to be extended to and terminate at Hobby Airport. 

I also posted links to a survey in which people could vote on or suggest names for the stations on the three new light rail lines currently under construction and due to be completed in 2013. 

Also on the agenda is the purchase of 39 rail cars for METRORail among other items.

At the METRO monthly board meeting that is being conducted as you read this post, one of the items on the board agenda for today is finalizing the station names for the North (Red), Southeast (Purple), and East End (Green) lines.   

A METRO Committee sorted through all the suggestions and came up with this final list of names for the stations on the three lines that will be subject to board approval.

North Line: Burnett TC/Casa de Amigos, Quitman/Near Northside, Boundary, Moody Park, Cavalcade,  Lindale Park, Melbourne/North Lindale, Northline TC/HCC

Southeast Line:  EaDo/Dynamo, Discovery Green, Central Station Main, Central Station Capitol, Central Station Rusk, Theater District, Leeland, Elgin, Robertson Stadium/UH/TSU, UH South/University Oaks, MacGregor Park/MLK, Palm Center

East End Line: York/Coffee Plant, Lockwood, Altic/Howard Hughes, Cesar Chavez/67th Street, Magnolia Park TC

There's also an interesting one in which METRO would enter into an agreement with the Menil Foundation in exchange for right-of way needed for the University line, the Menil Foundation would design a rail station for it that would be incorporated and integrated into the design for their redeveloped campus.

The station would also be per the agreement with the Foundation be named the 'Menil Station'

Hmm, will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Finally Laying Rail On The METRORail Southeast Line

Been keeping close tabs on the construction of the new METRORail Southeast Line since it will terminate less than a few blocks from where I currently live.  I've also expressed my feelings concerning how happy I am to see a rail component in our transit system come to life in my hometown. 

When METRO was created in the late 70's a heavy rail subway system was part of the plans and on the drawing boards.    It has been a contentious political issue fought over ever since then and while I preferred the original heavy rail plan, I'm just happy my hometown has any rail component in its transit plans.  

While I was recently out and about I noticed the 80 foot sections of rail near the intersection of Martin Luther King Blvd and Old Spanish Trail stacked in a staging area across the street from MacGregor Park.  The same thing has been occurring at other spots along the Southeast Line corridor and I wondered if the construction had finally progressed to the point in the line building process to where they were ready to start laying some track.

Got the answer to the question I was pondering on July 5 when a press conference was held to announce that workers were beginning the process of welding those 80 foot sections of rail to create 480 foot strips.   Those strips would then be laid into a reinforced concrete roadbed that would eventually stretch across the entire length of the Southeast Line.   The press conference was also marking the moment that rail was actually being laid for one of the additional lines approved by voters in 2003.  

METRO recently received another $150 million from the feds to facilitate construction of the North and Southeast Lines, and this news combined with the announcement they are at track laying stage is welcomed.

It's about time the Southeast Line is now getting to the point that the residents and businesses along the line are starting to see the construction peeps lay track for a change instead of it looking like a straight road building and widening project.

Now if they can complete it before 2014, that would really make me and every business on the Southeast Line happy. 

I'm A METRORail Fan

One of the major changes here in town in the eight years I was a Texan In Exile was the building and opening of the METRORail Red :Line along Main Street and Fannin Streets from UH Downtown to the Reliant Stadium area  

I was very happy to find out that the Southeast rail line extension currently under construction would be terminating within blocks of where I currently live.

One of the things I have long lamented about my hometown is the lack of a rail component to our regional mass transit plan.  In my travels around this country I have been to cities such as New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Dallas and Los Angeles which have, are building or expanding their light or heavy rail systems.   It was easy, convenient, inexpensive and quick to get around town from the airport to wherever I needed to go without using an auto.

I have long felt that for Houston to take it to the next level of growth and economic prosperity, contrary to the 'build more freeways ' and 'bus system only' penny pinching mass transit hatin' mentality of Republicans, we needed commuter rail and some kind of light or heavy rail component.   

And speaking of trains, hope that the high speed bullet train system they are seriously talking about building between Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and New Orleans does become a reality.

We have pretty much maxed out our ability to expand the freeway system.   Trains are needed to cut down on the numbers of cars and commuters on the road and reduce smog and ozone pollution levels in this town that were rivaling LA levels when I left.

The Purple Line near me is scheduled for completion in 2013

My southeast Houston neighborhood where I live now could use the economic development boost and shot in the arm that the completion of the Red Line back in 2002 gave to neighborhoods along that Main Street-Fannin transit corridor.


So yes, I'm a fan of METRORail.   I'm looking forward to the day that all the lines in this phase are complete and I have more destinations I can ride the train to.   I'm hoping I'm still on the planet when those lines get extended to both airports and more of the malls and parks in the area.   I'd like to see that evolving rail system tie in to a network of commuter rail lines that will make the beaches of Galveston, NASA's Johnson Space Center, the Kemah Boardwalk and other areas and attractions in the Houston-Galveston metro area accessible by train.