METRORail

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This article is about the transit system in Houston, Texas. For other uses, see metrorail.

**METRORail**
Locale	Houston, Texas
Transit type	Light Rail
Began operation	January 1, 2004
System length	7.5 mi (12.07 km)
No. of lines	1
No. of stations	16
Operator	Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas

METRORail is the 7.5-mile light rail line located in Houston, Texas, United States. It is the second major light rail service in Texas following the Dallas Area Rapid Transit system. The arrival of METRORail comes approximately sixty years after the previous streetcar system was shut down, which left Houston as the largest city in the United States without a rail system (since 1990 when the Blue Line opened in Los Angeles). With an approximate daily ridership of 37,800, the METRORail system ranks as the eleventh most-traveled light rail system in the United States [1].

On February 27, 2007, METRORail reached a new milestone, registering 56,388 passenger boardings on METRORail in one day. Many of the passengers were attending opening night of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. This was the highest, single-day weekday total in METRORail's brief history, surpassing the previous single-day weekday total of 54,193 passenger boardings. Tuesday’s record was exceeded only by Super Bowl XXXVIII on February 1, 2004, when METRORail registered 61,005 passenger boardings.

METRORail is operated by the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas, or METRO for short. The current tracks, known as the "Redline" runs 7.5 miles (12 km) through Reliant Park, Texas Medical Center, Museum District, Midtown, and Downtown. The system's fleet consists of Siemens-built Avanto vehicles.

1 Future plans
- 1.1 University Line
- 1.2 Redline extension
2 Crash rate
3 Other controversies
4 Lines
- 4.1 Redline (2004)
- 4.2 University Line (2012)
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Future plans

METRORail along the Main Street Corridor in Downtown Houston, Texas.

METRORail along the Main Street Corridor.

A METRORail train approaching Preston Station in Downtown.

The cabin of a METRORail vehicle.

The METRORail line in Midtown and the Houston Community College System administration.

Additional rail will be laid as approved by a 52% yes to 48% no margin in the November 2003 election. Critics have alleged the existence of a conflict of interest in the planned expansion. Major contractors including Siemens AG, which constructs the train vehicles, contributed substantial amounts of money to the Political Action Committee promoting the expansion referendum. Supporters of an expanded rail system in Houston have leveled similar charges against opponents of the referendum, noting that suburban development interests largely bankrolled the PAC opposing the referendum.

The planned expansions are within the city of Houston and will eventually reach the two major Houston airports, George Bush Intercontinental Airport and William P. Hobby Airport. METRO is planning service to suburbs in Houston, as well as other parts of Houston. Alternatives Analysis and Draft Environmental Impact Analysis studies are currently underway on four extensions, but only one extension — the University Line — is planned to be opened by 2012.

Also, METRO is planning a commuter rail system in conjunction with the light rail system, pending feasibility of the plan. In addition, METRO wants to link up with a planned Commuter Rail line traveling from Fort Bend County to just south of Reliant Stadium, which would use an existing Union Pacific railroad, as well as an additional line branching out along the U.S. Highway 290 corridor to Cypress. In total, the plan currently would add 29 miles of fixed guideway transit (light rail and bus rapid transit) and 28 miles of commuter rail.

[edit] University Line

The University Line is an 8.3-mile light rail line that is a component of Phase 2 of the METRO Solutions referendum that voters approved in 2003. Even though the stations are still being determined, the line will extend from either the University of Houston or the Eastwood Transit Center to the Hillcroft Transit Center, passing through the Upper Kirby District and Greenway Plaza and follow the Richmond/Wheeler and Westpark corridors. Transfers from the University Line to the Redline will occur at the Wheeler Station. The line is tentatively scheduled to open in 2012.

[edit] Redline extension

Phase 2 of the METRO Solutions calls for a 0.5 mile northward extension from the University of Houston-Downtown station to a new planned intermodal facility, which will be located in the Burnett Street vicinity. The extension is tentatively scheduled to open in 2012.

[edit] Crash rate

The rail line has had a high crash rate when compared to other light-rail systems in the United States, averaging one incident every six days (the national average being four crashes per year), earning it the nickname of the Wham-Bam-Tram.^{[citation needed]} The first METRORail crash occurred on November 19, 2003 as the system was still under testing prior to opening.^{[citation needed]}

In September 2004, METRORail set a new record for the most accidents in a year, passing San Francisco Municipal Railway's 2001 record of 61 crashes over 73.3 route miles — nearly ten times the length of the Houston Redline.^[1]

As of April 15, 2006, there have been 129 crashes officially confirmed. One crash has resulted in a fatality; the fatal crash occurred on May 10, 2005 and involved a man in a car who ran through a red light and hit the train. The man who drove the car died.^{[citation needed]}

There are several possible reasons for the high accident rate, though one of the most prominent is the fact that the entire 7 ½ miles of track runs along city streets—the longest such stretch in the country^{[citation needed]}. In many cities, a significant amount of track is on dedicated right-of-way. The city has been known as an accident hotspot, with the highest number of traffic accidents per capita of large cities in the United States.^{[citation needed]}

METRO has consistently blamed driver error as the cause of the high collision rate and the transit agency's police department regularly tickets motorists who cross paths with the train. Some of the people involved in the crashes have stated that poor signage and signal layouts have contributed to the problem. METRO has rearranged some signals and altered some sign arrangements to try to make things clearer.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Other controversies

Since its inception, METRORail has been the source of several political controversies in Houston. During the 2003 expansion referendum, critics of the system, including Texans for True Mobility (TTM), questioned METRO's financial practices. METRO itself was criticized for spending public funds for "educational advertisements" about the proposed system, which were said to promote the referendum.^[2]

The main political action committee (PAC) supporting the bond was accused of having a conflict of interest due to the relationship between its main contributors and METRO. The PAC received over US$100,000 in contributions from contractor firms and equipment suppliers for METRORail who stood to gain financially from its expansion.^[2] This includes a US$50,000 donation from Siemens AG, a German engineering corporation, which has the contract to build METRORail's train cars.

The Houston Chronicle was also accused of a heavy bias in its coverage designed to promote METRORail. The newspaper became embroiled in controversy following the accidental posting of an internal memorandum on its website that urged the "specific objective" of making "rail a permanent part of the transit mix" in Houston through news, editorial, and op-ed columns.^[3] The memo included a "ground zero for November" proposal of attacking the finances of groups and individuals opposed to light rail, and specifically Rep. Tom DeLay and former Houston Mayor Bob Lanier.^[4]