Red Line (Cleveland)

The Red Line (Route 66X) is a rapid transit line of the RTA Rapid Transit in Cleveland, Ohio, running from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport northeast to Tower City in downtown Cleveland, then east and northeast to Windermere. 2.6 miles (4.2 km) of track, including two stations (East 34th-Campus and East 55th), are shared with the light rail Blue and Green Lines; the stations have high platforms for the Red Line and low platforms for the Blue and Green Lines. The whole Red Line is built next to current or former freight or intercity passenger railroads. It uses overhead lines and pantographs to draw power.

1 History
2 Station stops
3 Schedule
4 Fare collection
5 Rolling stock
6 Movie references
7 External links
8 References

[edit] History

The corridor along which the Red Line runs had been planned for use since before 1930, when the Cleveland Union Terminal opened. The first short section, between East 34th and East 55th Streets, was in use by the Cleveland Interurban Railroad in 1920, and in 1930 the line between East 34th and the Union Terminal was completed. It was not until March 15, 1955 that the eastern half of the Red Line opened, from the existing line near East 55th northeast next to the New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (Nickel Plate Road) to Windermere. The line from downtown southwest to West 117th Street opened August 15; this line ran next to the Nickel Plate to the crossing of the New York Central Railroad near West 101st Street, and then next to the New York Central. On November 15, 1958 an extension to West Park opened, and the final section, continuing to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, opened in 1968, the first airport rail link in North America.

[edit] Station stops

The Red Line makes the following station stops from west to east (stations are listed along with indications of their accessibility, availability of free parking, travel time to Tower City, and opening date for Red Line service):

Station Name	Time	Opened	Rebuilt
Airport	26 min	November 15, 1968	May 1994
Brookpark	22 min	April 20, 1969	Planned
Puritas	19 min	November 15, 1968	—
West Park	17 min	November 15, 1958	May 1996
Triskett	15 min	November 15, 1958	November 15, 2000
West 117th–Madison	13 min	August 14, 1955	October 16, 2007
West Blvd.–Cudell	10 min	August 14, 1955	April 1999
West 65th–Lorain	07 min	August 14, 1955	September 21, 2004
West 25th–Ohio City	04 min	August 14, 1955	September 1992
Tower City	00 min	March 15, 1955	December 17, 1990
East 34th–Campus	04 min	March 1, 1971	August 18, 2003
East 55th	06 min	March 15, 1955
East 79th	09 min	March 15, 1955	—
East 105th–Quincy	12 min	March 15, 1955	November 4, 2005
University Circle	14 min	March 15, 1955
Euclid–East 120th	16 min	March 15, 1955	—
Superior	18 min	March 15, 1955	September 1996
Stokes/Windermere	20 min	March 15, 1955	June 22, 1997

[edit] Schedule

The Red Line runs from approximately 4:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. daily. Trains run about every 15 minutes during most times, with extra service provided between Brookpark and Tower City during rush hours.^[1] (Service to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport is provided by # 22 buses between 1:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m.)

[edit] Fare collection

See also: RTA Fares

Effective January 7, 2008, the one-way cash fare on the RTA Rapid Transit is $1.75. A five-trip fare card can be purchased for $8.75. An All-Day pass, allowing unlimited riding on the rapid transit as well as on RTA buses is $4.00 ($1.75 for children). Weekly and monthly passes are also available, and there are discounted fares for seniors and disabled.

Only major stations have a secure turnstile system. In most stations, either in a station house or on the platform is a station agent booth. In this booth is a bus-like farebox in which passengers pay their fares. While in most cases the passenger flow is light enough to have a secure system, in a few cases with a busy station, some passengers may choose to bypass the step. In that case, the system doesn't have a proof of payment system, in which random checks are performed to make sure everyone paid their fares.

RTA plans to change to a proof-of-payment system by the summer of 2008. RTA has contracted to purchase new ticket vending machines that will be provided at all stations.^[2]

[edit] Rolling stock

A Red Line train at West 117th-Madison station.

The Red Line uses a fleet of 60 stainless-steel subway-type cars manufactured by Tokyu Car Corporation and delivered to RTA between 1984 and September 1985.^[3] The cars have three sets of doors on each side, one in the center and one at each end adjacent to the operator cab. Use of the end doors facilitates fare collection on board the train during off hours and at little-used stations. The cars' exteriors originally had orange and red stripes along the sides, but these stripes were removed when RTA changed to a red, white and blue color scheme. Twenty of the cars are operable in single units, and they are numbered as 181-200. The other 40 cars are operable in pairs, and they are numbered as 301-340.

As of January 2008, the current fleet of Red Line cars is undergoing a in-house rehabilitation under the direction of former director of rail Michael Couse. The fleet will be pared down from 60 to 40 cars, with the remaining 20 being scrapped.^{[citation needed]} The cars will be overhauled over the course of 3-5 years using federal grant money. Cars will receive new pantographs and controllers, along with rebuilt trucks, traction motors, resistor banks, and air conditioning systems. Fewer than 30 of the 60 cars are in running condition.^{[citation needed]}

The current cars represent the third generation of cars that have been used on the line. The line opened using a fleet of shorter cars manufactured by the St. Louis Car Company in 1954 and 1955. The cars were 48½ feet (14.8 m) long with blue and gray exteriors and are often referred to as "Blue Birds." They were virtually identical to the cars built by St. Louis Car at the same time for MBTA's Blue Line. Twelve cars were operable as single units with cabs at each end, and 56 cars operable as pairs. The single units were numbered as 101–112, and the paired units as 201–256. Additional cars in this fleet were purchased in 1958 when the line was extended to West Park. These comprised six additional single unit cars (numbers 113–118) and 14 additional double unit cars (numbers 257–270).

When the extension to Hopkins Airport was being built in 1967, a fleet of 20 longer cars was purchased to supplement and replace the Blue Birds. These second generation cars, numbered as 151–170, were 72 feet (22 m) long and were built by Pullman-Standard Car Manufacturing Company. The cars, which had a stainless steel exterior with red and white trim and featured interior luggage racks, were promoted as "Airporters." The Airporters supplanted the Blue Birds, except during rush hour when extra cars were needed. In 1970 ten additional Airporters were purchased, numbered as 171–180. With the purchase of the Tokyu cars in 1985, all Airporters and Blue Birds were retired.

[edit] Movie references

The Red Line is prominently featured in the final scenes of the film Proximity, starring Rob Lowe and James Coburn. The finale involves a hostage on a Red Line train and a gunfight and chase scene through the Tower City station.

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Lines:	Red - Blue and Green

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MBTA (Blue, Orange, and Red Lines) · MTA (New York City Subway and Staten Island Railway) · PATH · SEPTA (Market–Frankford and Broad Street Lines) · PATCO Speedline · MTA Maryland (Metro Subway) · WMATA (Metrorail) · MARTA · Miami-Dade Transit (Miami Metrorail) · Tren Urbano · RTA Rapid Transit (Red Line) · CTA (Chicago 'L') · BART · LACMTA (Metro Purple and Metro Red Lines)