| Airport – Terminal 1-Lindbergh | |||||||||||
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| Station statistics | |||||||||||
| Address | 6450 Glumack Drive | ||||||||||
| Lines | |||||||||||
| Connections | Route 54 | ||||||||||
| Platforms | Island platform | ||||||||||
| Other information | |||||||||||
| Opened | December 4, 2004 | ||||||||||
| Accessible | |||||||||||
| Owned by | Metro Transit | ||||||||||
| Fare zone | Airport zone: Free service to Airport – Terminal 2-Humphrey, standard fare to other stations. | ||||||||||
| Services | |||||||||||
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The Airport–Lindbergh Terminal light rail station is on the Hiawatha Line in the Twin Cities region of the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is the only underground station on the Hiawatha Line, and is located 70 feet (20 meters) below ground level under the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (MSP) Transit Center. The fourteenth stop southbound, it is a center-platform station and is typically accessed by escalator or elevator. Service began at the site when the second phase of the Hiawatha Line opened on December 4, 2004.
The Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport serves about 34 million passengers annually and is the third largest hub for Delta Air Lines. Because of this, the Lindbergh Terminal Station is one of the most important on the line. The Hiawatha line creates a direct connection between the airport, downtown Minneapolis and the Mall of America.
The location of this station directly below a major airport makes it unique. The tunnel and the station both had to be carefully designed to meet Federal Aviation Administration safety requirements. Passengers can access this station from the Transit Center, which is reached by either taking a people-mover (called a "tram" locally) from the ground-transportation level of the main terminal, or by exiting from the skyway security checkpoint.
This station was excavated after the two main tunnel tubes were constructed with a tunnel boring machine (though cut and cover was used near the ends of the tunnels). During the excavation of the tunnels, a buried river valley was encountered a few hundred feet south of the station. The walls of the station are painted to look like an outcrop of Saint Peter Sandstone through which the tunnels have been bored. A large installation on the ceiling of this station is meant to look like an aircraft wing.
Lindbergh Station is largely unheated, but maintains a temperature of roughly 50–60°F (10–15°C) throughout the year because of its underground location. Small spot heaters are not available at this location as they were never installed; the small press buttons do not actually operate anything.
Service between this station and the Humphrey Terminal is free to passengers and operates 24-hours a day. The Hiawatha Line is the main mechanism for travelers to transfer between terminals.
From Lindbergh Terminal station, there is a direct bus connection to route 54.