| Charlotte Transportation Center/Arena LYNX light rail station |
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A southbound train prepares to depart |
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| Station statistics | ||||||||||||||||
| Address | 310 East Trade Street Charlotte, NC 28202 |
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| Lines | ||||||||||||||||
| Structure | At-grade | |||||||||||||||
| Platforms | 2 side platforms[1] | |||||||||||||||
| Tracks | 2[1] | |||||||||||||||
| Bicycle facilities | Racks available | |||||||||||||||
| Other information | ||||||||||||||||
| Opened | December 11, 1995 (bus only) | |||||||||||||||
| Rebuilt | 24 November 2007 (light rail addition) | |||||||||||||||
| Accessible | ||||||||||||||||
| Owned by | Charlotte Area Transit Systems | |||||||||||||||
| Services | ||||||||||||||||
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The Charlotte Transportation Center/Arena station or CTC/Arena station is a light rail station for both the LYNX Blue Line and the historic Charlotte Trolley in Uptown Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S.A.. The station officially opened for service on Saturday, November 24, 2007, and as part of its opening celebration fares were not collected.[2] Regular service with fare collection commenced on Monday, November 26, 2007.[2]
The station is located at East Trade Street between Brevard Street and College Street. It has side platforms, which sit on either side of the tracks. Additionally, the station has an entrance from the platform into the neighboring Charlotte Transportation Center.
The station is unique to the LYNX system in that the entire platform is covered by a roof made of synthetic materials and supported by curved steel.[3] The present design was originally scrapped due to high costs, but was later brought back and constructed after multiple Uptown businesses donated money to make up the difference in construction costs.[3]
As part of the CATS Art in Transit program, the CTC/Arena features several pieces intended to provide a better overall aesthetic for the station. The works include bas-reliefs entitled Gingko by Alice Adams, drinking fountain basins designed to look like dogwoods, the North Carolina state flower, by Nancy Blum, the Trade Street bridge supports entitled Bobbins pays hommage to Charlotte's textile industry was created by Andrew Leicester, Bobbins and track fencing featuring cottonwood leaves by Shaun Cassidy.[4]
Celebrating its grand opening on December 11, 1995, through a partnership with then-NationsBank, the CTC is served by most local and express CATS routes that lead from outlying areas destined for Uptown.[5] Its opening moved the central transfer point for all CATS buses from The Square two blocks to the west in an effort to improve traffic congestion along Tryon Street and provide transit riders a more efficient centralized transfer point.[5] Additionally, a Greyhound bus station is located not far from here, as well as the downtown Gold Rush trolley service. The Amtrak station is approximately 1.5 miles northeast of the LYNX line.
Beyond just being the flagship transfer center in the system, the Charlotte Transportation Center has a rare distinction of having businesses located here for people's personal conveniences. Among these are a Bank of America branch, Postal Plus mailing service, a Plaza Sundries food store and a Char-Meck police unit; it also houses four restaurants: Bojangles', Burger King, Lil Orbits and a Subway.
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