Hiawatha Light Rail
The Hiawatha Line is a light rail corridor in Minneapolis, Minnesota that extends to the suburb of Bloomington. Ground was broken for the line on January 17, 2001. It is currently under construction and testing, but is expected to carry its first paying passengers in April 2004. By December, the line will have three primary destinations on a 12 mile route: downtown Minneapolis, Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, and the Mall of America. It is operated by the Metro Transit division of the Metropolitan Council.
The line's completion will mark the return of regular-service intra-city rail transport to the Twin Cities. The area once had an extensive network of streetcars, but that was torn down in the 1950s. The destruction of the old railway system operated by Twin City Rapid Transit has largely been attributed to actions by General Motors, a company that had a vested interest in seeing buses and automobiles gain greater popularity. However, the end of TCRT's streetcar business was largely independent from General Motors' actions elsewhere in the country (See General Motors Streetcar Conspiracy). A few people who oversaw the end of TCRT came from National City Lines, and the Twin City trolleys were replaced by GM buses, but such connections are relatively weak in this case.
Due to growing traffic congestion in the region since the last trolley ran in 1954, many people have pushed for the reintroduction of rail transport in the Twin Cities. (A 2003 report by the Texas Transportation Institute indicated that the area was the 17th most congested area in the country, with the second fastest congestion growth.) However, no new rail projects were able to get off the ground until Governor Jesse Ventura heavily pushed the idea. Previous governors had advocated light rail, but had not been able to get legislation passed. Governor Tim Pawlenty had campaigned on a promise to fight the expansion of light rail, but changed his mind about the proposed Northstar Line in January 2004 when a scaled-back version was shown to have good potential.
The Hiawatha Line's vehicles are manufactured by Bombardier and are electrically powered. They can reach speeds of 55 miles per hour, but generally travel 35 mph or slower (especially in the congested downtown region). The train's color scheme is primarily a combination of black, yellow, and silver. Yellow is a notable color because it was commonly used on the previous streetcar systems. Passengers who ride the rail system will be charged the same fare as they would pay for the local Metro Transit bus system, and they will be able to use their bus transfer cards to switch between the two different modes of transportation without making another payment.
Due to the unique makeup of Minneapolis's population, instructions on purchasing tickets will be printed in four languages: English, Spanish, Somali, and Hmong.
The line's cost is expected to total $715 million, with $424 million coming from the federal government. This is higher than initial budgets predicted, but part of the cost increase came from approximately $40 million to enhance the line (while construction was in progress) to provide a better connection to the Mall of America. For projects of this scale, it is minimally overbudget.
External links
Referenced By
Mall of America
|
