Red Line (Pittsburgh)

Red Line
Overview
Type	Light rail
Locale	Pittsburgh
Operation
Owner	Port Authority of Allegheny County
Operator(s)	Port Authority of Allegheny County
Technical
Track gauge	5 ft 2 1⁄2 in (1,588 mm)
Electrification	Overhead lines
Route map Legend Allegheny ■ North Side ■ Allegheny River Gateway Center ■■ Wood Street ■■ Penn Station occasional use Steel Plaza ■■ Panhandle Tunnel First Avenue ■■ I-376 / US 22 / US 30 Penn Lincoln Parkway Panhandle Bridge over Monongahela River Brown Line PA 837 West Carson Street Station Square ■ Mt. Washington Transit Tunnel Brown Line South Hills Junction ■■ Blue Line Palm Garden Dawn Traymore Pennant Westfield Fallowfield Hampshire Belasco Shiras Pittsburgh Dormont Stevenson Potomac Dormont Junction Dormont Mt. Lebanon Mt. Lebanon Poplar Mt. Lebanon Castle Shannon Arlington Castle Shannon Overbrook Junction Willow Blue Line Martin Villa ■ St. Anne's ■ Smith Road ■ Castle Shannon Bethel Park Washington Junction ■ Blue Line to Library Casswell ■ Highland ■ Santa Barbara ■ Bethel Village ■ Dorchester ■ Bethel Park Upper St. Clair South Hills Village ■ South Hills Village Rail Center ■

The Red Line (formerly the 42S South Hills Village via Beechview) is a line on the Pittsburgh Light Rail system that runs between South Hills Village and Downtown Pittsburgh via the Beechview neighborhood. The companion route, the Blue Line, branches off north of Martin Villa and runs through Overbrook. In March 2007, the closure of the Palm Garden Bridge for refurbishment suspended the Red Line for five months; it resumed service in September.^[1][2] On March 27 2016, rail operations were suspended between Fallowfield and Potomac due to Broadway Avenue track renewal. The closure will last for about six months. The Red Line currently is operating on the two unconnected rail sections: from Allegheny to Fallowfield, and from Potomac to Overbrook Junction, with the special shuttle bus service between the Fallowfield and Potomac stations.^[3][4]

Route

The line begins at South Hills Village in Upper St. Clair, and runs north to Washington Junction through Bethel Park, providing a transfer to the Blue Line - Library, which runs via Overbrook. The Red Line continues north through Castle Shannon and Mount Lebanon, then through the Mount Lebanon Rail Tunnel underneath Washington Rd./West Liberty Ave (aka Truck U.S. Route 19) into Dormont at the other end. The first station coming out of the tunnel northbound is Dormont Junction, then line proceeds through this suburb, crossing many streets via grade crossings. The line then arrives at Potomac, where it begins travelling through street trackage about a quarter mile down the tracks, crossing into the neighborhood of Beechview in the city of Pittsburgh near the Neeld Avenue stop.

Before the Mt. Lebanon Rail Tunnel, the old streetcars ran with car traffic on Washington Rd. between Alfred St. in Mt. Lebanon and the intersection of McFarland Rd. and Raleigh Ave. (where Washington Rd. becomes West Liberty Ave.) in Dormont.

At South Hills Junction the Red Line rejoins the Blue Line and the Brown Line, which runs over Mount Washington through the Allentown neighborhood. The Red Line runs through the Mount Washington Transit Tunnel, stopping at Station Square before crossing the Monongahela River on the Panhandle Bridge. Reaching downtown at First Avenue, the Red Line proceeds underground to Steel Plaza, Wood Street and Gateway Center. Upon reaching Gateway, the route then proceeds under the Allegheny River and makes additional stops at North Side and Allegheny stations on the North Shore.

The Port Authority closed seven stations along the Red Line on June 25, 2012: Santa Barbara, Martin Villa, Kelton, Neeld, Boustead, Coast and Traymore.^[5] The line was renamed slightly to Red Line - Castle Shannon via Beechview when the North Shore Connector opened.

There is additional limited service to and from Penn Park (at Pittsburgh Amtrak), such as during sporting events.^[6]

Station List

References

External links

Route map: Bing / Google

• Red Line - Castle Shannon via Beechview schedule effective March 25, 2012
• Red Line - Castle Shannon via Beechview Route Map

Port Authority of Allegheny County
Light rail (List of stations)	Blue Line – Library Blue Line – South Hills Village Red Line
Inclines (Historical list)	Duquesne Incline Monongahela Incline
Buses and busways (List of routes)	Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway South Busway West Busway
Former lines	47 Drake Brown Line PATrain Skybus
Other	North Shore Connector Port Authority 4000 Series PCC Wabash Tunnel