View source for METRORail Red Line

{{Short description|Light rail line in Houston, Texas}}
{{Use American English|date=April 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox rail line
|name        = Red Line
|logo        = File:HoustonMetroRedLine.svg
|logo_width  = 50px
|image       = File:METRO Light Rail3.jpg
|image_width = 250px
|color       = {{rcr|METRORail|Red}}
|caption     = 
|type        = [[Light rail]]
|system      = [[METRORail]]
|locale      = [[Houston, Texas]]
|start       = {{stn|Northline Transit Center/HCC}} (north)
|end         = {{stn|Fannin South}} (south)
|stations    = 25
|routes      = 
|daily_ridership = 37,770 (September 2023)<ref>{{cite web | title=Executive Summary - September 2023 | publisher= [[Houston METRO]]|url=https://metro.resourcespace.com/pages/download.php?direct=1&noattach=true&ref=13189&ext=pdf&k=| accessdate=October 21, 2023}}</ref>
|open        = {{start date and age|2004|01|01}}
|lastextension = {{start date and age|2013|12|21}}<ref name="Metro says North rail line to open early">{{cite web|url=https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Metro-says-North-rail-line-to-open-early-4542806.php?plckFindCommentKey=CommentKey%3A8a41d678-5bde-4537-9eea-1d43d52a58ef|title=Metro says North rail line to open early – Houston Chronicle|date=23 May 2013|publisher=chron.com|access-date=31 May 2014}}</ref>
|close       = 
|owner       = 
|operator    = [[Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas|METRO]]
|character   = 
|stock       = 
|linelength  = {{convert|12.8|mi|km|abbr=on}}<ref name="Houston-facts" />
|tracklength = 
|tracks      = 
|gauge       = {{Track gauge|ussg}}
|electrification = overhead cantenary
|speed       = 
|elevation   = At-grade with two [[elevated railway|elevated sections]]<ref>http://www.piersystem.com/posted/1068/Chapter_2_DEIS_North_Corridor_0606.123777.pdf{{Dead link | date=June 2025 | fix-attempted=yes}}</ref>
|map         = {{METRORail Red Line|inline=yes}}
}}

The '''Red Line''' is one of three [[light rail]] routes on the [[METRORail]] network operated by [[Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas|METRO]] in [[Houston]], [[Texas]]. It is the oldest line in the METRORail system, with the first {{convert|7.5|mi|km|adj=on}} section of the line between Fannin South and UH–Downtown opening on January 1, 2004.

Construction on a {{convert|5.3|mi|km|adj=on}} extension to the north<ref name="METRO-facts">{{cite web | url = http://www.ridemetro.org/Pages/AboutMETRO.aspx| title = METRO About Us | publisher = Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas | access-date = 2015-08-11}}</ref> began July 2009, and was expected to continue until 2014,<ref name="myfoxhouston.com">http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/local/100909-rail-lines-will-not-meet-oct-2013-deadline {{Dead link|date=February 2022 | fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> though the opening date was later pushed back to 2015.<ref name="rail.co"/> On December 8, 2011, the FTA announced the award of a $450&nbsp;million grant from the New Starts transit program to fund construction of the Red Line.<ref name="rail.co">{{cite web|title=$900m awarded to extend Houston's light rail system|url=http://www.rail.co/2011/12/08/900m-awarded-to-extend-houstons-light-rail-system/|publisher=Rail.co|access-date=9 December 2011|date=December 8, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120606145813/http://www.rail.co/2011/12/08/900m-awarded-to-extend-houstons-light-rail-system/|archive-date=6 June 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Houston Gets Its Next Portion Of Light Rail Funding|url=http://app1.kuhf.org/articles/1376324852-Houston-Gets-Its-Next-Portion-Of-Light-Rail-Funding.html|access-date=12 August 2013|author=KUHF Houston Public Radio}}</ref> Better than expected construction progress eventually led to the new line opening ahead of schedule on December 21, 2013.<ref name="Metro says North rail line to open early"/>

==Route==
The approximately {{convert|12.8|mi|km|adj=on}}<ref name="Houston-facts">{{cite web |url=http://www.ridemetro.org/InsideTrack/072814_HoustonFacts.pdf |title=Houston Facts 2014 |publisher=Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas |year=2014 |access-date=2015-08-11 |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924091117/http://www.ridemetro.org/InsideTrack/072814_HoustonFacts.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="METRORail">{{cite web |url=http://www.ridemetro.org/Pages/Rail.aspx|title=METRORail |publisher=Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas |access-date=2015-08-11}}</ref> Red Line runs through the heart of the historic North Side, a storied neighborhood rooted in rail that came into being with the expansion, in the 1880s, of the Hardy Rail Line. It largely parallels [[Interstate 45]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Houston · Texas|url=https://www.google.com/maps/place/Houston,+TX/@29.7805903,-95.3877704,12.79z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x8640b8b4488d8501:0xca0d02def365053b!8m2!3d29.7604267!4d-95.3698028!5m1!1e2|access-date=2021-12-18|website=Houston · Texas|language=en}}</ref>

===Description===
[[File:METRORAILUHDowntown.JPG|thumb|left|UH–Downtown, the northern terminus of the line for nearly 10 years]]
Starting at Fannin South, the Red Line travels parallel to Fannin Street, crossing under [[Interstate 610 (Texas)|I-610]], until it shifts onto Greenbriar Drive. It turns onto South Braeswood Boulevard briefly before returning to Fannin Street, which it follows through the [[Texas Medical Center]]. Through the Museum District, trains travel on one-way streets: southbound trains use Fannin Street, while northbound trains move onto San Jacinto Street. The tracks rejoin just south of [[Interstate 69 in Texas|I-69]] before merging onto Main Street, which it follows through Midtown and Downtown. Along this stretch, the line intersects with the eastbound [[METRORail Green Line|Green Line]] and [[METRORail Purple Line|Purple Line]] at Rusk Street and the westbound lines at Capitol Street. The tracks eventually move onto the west side of Main Street as they approach {{nowrap|UH–Downtown}} station, the original terminus of the line, located adjacent to the [[University of Houston–Downtown]] campus.

Since 2013, the Red Line continues north, following Main Street through the Burnett Transit Center and on to Boundary Street, where it crosses east to Fulton Street, and proceeds north on Fulton through the Near Northside to its current terminus at the Northline Transit Center, located adjacent to the Northline campus of the [[Houston Community College]].<ref>{{cite web|title=8 Stations from UH–Downtown to Northline Transit Center|url=http://www.gometrorail.org/go/doc/2491/406483/|access-date=12 August 2013|author=Houston Metro Rail|archive-date=June 22, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100622013314/http://www.gometrorail.org/go/doc/2491/406483/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Infrastructure==
[[File:HoustonMuseumDistrictLightrailNorthbound.JPG|thumb|left|In Houston's Museum District, northbound and southbound trains take separate streets.]]
As with the other METRORail lines, the Red Line is predominantly at-grade and [[street running]], with paved tracks laid down the [[median strip|median]] of Main Street in downtown, Fannin Street to the south, and Fulton Street to the north. These tracks are not physically separated from road traffic, though they are located in dedicated lanes and trains receive priority at intersections at cross-streets by means of [[Traffic signal preemption|preempted traffic signals]]. However, flashing [[grade crossing]] signals and gates are present where trains cross parallel traffic lanes as they move from one street to another, and along the section of the line south of Old Spanish Trail, where tracks are laid out on a [[right-of-way (transportation)|right-of-way]] parallel to the road rather than in the median. Two sections along the Red Line extension north of UH–Downtown, though, are located on [[viaduct|elevated structures]]: the Burnett Transit Center and the tracks leading to and from it, and a grade-separated crossing of a freight line along Fulton Street south of the Northline Transit Center.

The line is fully [[Double-track railway|double-tracked]], with stations mainly consisting of a single [[island platform]] serving trains in both directions outside the central section along Main Street. However, the Main Street section of the line have [[split platform]] designs where platforms are located on both sides of a cross-intersection between the two tracks, each of which serve trains in one direction only, as do the [[side platform]]s on parallel streets at Museum District station.

===Rolling stock===
Services on the Red Line are operated mainly by Metro's two generations of [[Siemens S70]] LRVs: the H1 series delivered in 2004 for the opening of the initial section, the H2 series delivered in 2012 for the Northline extension and the H4 in 2022 for future expansions. Since 2015, H3 series [[CAF Urbos]] LRVs, which are mostly used on the Green and Purple Lines, can also been found on the Red Line. Trains are generally formed by two units coupled together.

==Stations==
''The following is a list of stations for this line, listed in order from north to south.''

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!rowspan=2|Station
!rowspan=2|Opening<br />year
!colspan=2|Connections
|-
!METRORail
!METRO Bus
|-
|{{stn|Northline Transit Center/HCC}} || 2013 || || 23, 36, 45, '''56''', 79, 96
|-
|[[Melbourne/North Lindale station|Melbourne/North Lindale]] || 2013 || ||
|-
|[[Lindale Park station|Lindale Park]] || 2013 || ||
|-
|[[Cavalcade station|Cavalcade]] || 2013 || || 26
|-
|[[Moody Park station|Moody Park]] || 2013 || || 
|-
|[[Fulton/North Central station|Fulton/North Central]] || 2013 || || 79
|-
|[[Quitman/Near Northside station|Quitman/Near Northside]] || 2013 || || 66
|-
|[[Burnett Transit Center]]/Casa De Amigos || 2013 || || 3, '''51/52''', 79
|-
|[[UH–Downtown station|UH–Downtown]] || 2004 || || 
|-
|[[Preston station (Houston)|Preston]] || 2004 || || various routes nearby
|-
|[[Central Station (Houston)|Central Station]] (Main) || 2015 || {{ric|METRORail|Green}} {{ric|METRORail|Purple}} || various routes nearby
|-
|[[Main Street Square station|Main Street Square]] || 2004 || || various routes, Greenlink
|-
|[[Bell station (Houston)|Bell]] || 2004 || || various routes nearby
|-
|[[Downtown Transit Center]] || 2004 || || 6, 11, 32, 44, '''51/52''', '''54''', '''82''', '''85''', 102 {{Rint|air|link=George_Bush_Intercontinental_Airport}}, 108, '''137''', '''160/161/162''', Park & Ride lines
|-
|[[McGowen station|McGowen]] || 2004 || || '''54''', '''82''', 283
|- 
|[[Ensemble/HCC station|Ensemble/HCC]] || 2004 || || 9, 261, 283
|-
|[[Wheeler station|Wheeler Transit Center]] || 2004 || || 5, '''25''', 65, '''152/153'''
|-
|[[Museum District station|Museum District]] || 2004 || || 5, 56, 65, 292, 298 
|-
|[[Hermann Park/Rice University station|Hermann Park/Rice University]] || 2004 || || 56, 292, 298
|-
|[[Memorial Hermann Hospital/Houston Zoo station|Memorial Hermann Hospital/Houston Zoo]] || 2004 || || 28, 56, 292, 298
|-
|[[Dryden/TMC station|Dryden/TMC]] || 2004 || || 56, 84
|-
|[[Texas Medical Center Transit Center station|Texas Medical Center Transit Center]] || 2004 || || '''2''', '''4''', 10, 14, 27, 28, 41, 56, 60, 68, 84, 87, 402 ([[Quickline]]), Park & Ride lines
|-
|[[Smith Lands station|Smith Lands]] || 2004 || || 84
|-
|[[Stadium Park/Astrodome station|Stadium Park/Astrodome]] || 2004 || || 60
|-
|[[Fannin South station|Fannin South]] || 2004 || || 8, 11, '''73''', 87
|}

===Expansion===
A possibility for expansion of the line would take the route to [[George Bush Intercontinental Airport]]. The 102 bus currently connects to that airport via the [[Downtown Transit Center (Houston)|Downtown Transit Center]].<ref name="city-data">{{cite web|url=http://www.city-data.com/forum/houston/992322-metro-light-rail.html|title=Metro Light Rail (Houston, Sugar Land, Galveston: 2015, university, tax) – Texas (TX) – City-Data Forum|publisher=city-data.com|access-date=31 May 2014}}.</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.ridemetro.org METRO Official Website]
*[http://www.metrosolutions.org METRO Solutions]
*[http://www.gometrorail.org Go METRORail]

{{Houston METRORail}}

[[Category:METRORail]]