Red Line (Cleveland)

Red Line (Route 66)
Opening:	March 15, 1955 first section
Route length:	19.1 miles (30.7 km)
Stations:	18th
Gauge:	1435 mm
Power supply:	600 V DC voltage via overhead line
Legend NS Nickel Plate Line from Buffalo Louis Stokes Station at Windermere from the former Windermere Yard depot Superior Euclid-East 120th University Circle East 105th Quincy NS Cleveland Line to Drawbridge of Pittsburgh East 79th Shaker Heights Rapid Transit Line from Shaker Heights Start of mixed operation with light rail to the Central Rail Facility main workshop East 55th from the Central Rail Facility main workshop 55th Street Yard East 34th campus NS Nickel Plate Line Tower City-Public Square End of mixed operation with light rail Waterfront Line to South Harbor Cuyahoga West 25th Ohio City West 35th Yard former depot NS Nickel Plate Line West 65th-Lorain ( Eco Village ) West Boulevard Cudell NS Chicago Line from Drawbridge NS Nickel Plate Line to Chicago West 117th Madison Triskett West Park Goods siding crosses at the same level Puritas I-480 Brookpark (sic!) Brookpark Yard depot NS Chicago Line to Chicago Airport

The RTA Red Line (also RTA Route 66 , popularly Red Line Rapid ) (German after its identification color: Rote Linie , Linie 66 , Rote Schnellbahn ) is a standard-gauge, electrically operated express train in Cleveland in the US state of Ohio . It opened in 1955, is 19.2 miles (30.7 km) long and has 18 stations. The owner and operator is the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA).

The Red Line is the only passenger railway in the city that is built according to the parameters of a rapid transit system (Heavy Rail), so it can be classified as a "real" underground railway . The railway runs almost entirely along conventional railway lines and is designed for a high transport performance, which it has never achieved.

course

The Red Line on the Cleveland rapid transit network

The Red Line begins at Louis Stokes Station at Windermere in East Cleveland , approximately 6 miles northeast of the city center as the crow flies and 2 km beyond the Cleveland city limits. The station is next to the Nickel Plate Line of the Norfolk Southern (NS) from Buffalo , which runs here in a northeast-southwest direction.

Both railway lines initially run parallel for a few kilometers towards the city center. Around 4.5 km southeast of it, at the East 55th station, the Shaker Heights Rapid Transit Line joins from the east and is used by the Blue and Green Lines. At the same time, the track body expands significantly; the northern half is taken by the freight yard 55th Street Yard of Norfolk Southern, the southern half by the RTA main workshop (Central Rail Facility) opened in 1984. Both lines are now swiveling to the northwest and in their further course cross the largely dismantled eastern track apron of the former inner-city central station in the Tower City Center .

Platforms in the Tower City Center

While the Nickel Plate Line stretches out to the southwest and crosses the Cuyahoga , the Red Line stops at the Tower City Center, which is located on the southern edge of the city center on the right bank of the river. The Tower City – Public Square station is located below the spacious office complex next to the former passenger station. Immediately behind it, the waterfront line of the Blue and Green Lines leads to the north . The Red Line swings back to the southwest and now also crosses the Cuyahoga on a long and high viaduct.

After the West 25th – Ohio City station, the Nickel Plate Line is reached, which, compared to the rapid transit system, has taken a shortcut across the river. Both routes now run further west to the crossing under the Chicago Line of the Norfolk Southern behind the West Boulevard – Cudell station at West 102nd Street. There the Red Line turns back to the southwest and follows the Chicago Line to the level of the Brook Park suburb . There it leaves the railway body and ends in a tunnel that leads a little west to the underground airport train station directly in front of the terminal building. This station is about 15.5 km as the crow flies southwest of Tower City Center.

Appearance

The Red Line in the Euclid-East 120th area

With the exception of the short tunnel at the airport and the train station under the Tower City Center, the route is entirely above ground. The route runs - like many S-Bahn trains in European metropolitan areas - on its own pair of tracks along the railway lines mentioned. The line is double-tracked throughout, electrified by overhead contact lines and practically completely free of crossings. The stations are relatively evenly spaced. The gauge is oriented with a width of 3.15 m to conventional railways.

Typical entrance on a road bridge

Many of the stations are located at the intersections of the railway lines with important inner-city road routes. Access is via the road bridges or - in the case of underpasses - to the side. There are also entrances via buildings next to the route with a connected pedestrian underpass. All stations have elevated platforms and are staffed during the day.

With the exception of the airport train station and West 25th – Ohio City, all stations on the western branch are equipped with park-and-ride facilities . On the eastern branch only the two outermost stations, Windermere and Superior, have such systems. The car parks were created shortly after opening, when there was a strong trend in the suburbs to drive to the train station.

The stations were originally very simply equipped. The platforms had a simple structure and were planked with wooden panels. The station buildings were very small, the roofs were simple constructions made of steel profiles and corrugated iron or the like. Since the 1990s, the stations have been gradually demolished and rebuilt much more spacious, high quality and handicapped accessible. The work is currently (2009) completed at around half of the stations.

Between the confluence of the Shaker Heights Rapid Transit Line at the East 55th station and the junction of the Waterfront Line behind Tower City, the Red Line runs together with the Blue and Green Lines in mixed operation. Because these other two lines are built to tram standards, the three stations on this section have high and low platform sections.

Right from the start, the Red Line was designed for high transport performance. The platforms allowed 90-meter-long trains. Since these capacities are no longer required today, the platforms have been shortened accordingly. Some of the newly built stations appear a bit oversized given the volume of traffic.

Emergence

The history of the Red Line goes back to the real estate and railway empire of the Van Sweringen brothers . They had developed a large real estate project in Shaker Heights east of Cleveland and connected the area to the city center with an intercity tram, the Shaker Heights Rapid Transit Line . Their great success encouraged the Van Sweringens to plan another such railway line, this time along their railway line, the Nickel Plate Road and today's Nickel Plate Line of Norfolk Southern. The route should lead via the new central station Cleveland Union Terminal (CUT) in Tower City. Construction began on the eastern section in 1928, but the collapse of the Van Sweringen Empire during the Great Depression brought work to a standstill.

Planning was not resumed until 1942 under the Cleveland Transit System (CTS). Construction work for the Downtown Rapid Transit Line began in 1952, and on March 15, 1955, the first section from Windermere to Tower City-Public Square was opened. The section to West 117th Madison followed on August 14 of the same year, West Park was reached on November 15, 1958. CTS acquired the route for the rapid transit railway from Nickel Plate , and the access to Tower City including the 1 km long viaduct over the Cuyahoga from the Cleveland Union Terminal Railroad. The project was funded by a $ 29.5 million federal loan from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC).

Ten years later, on November 15, 1968, the $ 18 million extension to the airport went into operation. This made Cleveland the first city in the United States with a direct high-speed train connection to the airport. For this, too, there was support from the federal government, but this time in the form of grants .

Expansion planning

In the course of time, numerous plans for network expansion came up. The decision to build an underground line through the city center was made in 1953, but this decision was reversed in 1959. Further plans from the 1960s to build routes to Cleveland Heights in the east, Maple Heights in the southeast and Bay Village in the west failed due to financial hurdles.

The current plans of the RTA provide for the modernization of further train stations over the next few years. Some of the stations on the eastern section are also to be relocated a little. This should bring them closer to the built-up area and provide better bus connections.

In 1997, the RTA decided to extend it by 5.6 km and one station to the southwest to the suburb of Berea . To this end, the route in the area of ​​the airport is to be changed. The Red Line is to run there on an elevated railway in the future and the previous underground station will be closed. However, the project seems to have moved a long way off.

business

Rolling stock

So far, three different vehicle types have been used on the Red Line. The Bluebirds, the Airporters and the Tokyu cars used exclusively today.

Bluebirds

The initially acquired vehicles were technically based on the PCC car and were supplied by St. Louis Car . The 46.5 foot (14.18 m) long four-axle vehicles offered around 40 seats and were called "Bluebirds" because of their blue paintwork. In 1955, 68 cars of this type were initially procured; for the extension to West Park in 1958 another 20 vehicles were added. The design-related top speed was 55 mph (88 km / h). From a total of 18 solo and 35 double railcars, trains with a length of up to six cars were initially formed.

Airporters

An airporter

For the extension to the airport, however, no more Bluebirds were procured, but 30 of a completely new type of vehicle. The 30 single multiple units from Pullman Standard were significantly longer at 21.34 m and were specially tailored to the new application - they were fitted with large luggage racks, air conditioning and were marketed as “Airporters”. The car body was made of stainless steel and had a beveled front made of glass fiber reinforced plastic . With the Airporters trains with a length of one to four cars were formed.

Tokyu wagon

The Tokyu car

Both types mentioned were replaced in 1985 by a total of 60 vehicles from the Japanese manufacturer Tokyu Car of the same name due to their high maintenance requirements . The solo multiple units are 23.11 m long, have three pocket sliding doors on each side and, in turn, air conditioning. Your car body is made of stainless steel and is not painted in color. The design-related top speed is 60 mph (96 km / h). The cars are considered very reliable.

Driving operation

The trains on the Red Line usually consist of two Tokyu cars. Operating hours range from 4:30 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. on the western branch and from 3:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. on the eastern branch. This is due to the different work habits of the residents of the respective districts. The journey time between Windermere and Tower City is 20 minutes, and between Tower City and the airport 26 minutes.

The cycle time is 15 minutes during rush hour and 20 minutes in the evenings and on weekends. There are four additional trains per hour in each direction between Brook Park and Tower City at peak times. However, the offer has been thinned out considerably in the last few decades due to a sharp drop in passenger numbers. In 1970 trains ran every 6 to 8 minutes and every 4 minutes at rush hour.

Tickets can only be purchased at counters in the stations. In the evenings and on weekends, when most stations are unoccupied, controlled entry takes place instead . The previously existing turnstiles at the train stations were dismantled in anticipation of a new payment system based on SmartCards .

In 2008 the Red Line carried around 5.9 million passengers. This corresponds to only a fraction of the original values, because the railways felt the trend towards automobiles and suburbanization right from the start . Passenger numbers continued to decline after a high of 18.3 million in 1959/60, interrupted by a brief stabilization during the oil crisis . The year 1993 marked the lowest point with a good 4 million passengers. Since then, there has been a slow increase again.

Reviews

Experts criticize the fact that the Red Line is only exploiting “a fraction of its potential”. Although the condition and range of services are considerably better than in comparable US cities, the result so far is "disappointing".

In particular, the trains run unnecessarily slow, although the vehicles, the routing and the large distances between stations easily allowed higher speeds. Since the introduction of electronic train protection , the maximum speed has been kept at 55 mph (88 km / h), which would have increased travel times by a third.

It is also noticeable that the number of passengers on the eastern section of the route is a third lower than on the western section. This is attributed to the lack of park-and-ride facilities and a route that is unfavorable compared to the location in the city center. The east of the city is also avoided due to its higher crime rate .

Above all, however, the development of the city center and some other important travel destinations is not direct enough. With Tower City-Public Square, the Red Line has only one station in the city center, which is only on the southern edge. Numerous points of attraction outside, such as in the area of ​​the University Circle station, are connected by shuttle buses, but their timetables are poorly coordinated with the express train.

Another problem lies in the fact that the Red Line vehicles are designed for elevated platforms. This increases the construction costs and makes the operation inflexible, because all sections of the route would have to be laid out without intersections and no streets could be used. This would also be in contrast to the Shaker Heights Line, so that two incompatible vehicle types and platform heights existed and the trains could not switch to the other route.

Additional information

literature

• John G. Allen, Kenneth G. Sislak, and Blaine S. Hays: Cleveland's Red Line Rapid: New life for a rail transit hybrid . In: Journal of the Transportation Research Board . tape 1704/2000 . Transportation Research Board of the National Academies TRB, January 2000, ISSN  0361-1981 , p. 19–26 , doi : 10.3141 / 1704-04 (American English, PDF, 330.3 kByte ).
• R. Knight: Comparison of Development on the Airport-Windermere and Shaker Heights Rapid Transit Lines in Cleveland, 1945–1985 . Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA), Cleveland, Ohio 1988.
• Randolph R. Resor (ZETA-TECH Associates): Catalog of "Common Use" Rail Corridors . Ed .: National Technical Information Service. (American English, PDF, 8.8 MB [accessed December 14, 2008] prepared on behalf of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) ).
• James A. Toman and Blaine S. Hays: Horse Trails to Regional Rails - The Story of Public Transit in Greater Cleveland . Kent State University Press, Kent, Ohio 1996, ISBN 978-0-87338-547-3 .

Web links

Commons : Cleveland RTA  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority. Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority, accessed July 9, 2009 (official website of the operating company RTA). 
• John A. Barrick: A History of Cleveland's Red Line Rapid Transit. archive.org, 2007, archived from the original on July 29, 2005 ; accessed on July 9, 2009 . 
• Cleveland, Ohio. nycsubway.org, accessed on July 8, 2009 (English, private page; routedescriptionand many mostly older photos). 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ until November 8, 2008 Route 66X - see Timetables, Maps & Schedules. Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority. Retrieved July 11, 2009 . 
2. ↑ Allen et al., P. 19
3. ↑ ^{a b} Allen et al., P. 22
4. ↑ Source: Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority track diagrams . The route is completely free of intersections except for an industrial connection at the West Park station on the western branch of the route.
5. ↑ ^{a b} Barrick
6. ↑ ^{a b} Major Projects - Planning & Development. Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority. Retrieved July 11, 2009 . 
7. ↑ Allen et al., P. 24
8. ↑ Photos of a car of this type in the original and later paintwork
9. ↑ ^{a b c} Red Line Airport - Windermere 66. (PDF; 160 kB) Accessed on July 7, 2009 (timetable from June 14, 2009). 
10. ↑ Allen et al., P. 25
11. ↑ ^{a b} Allen et al., P. 23
12. ↑ see below a .: Karen Farkas: Riders on RTA's Red Line rapid get free rides, prompting agency to order drivers to collect fares. Cleveland Live, Inc., accessed July 10, 2009 . 
13. ↑ APTA Ridership Reports Statistics - United States Heavy Rail Agencies Index. (No longer available online.) American Public Transportation Association (APTA), archived from the original on February 2, 2009 ; Retrieved July 10, 2009 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
14. ^ "The Red Line has delivered on only a fraction of its potential." - Allen et al., P. 25
15. ^ "Disappointing history" - Allen et al., P. 25
16. ↑ ^{a b c} Allen et al., Pp. 25f.