USA: The Federal Transit Administration has approved grants worth $99·9m to expand the Red Line light rail service in Portland.
Under an investment programme branded ‘a Better Red’, operator TriMet is to extend Red Line services westwards by 12·6 km from Beaverton to Hillsboro over the existing Blue Line tracks, serving another 10 stops. The Red Line will thus provide through services from the Hillsboro district to Portland International Airport via the city centre.
The total cost of the Better Red works is $215m, which includes track remodelling and resignalling. Two single track sections of the branch to the city’s airport will be double-tracked, and an extra platform for Red Line services built by the junction at Gateway/NE 99th Ave Transit Center. Four more LRVs are to be procured to operate the longer route.
‘FTA is proud to join our partners in Oregon to expand light rail service and improve transit connections in Portland and other important destinations’, commented FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez on September 24.
