Map of St. Louis' MetroLink light rail system

Contemplated extensions of St. Louis' MetroLink light rail system

A MetroLink Train at the Central West End Station

MetroLink is a light rail train system in Saint Louis, Missouri. The system currently consists of a single 38-mile-long line connecting Lambert-Saint Louis International Airport in Bridgeton with Scott Air Force Base near Shiloh, Illinois. A 5.3 mile eastward extension of this line to Mid-America Airport, a civilian airport sharing runways with Scott AFB, remains unfunded. The system currently features 28 stations, and carries an average of 44,539 people each weekday (FY 2003). Download high resolution version (1426x1078, 134 KB)St. ... Download high resolution version (1426x1078, 134 KB)St. ... Jump to: navigation, search Image File history File links Download high resolution version (600x779, 153 KB) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Jump to: navigation, search Image File history File links Download high resolution version (600x779, 153 KB) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Jump to: navigation, search Image File history File links Metrolink_train. ... Jump to: navigation, search Image File history File links Metrolink_train. ... This article is about light rail systems in general. ... Jump to: navigation, search Saint Louis (pronounced in English, in French), frequently spelled St. ... Diagram of STL. Lambert-Saint Louis International Airport (IATA: STL, ICAO: KSTL) is the primary airport for Saint Louis, Missouri and the surrounding area. ... Bridgeton is a northwest suburb of St. ... Scott Air Force Base (Scott AFB) is a base of the United States Air Force located in St. ... Shiloh is a village located in St. ...

A second line, the "Cross-County Extension," has been under construction since spring 2003. This 8-mile-long, 9-station line will connect Washington University, downtown Clayton, the popular St. Louis Galleria shopping center and Shrewsbury to the system. It is expected to be complete by fall 2006. Further extensions are under study, but no alignments have yet been chosen, let alone engineered or funded. Washington University in St. ... Jump to: navigation, search Clayton is the county seat of St. ... Galleria (Italian for gallery or arcade), or The Galleria, is a common name for a shopping mall, ultimately deriving from the 19th-century Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan. ...

MetroLink is operated by the Bi-State Development Agency, which since 2003 is doing business as Metro. Metro operates St. Louis' MetroBus system and MetroLink. It also operates Call-A-Ride (custom point-to-point paratransit system), St. Louis Downtown Airport (formerly Parks) and the adjoining industrial business park, paddlewheel-style river excursion boats, the tram system leading to the top of the Gateway Arch, and the Arch's parking garage. Jump to: navigation, search MetroLink system The Bi-State Development Agency is the formal name of an interstate compact formed by Missouri and Illinois in 1949. ... The phrase doing business as (abbreviated DBA or d/b/a) is a legal term, meaning that the name of the business or operation does not include the legal name of its proprietor, the names of all partners, or the official registered name of the limited partnership or corporation that... Paratransit is an alternative mode of passenger transportation which does not follow fixed routes or schedules, like a bus line. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Old Courthouse sits at the heart of the city of Saint Louis, with the arch to the east, near the rivers edge. ...

History

Construction on the initial MetroLink alignment from Lambert-St. Louis International Airport to the 5th & Missouri station in East St. Louis, IL began in 1990. The initial alignment opened in July 1993. The capital cost to build the initial phase of MetroLink was $464 million. Of that amount, $348 million was supplied by the Federal Transit Administration. The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) within the U.S. Department of Transportation provides financial and technical assistance to the local transit systems. ...

MetroLink spectacularly exceeded pre-opening estimates of its ridership. However, its popularity did not translate into quick expansion. Construction has been greatly slowed by the increasing scarcity of Federal light rail construction funds. As time has passed, an ever-greater share of the costs has been borne by state and local governments. The most recent work has been entirely funded by local dollars.

Construction on the St. Clair County MetroLink extension from the 5th & Missouri station to the College station in Belleville, Illinois began in 1998. The St. Clair County MetroLink extension opened in May 2001. Eight new stations and seven park-ride lots were added to the extension. The total project cost was $339.2 million, with the Federal Government and St. Clair County Transit District sharing the burden at 72% ($243.9 million) and 28% ($95.2 million), respectively. Local funding was provided by the St. Clair County Transit District as a result of a 1/2 cent sales tax passed in November 1993. St. ... Belleville is a city located in St. ...

In May 2003, a 3.5-mile extension from Southwestern Illinois College to Shiloh-Scott station opened. This $75 million project was funded by a $60 million grant from the Illinois FIRST (Fund for Infrastructure, Roads, Schools, and Transit) Program and $15 million from the St. Clair County Transit District.

The current Cross-County Extension project (see above) is being funded by a $430 million Metro bond issue. Metro cited repeated delays and cost overruns as its reasons for firing its general contractor in summer 2004. The contractor, itself a coalition of four general contractors, in turn cited excessive change orders by Metro as the cause of the problems. Metro vowed to act as its own general contractor and aimed for a fall 2006 opening.

External links

• MetroLink Official Website
• Crosscounty Extension Project
• Citizens for Modern Transit