Red Line (St. Louis MetroLink)

The Red Line is the older and longer line of the MetroLink light rail system in Greater St. Louis. It serves 29 stations across three counties and two states.

History
Transit planning along the Airport/Central corridor began as early as 1971, when it was selected as the region's primary target for further study. In 1983, funding was approved to evaluate five mode alternatives, which culminated in a 1984 draft environmental impact statement. After a series of public hearings, the East–West Gateway Council of Governments adopted light rail as the region's preferred mode alternative.

The project's capital expense budget was $287.7 million (equivalent to $ in dollars), which covered design, engineering, construction, and testing. The city of St. Louis acquired unused railroad facilities and property with an estimated value of $100 million and donated it to the project, supplying the local match. Construction on the initial 13.9 mi alignment began in 1990. It opened on July 31, 1993 with 16 stations between North Hanley and 5th & Missouri. The remainder of this initial 17 mi alignment was completed on June 25, 1994, when the extension to Lambert Airport Main opened. Three infill stations have been added to this original alignment: East Riverfront in 1994, Lambert Airport East in 1998, and Cortex in 2018.

In 1998, construction began on the 17.4 mi, eight station St. Clair County, Illinois extension between 5th & Missouri and College, opening in May 2001. The total project cost was $339.2 million with $243.9 million paid by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and $95.2 million paid by the St. Clair County Transit District (SCCTD). An additional $75 million, 3.5 mi extension from College to the Shiloh-Scott station opened in 2003. It was funded by a $60 million grant from the Illinois FIRST (Fund for Infrastructure, Roads, Schools, and Transit) Program and $15 million from SCCTD.

From its 1993 opening until October 27, 2008, the Red Line was known as the Lambert Airport branch.

On July 26, 2022, portions of the Red Line were impacted by a flash flood that shut down the system for nearly 72 hours and caused roughly $40 million in damage. Damages included nearly 5 mi of track bed, two elevators, two communications rooms and three signal houses. By that September, normal Red Line service had resumed while restricted service continued on the Blue Line.

On July 31, 2023, Metro received $27.7 million in federal emergency disaster relief funding to help cover the cost of flood damage.

Route
The 38-mile (61 km) Red Line alignment begins at Lambert St. Louis International Airport, making stops at the Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 stations. It then proceeds through Kinloch before making a stop at the North Hanley station near Bel-Ridge. It makes 2 stops (UMSL North & UMSL South) at the University of Missouri St. Louis located in Normandy. After departing UMSL, trains divert south onto the former Wabash/Norfolk & Western Railroad's Union Depot line that once brought passenger trains from Ferguson to Union Station. It then travels into Pagedale stopping at the Rock Road station and then at Wellston's namesake station on Plymouth Street. From here, the Red Line crosses the St. Louis City/County boundary line at Skinker Boulevard, making a stop at the Delmar Loop station which serves the popular Delmar Loop area and is located just below the original Wabash Railroad's Delmar Station building. At the following station, Forest Park-DeBaliviere, the Red Line meets the Blue Line. From this station the two services share a track alignment with each other until the Blue Line terminates at the Fairview Heights station in Illinois.

Shared Alignment
From the Forest Park-DeBaliviere station, the Red and Blue lines share the same set of tracks for the next 16 stations. Continuing east, the Central West End and Cortex stations serve the popular Central West End neighborhood, Washington University Medical Center and Cortex Innovation Community. The Grand station transfers with the busy #70 MetroBus line and serves Saint Louis University and its hospital. Next, the Union Station, Civic Center, Stadium, 8th & Pine, Convention Center, and Laclede's Landing stations serve downtown St. Louis and its many popular attractions. Crossing the historic Eads Bridge into Illinois, the line serves the East Riverfront, 5th & Missouri, Emerson Park, Jackie Joyner-Kersee Center, and Washington Park stations in East St. Louis, Illinois. At the next station, Fairview Heights, the Blue Line terminates and the Red Line continues south to Belleville, Illinois to its terminus at the Shiloh-Scott station located at Scott Air Force Base.

Stations
From Lambert Airport to Shiloh-Scott (west to east)

Public artwork
In the initial design phase of MetroLink, Metro's Arts in Transit program commissioned a group of artists to design unique bridge piers for MetroLink viaducts. Collaborating with architects and engineers, the artists designed the arched supports that reflect an inverted version of the arch motif used throughout the MetroLink system. The bridge pier style is a signature of MetroLink design and appears in the subsequent St. Clair and Cross County extensions.

In 2008, the Arts in Transit program commissioned a work for the alignment along Interstate 70 near Lambert Airport. Titled St. Louis Rhythm and created by Richard Elliot, it was made using roadway reflectors on 16 concrete Jersey barriers that are activated by the headlights of passing cars.

In 2011, another Arts in Transit commission was installed on the shared alignment near Interstate 64 on the bridge over Vandeventer Avenue. Titled Blue Train and created by Clark Wiegman, a cubist locomotive represents the opening eight bars of the melody of “St. Louis Blues.” During the day, this piece appears as a locomotive spewing a trail of notes or an unfurling piano roll. At night, it becomes a geometric abstraction about linear dynamism and the implied form of the bridge punching through the surrounding ambient light.

MidAmerica Airport extension
In 2019, the St. Clair County Transit District was awarded $96 million in Illinois infrastructure funding to build a 5.2 mi extension of the Red Line from Shiloh-Scott to MidAmerica St. Louis Airport in Mascoutah. This extension will include two 2.6 mi segments, a double-track and a single-track segment, along with a station at the airport. Construction on the extension began in 2023 with Metro expecting to begin operations in early 2026.

System rehabilitation
In 2023, Metro began a system-wide rehabilitation program that will last up to two years. Work on the Red Line will include the rehabilitation of the Union Station and downtown subway tunnels, including the Laclede's Landing, Convention Center and 8th & Pine subway stations. Elsewhere, curve tracks, catenary wire, system conduit, staircases and retaining walls are to be upgraded or replaced. Three stations are to receive platform rehabilitations: Jackie Joyner-Kersee Center, Rock Road and Wellston.

In 2024, Metro expects to complete upgrades to the Supervisory Control Automated Data Acquisition (SCADA) and Public Address/Customer Information (PA/CIS) systems. The upgraded SCADA/PA/CIS will operate as an integrated system that monitors and controls operations and will allow Metro to provide real-time arrival information to passengers, such as live displays at stations.

Previous proposals
Previously proposed extensions of the Red Line are defunct; regional leaders have said their priorities are proposed expansions in the city of St. Louis and North St. Louis County.

St. Charles County
A plan to expand MetroLink 16-20 mi from St. Louis Lambert International Airport northwest to St. Charles County was abandoned after St. Charles County voters twice rejected a sales tax for the extension in 1996; subsequently, all MetroBus service was ended. Had the extension been funded, the route would have used the Old St. Charles Bridge (now demolished) over the Missouri River to access the county.