Blue Line (Sacramento RT)
|
Blue Line
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Overview | |
| Type | Light Rail |
| System | Sacramento Regional Transit District |
| Status | Operational |
| Locale | Sacramento, California |
| Termini | Watt/I-80 (north) Meadowview (south) |
| Stations | 24 |
| Services | Route 533 |
| Operation | |
| Opened | 1987 (as Watt/I-80–Downtown–Butterfield) |
| Operator(s) | Sacramento Regional Transit District |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) (standard gauge) |
.svg){kind=small}
The Blue Line is a light rail transit line in the Sacramento Regional Transit District (RT) light rail system. It runs primarily north-south in Sacramento between the Watt/I-80 and Meadowview stations. Portions of the Blue Line run along the original initial alignment between Watt/I-80 and 16th Street stations.
Contents |
[edit] History
The first light rail line of the RT opened March 12, 1987.[1] Initial service commenced between Watt/I-80 and 8th & O stations only for the first six months. It was extended to Butterfield that same year on September 5.[1] In all, it was an 18.3-mile (29.5 km) route between Watt/I-80 station in North Sacramento, through downtown, and continuing east on Folsom Blvd. to Butterfield Way station. It was built at a cost of $176 million USD (1987), including the cost of vehicles and maintenance and storage facilities. Much of the line, when it was first built, was single-tracked, though improvements over the 1990s allowed much of the original system to be double-tracked. The line was built mainly using a railroad right-of-way, coupled with use of structures of an abandoned freeway project. A limited portion of the route runs on streets, mainly in downtown Sacramento.
Surprisingly, the line became more popular than anyone anticipated—in fact, so popular that further expansions and improvements were necessary. Two new stations at 39th and 48th streets opened in 1995, and a 2.3-mile (3.7 km) extension to the Mather Field/Mills station opened in 1998. In June 2004, a further extension from Mather Field/Mills to Sunrise was opened.
On September 26, 2003, the South Line opened for 6.3 miles (10.1 km) between the 16th Street station on the Watt/I-80-Downtown-Mather Field/Mills line and a station at Meadowview Road in the south end, which is the first phase of a planned longer 11.2-mile (18.0 km) line to Elk Grove. Much of the extension follows a railroad right-of-way. When it opened, 7 new stops were added to the system. Following a June 2005 reconfiguration of the light rail lines, the South Line merged with the Watt I-80/Downtown line (formerly part of the previous Watt/I-80-Downtown-Sunrise line) effectively combining the old line with the new, and was redesignated the Blue Line. The former original portion of the Watt/I-80-Downtown-Folsom line was redesignated the Gold Line.
[edit] Listing of stations on the Blue Line
| Station | Opened | Bike lockers | Transfers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Watt/I-80 | 1987 | Yes | RT buses 1, 15, 19, 26, 80, 84, 93, 103 Placer County Transit |
| Watt/I-80 West | 1987 | Yes | No transfers on site |
| Roseville Road | 1987 | Yes | 85 |
| Marconi Arcade | 1987 | Yes | RT buses 25, 86, 87 |
| Swanston | 1987 | Yes | No transfers on site |
| Royal Oaks | 1987 | No | RT buses 22 and 23 |
| Arden/Del Paso | 1987 | Yes | RT buses 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 22, 23, 25, 88 |
| Globe | 1987 | No | RT bus 15 |
| Alkali Flat/La Valentina | 1987 | No | RT bus 33 |
| 12th & I | 1987 | No | No transfers on site |
| Cathedral Square (westbound: 10th & K, eastbound: 11th & K) | 1987 | No | No transfers on site |
| St. Rose of Lima Park (westbound: 7th & K, eastbound: 9th & K) | 1987 | No | Gold Line Many RT buses |
| 7th & Capitol (southbound); 8th & Capitol (northbound) | 1987 | No | Gold Line |
| 8th & O | 1987 | No | Gold Line |
| Archives Plaza | 1987 | No | Gold Line |
| 13th Street | 1987 | No | Gold Line |
| 16th Street | 1987 | No | Gold Line RT bus 6 |
| Broadway | 2003 | No | RT buses 51, 62 |
| 4th Avenue/Wayne Hultgren | 2003 | No | RT bus 62 |
| City College | 2003 | No | No Transfers on site |
| Fruitridge | 2003 | No | RT buses 61, 205, 252 |
| 47th Avenue | 2003 | Yes | No Transfers on site |
| Florin | 2003 | Yes | RT buses 54, 65, 81 |
| Meadowview | 2003 | Yes | RT buses 4, 5, 47, 56, E-Tran 156 |
[edit] Fleet Images
-
Downtown Sacramento
-
At Archives Plaza Station
-
At Roseville Road
-
Downtown Sacramento
[edit] References
- ^ a b Sebree, Mac (February 1988). "Sacramento Light Rail". Pacific RailNews, pp. 16–17. Glendale: Interurban Press.
[edit] External links
|
|||||||||||||
