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METRORail Main Station (Red/Green/Purple)


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Received this press release today:


Central Station Main to Open for METRORail Passengers

 
Another plus for commuters as a new station is about to open on the METRORail Red Line. METRO Board members, staff, and special guests, including representatives of the Downtown Management District, will be on hand at METRORail’s Downtown Construction office, 712 Main Street, at 6:30 a.m., Wednesday, Feb. 18.  Shortly after their arrival a ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place on the Central Station Main platform signaling the beginning of passenger service at that station.  
 
The station, located in the 700 block of Main between Rusk and Capitol, will also become a transfer point when the new East End/Green and Southeast/Purple Lines open in April.   
 
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METRORail passengers will have a new station from which to access transit service beginning Wednesday, Feb. 18. The station will provide a transfer point for riders from the soon-to-open East End/Green and Southeast/Purple Lines. 
 
post-1-0-73836900-1424131660.jpg
Central Station Main features works from artist John Runnels whose paving stones showcase time. Using language as art Runnels seeks to establish a positive transit experience by creating a "psychological space" where time is optimized.
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Received this press release today:


Central Station Main to Open for METRORail Passengers

Another plus for commuters as a new station is about to open on the METRORail Red Line. METRO Board members, staff, and special guests, including representatives of the Downtown Management District, will be on hand at METRORail’s Downtown Construction office, 712 Main Street, at 6:30 a.m., Wednesday, Feb. 18. Shortly after their arrival a ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place on the Central Station Main platform signaling the beginning of passenger service at that station.

The station, located in the 700 block of Main between Rusk and Capitol, will also become a transfer point when the new East End/Green and Southeast/Purple Lines open in April.

central-station-3-edited-1_crop.jpg

METRORail passengers will have a new station from which to access transit service beginning Wednesday, Feb. 18. The station will provide a transfer point for riders from the soon-to-open East End/Green and Southeast/Purple Lines.

central-station-3-pavers-edited-1_crop.jpg

Central Station Main features works from artist John Runnels whose paving stones showcase time. Using language as art Runnels seeks to establish a positive transit experience by creating a "psychological space" where time is optimized.

We should've had this...

Houston-Central-Station01.jpg

But this was chosen, possibly because it was more affordable...

SNOHETTA_01_resized-1024x579.jpg

And now all we got is some damn brick pavers. Go screw yourself Metro.

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What erks me is they have a surplus they they will still go ahead with this crap...instead of just saying they will hold off on open this station because they had more money than they thought and want to carry out the original platform plan...given the choice I'm willing to bet the people would be willing to wait a few months more..instead given the logic of metro people they will wait till it has operational and people have become use to it before they say ooh were shutting it down for six months for renovations.

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this thing will be the center nexus for the three line..and I can't see how well that will workout... on peak ridership times give it a very thin platform

Same.. How do other side by side platforms compare during peak times? I'm not sure how they're going to address that...

This station is begging to be connected to the tunnel system with 2 new tunnels dug below the block to the east, connecting this station to the other 2 transfer stations on Capitol/Rusk. Anyone ever see that happening?

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We should've had this...

Houston-Central-Station01.jpg

But this was chosen, possibly because it was more affordable...

SNOHETTA_01_resized-1024x579.jpg

And now all we got is some damn brick pavers. Go screw yourself Metro.

 

Well if it's any constellation what they went with instead is complete crap which will be replaced in 5 years. Once ridership rises is when you can get a little more playful with these stations.

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They are already reaching max..I ride the rail every day around 12.30 to work and 70%of the time it standing room only..even Sunday is packed but that because they use a one car system on sunday..a concert that has become out dated...since market square area is buzzing With people on Sunday thanks to honey moon cafe, batanga and even her say is open on Sunday afternoon

They are already reaching max..I ride the rail every day around 12.30 to work and 70%of the time it standing room only..even Sunday is packed but that because they use a one car system on sunday..a concert that has become out dated...since market square area is buzzing With people on Sunday thanks to honey moon cafe, batanga and even her say is open on Sunday afternoon

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I think what really pisses me off about metro management. .is the leadership. ..after that buy America debacle. .Parker ignore a opportunity to go in and really clean house. .instead she just appointed the next person up leaving many of the Same senor leadership in place.

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  • 8 months later...

Restricting the rail lanes to trains and turns only (like the rightmost lane of many of the north/south streets) ought to be enough to give the trains some breathing room... though as one who mixes it up with them daily, it doesn't seem like that giant of a problem even in the teeth of drive time.  The METRO train drivers aren't shy about using their horns.

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It's really only an issue during rush hour. Other than that time, the only problem I notice is when trains have to wait behind cars trying to turn in the same lane as the tram.

During rush hour though; those trams are stopped at every freaking light at every block. If they can synchronize the lights then it would be much better.

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What would work better downtown, in the med center, and in other congested places would be grade separation, either above or below ground.  Like what every other major city that comes to mind does.

 

Of course, that costs money, and heaven forfend any sort of investment spending for that, because as we know all public transportation spending for anything other than giant freeways is wasteful.

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I think it would be cool to have the light rail below ground in downtown - the stations could be in the tunnel system directly, and they could be air conditioned too.

When the light rail was first being proposed, were there any alternatives with grade separation in downtown or the med center?  I'm curious how much they saved by just building at grade.

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I think it would be cool to have the light rail below ground in downtown - the stations could be in the tunnel system directly, and they could be air conditioned too.

When the light rail was first being proposed, were there any alternatives with grade separation in downtown or the med center?  I'm curious how much they saved by just building at grade.

 

Makes too much sense, so of course it didn't happen. 

 

In the 80s I believe that there were two proposals for underground rail downtown, one heavy rail which was voted down, and one light rail which was approved but Bob Lanier was elected after he promised to kill the light rail proposal.  

 

The original METRO line had to be built with local funds after federal funding was blocked, so they didn't have enough money to incorporate it in the existing tunnel system downtown. 

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Grade separated means like a tunnel or overpass - think subway or L-train.  Closing off a lane to give the train an exclusive right of way is a good step, but wouldn't be grade separated - it would still be susceptible to people jamming up the intersection (blocking the box)

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Grade separated means like a tunnel or overpass - think subway or L-train.  Closing off a lane to give the train an exclusive right of way is a good step, but wouldn't be grade separated - it would still be susceptible to people jamming up the intersection (blocking the box)

Well whatever the correct term is I think that closing off the lane and creating a dedicated lane for left or right turns is the best option.

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  I'm curious how much they saved by just building at grade.

 

Rule of thumb is it costs twice as much to elevate and four times as much to tunnel. So instead of the original ~8 mile Red Line we could have had 4 miles elevated (UHD to Rice) or 2 miles of subway (UHD to McGowen). There's no question that either of those would have had fewer riders and therefore a lower benefit/cost ratio.

 

As for syncing signals for the east-west lines, there's only so much that can be done without un-syncing the north-south streets.

 

But yes, there are a lot of ways the Green and Purple Lines could have been designed better through Downtown.

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