CLEVELAND, Ohio – For longer than there’s been an RTA, train riders from the eastern suburbs traveling to the airport, or just to the West Side Market, have had to switch trains, most often at Tower City.
Same goes for those from the West Side trying to reach Shaker Square.
But this might not always be the case in the future.
One of the benefits of the new rail cars being purchased by the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority over the next few years is that they will be interchangeable.
Gone will be the limitations that now exist for the heavy rail cars of the Red Line that use high platforms and the lower-boarding light rail cars used on the Blue, Green and Waterfront lines. The new cars will be able to use both types of stations.
Already, RTA is starting to mull the possibilities.
“We know generally there are a significant number of people every day who arrive at Tower City from Blue Line and Green Line and walk through a gate … and get on the train going west toward the airport,” said Joel Freilich, the transit agency’s director of service management.
“Some are going to the airport. Some are going to the West Side Market. Some are going other places.”
Switching trains can add 10 minutes to the trip, often longer, depending on how schedules line up.
And that’s not to mention the inconvenience of having to lug shopping bags or luggage on and off the train an extra time. This inconvenience deters some number of potential riders from even getting on the train.
“I love the idea of anchoring both sides of Cleveland,” said Rosemary Mudry, executive director of the Cleveland Public Market Corp., the nonprofit that operates the West Side Market.
“Anything that allows shoppers to get to the Market more easily is a positive. … A lot more East Siders shop at the West Side Market than sometimes is talked about.”
And the new trains will open up the possibility that direct service could be offered from all three routes on the East Side to the Waterfront line. But because of the track configuration, that won’t be an option for the trains coming from the west.
RTA riders will start seeing the new trains in 2027. By 2028, all 54 cars that have been ordered – and maybe six more – will be in place, allowing RTA to start offering new options.
The cars costing $6 million apiece and largely being paid for by the federal government are replacing the current fleet that dates back to the early 1980s.
Exactly how the route offerings will pan out will depend on decisions that haven’t yet been made. Freilich said RTA will be looking at current usage data – where passengers get on and where they get off – and passenger surveys, plus what the budget will allow.
But RTA has long heard the wishes of people living in the areas of the Blue and Green lines to have direct service to the airport, Freilich said.
The Red Line extending from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport to East Cleveland is by far RTA’s busiest service – accounting last year for 3.2 million rides, or nearly 13% of all of RTA’s ridership. The light rail lines accounted for another 800,000 passengers.
What the new system will allow is for RTA to be nimble.
Say there is a big event at the new football stadium planned for Brook Park. Direct service from all three spurs on the East Side could be offered to the Brookpark Road station. (Side note for potentially further down the line: there’s an idea being floated by the Browns and Brook Park to add a station directly next to the new stadium, but that’s a $40 million proposal without a funding source at this point.)
“This will be the first time that when any car can serve any station,” Freilich pointed out. “Right now we have zero cars that can serve every station.”
rexner@cleveland.com – Reporter primarily covering the regional development and transportation beats for cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer. Past jobs at cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer include data analysis… more
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