Capital Metro to open Red Line March 22

By Kelsey Wilkinson Friday, 05 March 2010

AUSTIN — “The community is ready to open this just like we are,” said Erica McKewen, communication specialist with Capital Metro. “There is a lot of anticipation for this new way to commute.”

The Red Line will run on 32 miles of existing freight tracks between Leander and downtown Austin, offering service every 35 minutes during morning and afternoon rush hours. The passenger rail service is expected to be faster than express buses that currently operate similar routes through the area because the rails are not at the mercy of Austin traffic. McKewen said Capital Metro expects to see some 1,700 to 2,000 riders per day using the new rail system.

The Red Line was initially scheduled to open in March 2009, but a variety of factors including safety violations by then-contractor Veolia Transportation led the transit organization to push back the start date.

“We weren’t going to compromise safety,” McKewen said about the organization’s decision to push back the start date. “We made a decision internally that we weren’t going to open the system until everything was worked out.”

Capital Metro has since made safety and efficiency improvements to the rail line, and elected to open it to the public after the organization received positive feedback from the Federal Railroad Administration early this month.