Route
The line begins at South Hills Village in Upper St. Clair, and runs north to Washington Junction through Bethel Park, providing a transfer to the Blue Line - Library, which runs via Overbrook. The Red Line continues north through Castle Shannon and Mount Lebanon, then through the Mount Lebanon Rail Tunnel underneath Washington Road/West Liberty Avenue (aka Truck U.S. Route 19) into Dormont at the other end. The first station coming out of the tunnel northbound is Dormont Junction, then line proceeds through this suburb, crossing many streets via grade crossings. The line then arrives at Potomac, where it begins travelling through street trackage about a quarter mile down the tracks, crossing into the neighborhood of Beechview in the city of Pittsburgh near the former Neeld Avenue stop.
Before the Mt. Lebanon Rail Tunnel, the old streetcars ran with car traffic on Washington Road between Alfred Street in Mt. Lebanon and the intersection of McFarland Road and Raleigh Avenue (where Washington Road becomes West Liberty Avenue) in Dormont.
At South Hills Junction the Red Line rejoins the Blue Line and the Brown Line, which runs over Mount Washington through the Allentown neighborhood. The Red Line runs through the Mount Washington Transit Tunnel, stopping at Station Square before crossing the Monongahela River on the Panhandle Bridge. Reaching downtown at First Avenue, the Red Line proceeds underground to Steel Plaza, Wood Street and Gateway Center. Upon reaching Gateway, the route then proceeds under the Allegheny River and makes additional stops at North Side and Allegheny stations on the North Shore.
Pittsburgh Regional Transit closed seven stations along the Red Line on June 25, 2012: Santa Barbara, Martin Villa, Kelton, Neeld, Boustead, Coast and Traymore.[4] An additional station, Pennant, was closed on February 15, 2021, due to safety concerns.[5] The line was renamed slightly to Red Line - Castle Shannon via Beechview when the North Shore Connector opened.
In December 2022 and May 2024, the Federal Transit Administration awarded PRT a total of $36.4 million to make improvements at 14 of the 15 Red Line stops that are not accessible. The Westfield, St. Anne and Bethel Village stops will be converted into fully-accessible high platform stations. The other 11 stations will receive more limited upgrades but will still have level boarding with rail vehicles. PRT determined Belasco station was unable to be modified to have level boarding.[6][7][8]
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