Kansas City opens downtown light rail line
Written by Kevin Smith, Editor-in-Chief, International Railway Journal
Kansas City, Mo., celebrated the return of light rail to its streets after a 59-year hiatus on May 6th with the opening of a 2.2-mile line from River Market via the city center to Union Station.
The opening ceremony was held at Union Station and attended by mayor Sly James and other city and Federal Railroad Administration officials who enjoyed the first ride on the line, which serves 16 stations. Public rides commenced an hour later at 11:00 as a day of celebrations and live music ensued, with three of the four Urbos 3 LRVs supplied by CAF in operation, and the other set available for public viewing at Union Station. The vehicles have capacity for 148 passengers and offer free passenger Wi-Fi.
The line will open from 6 A.M. to midnight Monday – Thursday, 6 A.M. to 2 A.M. on Fridays, 7 A.M. to 2 A.M. on Saturdays, and 7 A.M. to 10 P.M. on Sundays. Services will operate at 10-minute intervals at peak times, and every 12 minutes at other times, apart from on Sundays where an 18-minute interval service will be available. All rides on the service are free.
Construction on the $102 million project began in May 2014.
