Red Line (St. Louis MetroLink)

In the initial design phase of MetroLink, Metro's Arts in Transit program commissioned a group of artists to design unique bridge piers for MetroLink viaducts. Collaborating with architects and engineers, the artists designed the arched supports that reflect an inverted version of the arch motif used throughout the MetroLink system design. The bridge pier system is a signature of MetroLink design and appears in the subsequent St. Clair and Cross County alignments.[2]

In 2008, the Arts in Transit program commissioned a work for the alignment along Interstate 70 near Lambert Airport. Titled St. Louis Rhythm and created by Richard Elliot, it was made using roadway reflectors on 16 concrete Jersey barriers that are activated by the headlights of passing cars.[3]

In 2011, another Arts in Transit commission was installed on the shared alignment near Interstate 64 on the bridge over Vandeventer Avenue. Titled Blue Train and created by Clark Wiegman, this cubist locomotive represents the opening eight bars of the melody of “St. Louis Blues.” During the day, this piece appears as an oversized locomotive spewing a trail of notes or an unfurling piano roll. At night, it becomes a geometric abstraction about linear dynamism and the implied form of the bridge punching through the surrounding ambient light.[4]

On July 26, 2022, the Delmar Loop and Forest Park-DeBaliviere stations were flooded in a catastrophic flash flooding event that shut the system down for close to 72 hours.[5] Damage to the stations, rolling stock, ballast, signaling infrastructure, fiber optics, etc. is estimated to be $40 million.[6]

On September 5, 2022, Metro announced new schedules to accommodate repairs being made to the system. It is estimated repairs could take six months or longer.[7] Currently, the Red Line is operating at all of its 29 stations but with restricted speeds in some flood-damaged sections.[8]

The platforms at Stadium in downtown St. Louis.

From the Forest Park-DeBaliviere station, the Red and Blue lines share the same set of tracks for the next 16 stations.[9] Continuing east, the Central West End and Cortex stations serve the popular Central West End neighborhood, Washington University Medical Center and Cortex Innovation Community. The Grand station transfers with the busy #70 MetroBus line and serves Saint Louis University and its hospital. Next, the Union Station, Civic Center, Stadium, 8th & Pine, Convention Center, and Laclede's Landing stations serve downtown St. Louis and its many popular attractions. Crossing the historic Eads Bridge into Illinois, the line serves the East Riverfront, 5th & Missouri, Emerson Park, Jackie Joyner-Kersee Center, and Washington Park stations in East St. Louis, Illinois. At the next station, Fairview Heights, the Blue Line terminates and the Red Line continues south to Belleville, Illinois to its terminus at the Shiloh-Scott station located at Scott Air Force Base.

From Lambert Airport to Shiloh-Scott (west to east)

In 2019, the St. Clair County Transit District was awarded $96 million in Illinois infrastructure funding to build a 5.2-mile (8.4 km) extension of the Red Line from Shiloh-Scott to MidAmerica St. Louis Airport in Mascoutah.[17] This extension will include two 2.6-mile (4.2 km) segments, double and single-track segments, along with a passenger station at the end of the alignment at the airport.[18] Design work was completed in the summer of 2022 and a request for proposals was released that November. Construction on the expansion is expected to begin in 2023 with Metro beginning operations in 2025.[19][20]

In 2023, Metro began a system-wide rehabilitation program that will last up to two years.[21] Work on the Red Line will include the rehabilitation of the Union Station and downtown subway tunnels, including the Laclede's Landing, Convention Center and 8th & Pine subway stations.[22] Elsewhere, curve tracks, catenary wire, system conduit, staircases and retaining walls are to be upgraded or replaced.[23] Three Red Line stations are to receive platform rehabilitations:  Jackie Joyner-Kersee Center, Rock Road and Wellston.[23]

In 2024, Metro expects to complete upgrades to the Supervisory Control Automated Data Acquisition (SCADA) and Public Address/Customer Information (PA/CIS) systems. The upgraded SCADA/PA/CIS will operate as an integrated system that monitors and controls MetroLink operations and will allow Metro to provide real-time arrival information to passengers, such as live displays at stations.[23]

Lambert Airport to St. Charles County: Possible plans to expand MetroLink 16 to 20-miles (26-32 km) from Lambert Airport northwestward to St. Charles County were abandoned after St. Charles County voters rejected a sales tax in 1996 to fund an extension; subsequently, all MetroBus service was ended. If the extension was funded, the route would have used the Old St. Charles Bridge (now demolished) as a crossing over the Missouri River to the City of St. Charles, St. Peters, and O'Fallon. It is not likely to be considered in the future as St. Charles County residents still largely oppose light rail expansion.[26]

East St. Louis to Alton/Edwardsville: A study in 2005 was performed to investigate the potential costs, ridership, and impacts of extending Metrolink into Madison County, Illinois. According to the East-West Gateway Council of Governments, there are two recommended alignments for Madison County. Both of the alignments will start from the 5th & Missouri station out of East St Louis in St. Clair County to Granite City, Collinsville, Glen Carbon, Edwardsville, East Alton, Wood River, and Alton in Madison County, Illinois 21 to 23-miles (34-37 km) away. The alignments would have split in Madison, Illinois. In order to plan any Madison County extensions, Metro will have to collaborate with Madison County Transit.[27]