After hours of delays, light-rail service restored in Minneapolis

Both the Blue and Green Lines were affected during the outages caused by a downed power line.

January 20, 2016 at 6:22PM
A Metro Transit light-rail train is pictured in this file photo.
A Metro Transit light-rail train is pictured in this file photo. (Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Light-rail train service has been restored after hours of delays Wednesday morning. The problems began around 8 a.m. after a downed power line knocked out service during the morning rush hour. Service was restored about 2:15 p.m.

The outage forced Metro Transit to run buses along the Green Line between the West Bank at the U of M to Target Field and on the Blue Line from Franklin Avenue to Target Field.

When train service on the Blue Line resumed later, riders were experiencing slow trips. One reader who contacted The Drive said her trip into downtown Minneapolis took 40 minutes, about 25 minutes longer than normal.

The power outage from the overhead wire may also be affecting ticket vending machines. Another reader who boarded at the Cedar-Riverside Station said a man was not able to buy a ticket from the vending machine and was worried about getting a fine.

"We (passengers) assured him that lots of people were in the same boat," the reader said in an email.

about the writer

about the writer

Tim Harlow

Reporter

Tim Harlow covers traffic and transportation issues in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, and likes to get out of the office, even during rush hour. He also covers the suburbs in northern Hennepin and all of Anoka counties, plus breaking news and weather. 

See More

More from Minneapolis

card image

From small businesses to giants like Target, retailers are benefitting from the $10 billion industry for South Korean pop music, including its revival of physical album sales.