Four-day shutdown of light-rail trains in downtown Minneapolis starts Wednesday night

Blue and Green Line trains will stop running at 10 p.m. Wednesday and stay offline through 3 a.m. Monday.

The Minnesota Star Tribune
October 8, 2024 at 11:27AM
The Hiawatha Light Rail Line is being rebranded as the METRO Blue Line. The Blue Line is the first of the Twin Cities METRO system of rapid transit lines which include METRO Red Line Bus Rapid Transit on Cedar Ave. METRO Blue Line trains will now have three cars and will run every ten minutes throughout most of the day. Twelve new light-rail vehicles dedicated to the line will allow this increased service capacity. During the kickoff event Metro Transit staff handed out Blue line pens, new sched
A Blue Line train heads north to Target Field station. (Richard Sennott/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Metro Transit has some maintenance to do on the Blue and Green light-rail lines in downtown Minneapolis, and to get it done the agency will shut down service from Wednesday night through Monday morning.

Buses will shuttle passengers while the work is being done along tracks between Target Field Station and Franklin Avenue Station on the Blue Line and Target Field Station and Stadium Village at the University of Minnesota on the Green Line.

Trains on both lines will not run from 10 p.m. Wednesday through 3 a.m. Monday. Buses will run on a similar schedule as trains. A map showing where to catch replacement buses is available at metrotransit.org/closure.

“Replacement bus timing can vary and trips may take longer because of needed routing and traffic conditions,” the agency said in a statement. “Please plan extra time for your trip.”

Crews will replace rail and cables along the corridor and prepare for future light-rail expansion.

Affected stations on the Blue Line include Target Field, Warehouse District/Hennepin Avenue, Nicollet Mall, Government Plaza, U.S. Bank Stadium, Cedar-Riverside and northbound Franklin Avenue.

Affected stations on the Green Line include Target Field, Warehouse District/Hennepin Avenue, Nicollet Mall, Government Center Plaza, U.S. Bank Stadium, East Bank, West Bank and westbound Stadium Village.

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about the writer

Tim Harlow

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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. 

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