Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Aug. 8 , 2008
PART OF HIAWATHA LINE TO BE CLOSED SUNDAY FOR MAINTENANCE
MINNEAPOLIS – (Aug. 8) – Planned maintenance work will shutdown a portion of the Hiawatha light-rail line Sunday, pressing buses into service to replace trains.
The maintenance schedule calls for buses to substitute for trains from 2 a.m. to noon on Sunday (Aug. 10) between Warehouse District/Hennepin Avenue Station and Fort Snelling Station. Trains will operate normally between Fort Snelling Station and Mall of America.
Crews will be working in a number of locations Sunday.
-Work will begin at Government Plaza Station to build a fence between the tracks.
-Maintenance work on the overheard power system will be accomplished near Cedar/Riverside station
-Platform maintenance will be completed at five stations
-Brush will be cut next to the tracks between 32nd Street and 46th Street
-Rail durability testing will be completed, and
-A City of Minneapolis contractor will work in the skyways above the tracks in downtown
Customers can learn of any last-minute changes to the maintenance schedule by calling the rail maintenance hotline at 612-373-3333, option 6.
The Hiawatha light-rail line is operated by Metro Transit, a service of the Metropolitan Council. Customers boarded Hiawatha trains 4.6 million times during the first half of 2008, a 16.2 percent increase over the same period last year.
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(Editors: For more information contact Bob Gibbons, director of customer services, at 612-349-7509 or robert.gibbons@metc.state.mn.us)
