Sunday, April 1, 2012

1 Week: Pittsburgh Subway Extension Open

Precise Times of First Subway Trains

The under-river extension of the Pittsburgh subway system opened one week ago. The subway extension project originally known as the North Shore Connector, now known temporarily as "T-Plus," officially opened to the public on Sunday Morning, 2012 March 25.

This new subway line extends the Pittsburgh Light Rail Transit system from Downtown to the Lower North Side of Pittsburgh. The original Port Authority of Allegheny County (PAT) Light Rail Transit system, upgraded from a nineteenth century trolley system, opened in July of 1985 and runs from a Downtown Subway to the Station Square station on the city's South Side, then proceeds on two separate rail lines into the South Hills, terminating at Library and at South Hills Village.

The new subway extension runs from a new Gateway Subway Station, Downtown, under the Allegheny River to a large North Side Subway Station just south of the historic D.L. Clark Building, then terminating at an elevated Allegheny Station, located between Heinz Field and Rivers Casino.

Public officials and many members of the public participated in a ceremonial first ride on Friday Afternoon, 2012 March 23.

First Official, Revenue Service Train to the North Side

The first official run occurred early Sunday Morning, 2012 March 25. The first revenue service train was a Red Line train which started at South Hills Village running through Upper Saint Clair, Bethel Park, Castle Shannon, Mount Lebanon, Dormont and through the Beechview, Mount Washington, Beltzhoover, Station Square/South Side, and Downtown neighborhoods of Pittsburgh before running under the Allegheny River into Pittsburgh's Lower North Side.

Although regular public transit service (i.e. this does not include ceremonial rides) is known in the public transit industry as "revenue service," all service on this new subway extension will be free-of-charge to the public, at least for the next three years. Service between Downtown and the North Side Subway Station is being subsidized by the Pittsburgh Stadium Authority and Alco Parking; the Pittsburgh Steelers and Rivers Casino are subsidizing the link to the Allegheny Elevated Station.

Many people rode on this first official train to the North Side. In addition to the author, Glenn A, Walsh, this included Francis G. Graham (Professor Emeritus, Kent State University), Stu Strickland (former President of the Allegheny County Transit Council), and PAT staff member Chuck Rompala (also a former President of the Allegheny County Transit Council).

The following are the precise times when this two-car train reached the newly constructed transit stations, on the very first official, revenue service run on Sunday Morning, 2012 March 25. Times were determined by using a portable "atomic clock" (clock which is corrected, automatically, each evening by atomic-time, long-wave radio station WWVB, Fort Collins, Colorado, operated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology):

Northbound --

Gateway Subway Station
     Arrived:    5:55:34 a.m. EDT
     Departed: 5:55:58 a.m. EDT

North Side Subway Station
     Arrived:    5:58:59 a.m. EDT
     Departed: 5:59:17 a.m. EDT

Allegheny Elevated Station
     Arrived:    6:01:48 a.m. EDT

Southbound --

Allegheny Elevated Station
     Departed: 6:06:43 a.m. EDT

North Side Subway Station
     Arrived:    6:08:43 a.m. EDT
     Departed: 6:08:59 a.m. EDT

Gateway Subway Station
     Arrived:    6:12:03 a.m. EDT
     Departed: 6:12:23 a.m. EDT

First Official, Rush-Hour, Revenue Service Train to the North Side

The following are the precise times when the first two-car train (also a Red Line train) reached the newly constructed transit stations, on the very first official, rush-hour, revenue service run on Monday Morning, 2012 March 26. Times were determined by using a portable "atomic clock" (clock which is corrected, automatically, each evening by atomic-time, long-wave radio station WWVB, Fort Collins, Colorado, operated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology):

Northbound --

Gateway Subway Station
     Arrived:    5:14:21 a.m. EDT
     Departed: 5:14:37 a.m. EDT

North Side Subway Station
     Arrived:    5:17:43 a.m. EDT
     Departed: 5:17:55 a.m. EDT

Allegheny Elevated Station
     Arrived:    5:21:02 a.m. EDT

Southbound --

Allegheny Elevated Station
     Departed: 5:23:21 a.m. EDT

North Side Subway Station
     Arrived:    5:25:55 a.m. EDT
     Departed: 5:26:08 a.m. EDT

Gateway Subway Station
     Arrived:    5:29:07 a.m. EDT
     Departed: 5:29:16 a.m. EDT

North Side Light Rail Station Destinations

The new North Side extension of the Pittsburgh subway system provides easy pedestrian access to several important North Side destinations --

North Side Subway Station:

Original Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science building (currently being used by the
     Children's Museum of Pittsburgh)
Original Carnegie Free Library of Allegheny building (current Carnegie Library located three blocks
     north of the historic building), including the world's first Carnegie Hall now used by the
     New Hazlett Theater
Old Allegheny Post Office building (currently being used by the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh)
Community College of Allegheny County, Allegheny Campus
Beginning in  2013: Temple University School of Medicine, Pittsburgh Regional Campus,
     4 Allegheny Center (former IBM Building)
National Aviary
Children's Museum of Pittsburgh
Andy Warhol Museum
New Hazlett Theater in World's First Carnegie Hall
Stage AE
PNC Park, Home of the Pittsburgh Pirates
Heinz Field, Home of the Pittsburgh Steelers and the University of Pittsburgh Panthers (football team)
Buhl Community Park at Allegheny Square (Allegheny Public Square) --
   See: http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2012/06/buhl-community-park-at-allegheny-square.html
Allegheny Commons West Park
Roberto Clemente/North Shore Park
Allegheny Traditional Academy
Martin Luther King, Jr., Elementary School
Kindred Hospital
Allegheny General Hospital
Allegheny County Medical Society
St. Peter's Catholic Church
Residence Inn by Marriott Pittsburgh
Springhill Suites by Marriott Pittsburgh
Hyatt Place Hotel North Shore
The Priory Hotel
Allegheny Center
North Shore Center
Lower North Side Business District

Allegheny Elevated Station:

Terminus of Bus Route 14 Ohio Valley
Terminus of Bus Route 18 Manchester
Community College of Allegheny County, Allegheny Campus
U.S.S. Requin Submarine
RiverQuest/Pittsburgh Voyager
The Carnegie Science Center
Heinz Field, Home of the Pittsburgh Steelers and the University of Pittsburgh Panthers (football team)
Rivers Casino
Roberto Clemente/North Shore Park

News Articles Regarding North Shore Connector:

>>> http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/transit/pat/nshore.html 

Construction Photographs of Subway Construction:

>>> http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/transit/actc/pics/nstunnel/ 

gaw

Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
Friends of the Zeiss < http://friendsofthezeiss.org >
Electronic Mail - < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
SPACE & SCIENCE NEWS, ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR:
  < http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#news >
Twitter: < http://twitter.com/spacewatchtower >
Facebook: < http://www.facebook.com/pages/SpaceWatchtower/238017839577841?sk=wall >
Blog: < http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/ >
Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
* Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh:
  < http://www.planetarium.cc >
* Adler Planetarium, Chicago:
  < http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
* Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear:
  < http://johnbrashear.tripod.com >
* Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries:
  < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc >
* Civil War Museum of Andrew Carnegie Free Library:
  < http://garespypost.tripod.com >
* Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh:
  < http://inclinedplane.tripod.com >
* Public Transit:
  < http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/transit >

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