Pittsburgh T

The Pittsburgh Light Rail system, known as the "T" is owned and operated by the Port Authority of Allegheny County, a public agency. The system is mostly a linear north-south service from just north of downtown Pittsburgh to suburbs to the south. The Blue and Red lines are interlined through downtown and they provide alternative paths to the south with some shared sections. This system is one of the very few in the United States where a modern light rail sysem was built from an existing operational streetcar system, allowing for reuse of existing streetcar rights of way and some track. The number of stations from the streetcar system was reduced to take advantage of the higher speeds of the modern vehicles, and some of the tracks were also upgraded for the same reason. Much of the downtown section was completely redone. Vehicles: Siemens  SD-400 and CAF  CAF LRV Sources: Wikipedia,  The Toromto LRT Information Page,  nycsubway.org Rights of Way Through most of downtown, the T works as a subway, with underground stations. Towards the southern end of downtown the line becomes elevated before crossing the Monangehela river on a bridge dedicated to Light Rail traffic.  Further south to the suburbs the lines are a combination of the old trolley segments and newer constructions. Downtown Underground Section The T has four underground stations as part of a continuous underground section through most of downtown. Steel Plaza Station Photo Source: The Toromto LRT Information Page,  Author: © Calvin Henry-Cotnam

Elevated Sections The T has elevated sections and fairly new stations at both ends of the underground downtown subway. The Alleghany station serves the city North Shore and other adjacent neighborhoods. The First Avenue station near the Monangehela river bridge was opened to provide better access to the southern end of downtown, which includes government offices and major office buildings.
Allegheny Station Photo Source: Wikipedia, Author: John Marino	Leaving First Avenue Station Photo Source: Wikipedia, Author: © Tom Hamilton

Mixed Traffic Sections Some sections south of downtown take advantage of the old streetcar routes, and they continue to be mixed traffic sections as the streetcars were. Many of the stops are just simple low-level platforms as seen below.
Red Line Near Boustead Station Photo Source: Light Rail Central,  Author: © Jon Bell	Red Line Shiras Station Photo Source: The Toromto LRT Information Page,  Author: © Calvin Henry-Cotnam

Underground Tunneling The T makes use of some old trolley tunnels as well as modern tunnels, such as the Mount Lebanon tunnel built to replace eight blocks of street running.	Modernized Sections Some sections and stations have been modernized with separated grades and high level platfoms.
Red Line Mount Lebanon Tunnel Photo Source: The Toromto LRT Info. Page,  Author: © Calvin Henry-Cotnam	Blue Line McNeilly Station Photo Source: The Toromto LRT Info. Page,  Author: © Calvin Henry-Cotnam

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