Metro (Minnesota)

Metro
A Minneapolis-bound train (left) passes a Saint Paul-bound train (right) on the Green Line near East Bank station.
Overview
Owner	Metropolitan Council
Locale	Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area
Transit type	Light rail (LRT) Bus rapid transit (BRT)
Number of lines	2 LRT lines 6 BRT lines
Line number	Blue Line   Green Line   Orange Line   Red Line   A Line   C Line   D Line
Number of stations	121
Daily ridership	44,600 (light rail, weekdays, Q4 2024)[1]
Annual ridership	15,489,100 (light rail, 2024)[2]
Website	metrotransit.org/metro
Operation
Began operation	June 26, 2004; 20 years ago
Operator(s)	Metro Transit
Number of vehicles	Bombardier Flexity Swift Siemens S70 Siemens S700 Gillig Low Floor New Flyer XD60 New Flyer XE60
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
System map A geographic map of the Metro network. The official system map can be viewed on the [1]. Interactive map v t e Legend System diagram Southwest LRT Southwest Eden Prairie Town Center Golden Triangle City West Opus Shady Oak Road Downtown Hopkins Blake Road Louisiana Boulevard Wooddale Avenue Beltline Boulevard Brooklyn Center C LineD Line West Lake Street Xerxes & 56th Avenue West 21st Street Brooklyn & 51st Avenue Bryn Mawr Penn & 43rd Avenue 44th Avenue & Penn Penn & Dowling 44th Avenue & Girard Penn & 36th Avenue Fremont & 42nd Avenue Penn & Lowry Fremont & Dowling Penn & 29th Avenue Fremont & 35th Avenue Penn & West Broadway Penn & Golden Valley Fremont-Emerson & Lowry Penn & Plymouth Fremont-Emerson & 26th Street Olson & Penn Fremont-Emerson & West Broadway Olson & Humboldt Fremont-Emerson & Plymouth Olson & Bryant Olson & 7th Street 7th Street & Bryant Basset Creek Valley Bottineau LRT Royalston Avenue/Farmers Market 7th Street & Olson-5th Street Blue LineGreen Line 7th Street/Ramp A Transit Center Target Field 7th-8th Street & Hennepin Warehouse District/Hennepin Avenue 7th-8th Street & Nicollet Nicollet Mall Marq-2nd & 7th Street Marq-2nd & 5th Street 7th-8th Street & 3rd/4th Avenue Government Plaza 7th-8th Street & Park C Line U.S. Bank Stadium Marq-2nd & 11th Street Marq-2nd & 3rd Street Orange Line I-35W & Lake Street West Bank I-35W & 46th Street East Bank Cedar-Riverside Stadium Village Franklin Avenue Prospect Park Lake Street/Midtown Westgate 38th Street Raymond Avenue A Line 46th Street Fairview Avenue Chicago & 14th Street 46th Street & Minnehaha Chicago & Franklin 46th Street & 46th Avenue Chicago & 24th Street Ford & Woodlawn Chicago & 26th Street Ford & Finn Chicago-Lake Transit Center Ford & Kenneth Chicago & 34th Street Ford & Fairview Chicago & 38th Street Snelling & Highland Chicago & 42nd Street Snelling & Randolph Chicago & 46th Street Snelling & St. Clair Chicago & 48th Street Snelling & Grand Chicago & 52nd Street Snelling & Dayton Chicago & 56th Street Snelling & University Portland & 60th Street Snelling Avenue Portland & 66th Street Snelling & Minnehaha Portland & 70th Street Snelling & Hewitt Portland & 73rd Street Snelling & Como Portland & 77th Street Snelling & Hoyt-Nebraska American & Chicago Snelling & Larpenteur American & Bloomington Snelling & County Road B American & Thunderbird Rosedale 50th Street/Minnehaha Park Hamline Avenue VA Medical Center Lexington Parkway Fort Snelling Victoria Street I-35W & 66th Street Dale Street Terminal 1-Lindbergh Western Avenue Knox & 76th Street Capitol/Rice Street Terminal 2-Humphrey Robert Street American Boulevard 10th Street Bloomington Central Central 28th Avenue Saint Paul Union Depot Green Line Knox & American Boulevard Mall of America Blue LineRed LineD Line I-35W & 98th Street Cedar Grove 140th Street Burnsville Heart of the City 147th Street I-35W & Burnsville Pkwy Apple Valley Orange Line Red Line light rail under construction bus rapid transit downtown fare zones free airport zone park and ride all stations accessible Route diagram map

Metro (stylized as METRO) is a transit network in Minnesota serving the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area. As of 2025, the system consists of two light rail lines (Blue and Green Lines) and six bus rapid transit (BRT) lines (Gold, Orange, Red, A, C, and D Lines), all of which are operated by Metro Transit, a service of the region's metropolitan planning agency. The eight lines connect Minneapolis and Saint Paul with surrounding communities.

In the 1970s, roughly contemporaneous with the construction of Washington D.C.'s Metro system and San Francisco's Bay Area Rapid Transit, the newly formed Metropolitan Council contemplated the creation of a similar mass transit for the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area, but the idea was eventually abandoned due to opposition from the Minnesota Legislature.^[3] For the next few decades, there were repeated proposals to build light rail along several corridors, particularly the University Avenue corridor between downtown Minneapolis and Saint Paul (the present Green Line), but the idea of light rail only gained steam in the late 1990s.

In 1999, the Minnesota Legislature approved funding for the first line (the present Blue Line) along Hiawatha Avenue (initially named the Hiawatha Line^[4]) in south Minneapolis, which opened in 2004. In 2011, in anticipation of the opening of the Red Line and Green Line, and in order to help passengers better identify with each of the routes, Metro Transit announced that the system would be rebranded and each line assigned a unique color. The first phase of the Red Line bus rapid transit (BRT) opened in mid-2013, and the first phase of the Green Line (also known as the Central Corridor) in mid-2014.

The first arterial BRT line, the A Line, which operates along Snelling Avenue between 46th Street station at the Blue Line and Rosedale Transit Center in Roseville, and also connects to the Green Line, opened on June 11, 2016.^[5] The C Line, running on Olson Memorial Highway and Penn Avenue from downtown Minneapolis to Brooklyn Center Transit Center in the northwest suburbs, opened on June 8, 2019.^[6]

Prior to August 17, 2019, service along the entire length of the Green Line operated 24/7, the only one of 22 light rail systems in the United States to do so, but a common practice on some heavy rail lines such as the New York City Subway and PATH. The service gap from 2AM to 4AM was replaced by bus service.^{[7][8][9][10]} The current schedule on the Blue Line sees the first departure at 3:19AM and the last arrival at 12:50AM.^[11] On the Green Line, the first departure is at 4:29AM and the last arrival is at 12:10AM.^[12] Metro Transit also provides a shuttle service between the stations serving Terminal 1 (Lindbergh) and Terminal 2 (Humphrey) of Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport during the overnight service gap on the Blue Line.^[13]

The Orange Line, which connects Burnsville to downtown Minneapolis via Interstate 35W, with stops in Bloomington, Richfield, and south Minneapolis, opened on December 4, 2021.^[14] The D Line, running between the Mall of America and Brooklyn Center Transit Center via downtown Minneapolis via Chicago and Fremont Avenues, opened on December 3, 2022.^[15] The Gold Line, which is the system's first BRT line operating primarily on exclusive lanes, opened on March 22, 2025, and connects communities between downtown Saint Paul and Woodbury along the Interstate 94 corridor.

Light rail:

•   Blue Line: Target Field Station – Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport – Mall of America
•   Green Line: Target Field Station – University of Minnesota – Union Depot

Bus rapid transit (BRT):

•   Gold Line: Union Depot – Woodlane Park & Ride
•   Orange Line: Downtown Minneapolis – Burnsville Heart of the City
•   Red Line: Mall of America – Apple Valley Transit Station
•   A Line: 46th Street station – Rosedale Transit Center
•   C Line: Downtown Minneapolis – Brooklyn Center Transit Center
•   D Line: Mall of America – Downtown Minneapolis – Brooklyn Center Transit Center

The current Metro system consists of eight lines. There are two light rail lines: the Blue Line, which runs from Target Field in downtown Minneapolis to Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport and the Mall of America, and the Green Line, which runs from Target Field through the University of Minnesota to Union Depot in downtown Saint Paul. Two bus rapid transit (BRT) lines operate primarily on freeways: the Red Line, which serves as an southward extension of the Blue Line across along Cedar Avenue where it connects with southern suburbs at four different stations, and the Orange Line, which runs along Interstate 35W from downtown Minneapolis south into Richfield, Bloomington and Burnsville. One BRT line, the Gold Line, operates primarily on a bus-only guideway parallel to Interstate 94. Finally, the arterial BRT A, C, and D lines, serving the Snelling, Penn, and Chicago-Fremont corridors respectively, serve as upgrades to existing local bus routes and connect with other Metro lines at certain shared stations.^[16]

The main hub of the system is Target Field Station in downtown Minneapolis, which connects to the Blue, Green, Orange, C, and D Lines. Mall of America Station is also a hub, serving the Blue, Red, and D Lines. Saint Paul Union Depot is envisioned as an additional future hub, currently connecting to the Green and Gold Lines.^[17]

Most trains and buses run at least every 15 minutes throughout the day, with reduced schedules at night and on weekends, and have transit advantages such as bus lanes and transit signal priority. All routes feature enhanced station amenities such as heating, pay-at-the-station boarding, and electronic NexTrip displays that show predicted real-time departure information. Predicted real-time departure information and route planning is also available through Metro Transit's website.^[18]

Metro uses a proof-of-payment system, requiring riders to carry tickets at all times. Fares are purchased before boarding, either at ticket machines located in the stations or by scanning a Go-To card at dedicated terminals. Tickets are valid for 2 1/2 hours after purchase. An unlimited number of transfers between Metro lines and Metro Transit bus routes within the same fare level are allowed within this period.^[19] Within the two Downtown Zones of Minneapolis and St. Paul, tickets are 50¢, but do not allow transfers. Certain buses operating on Nicollet Mall are marked as Free Ride.^[20] Otherwise, standard fares apply.^[21]

• Adults: $2
• Youth, Seniors and Medicare card holders: $1
• Persons with disabilities: $1 (Regular and express)
• Children under 5: Free with paying rider. Limit is 3.
• Express Bus: $3.25 rush hour, $2.50 otherwise

(Rush hour is classified as Monday - Friday, 6-9 am & 3-6:30 pm)

In addition, all-day passes are sold. Passes for various lengths of time or numbers of trips at also available to be loaded onto Go-To cards.

All University of Minnesota undergraduate and graduate students (that pay the Transportation and Safety fee) are provided a Universal Transit Pass through their U-Cards. This allows Student-IDs to be used for unlimited rides on all regular route transit busses, Light Rail and Bus Rapid Transit, as well a reduced fare on the Northstar Line commuter rail.^[22] Staff at the Twin Cities Campus may be eligible for a Metropass, this pass allows all the same benefits as the Universal Transit Pass, without the fare reduction on the Northstar Line. As of January 2023, cost of this pass is $83 per month. This will reach a break even point after between 26 and 33 trips per month.^[23]

Passengers at Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport can use the Blue Line between the Terminal 1-Lindbergh station and Terminal 2–Humphrey station free of charge. These two stations are served 24/7.^[24]

Several expansion projects are planned for the Metro system, at various stages of completion. These include both light rail extensions and bus rapid transit services.

The Green Line extension (also known as the Southwest LRT) is an under construction expansion of the Green Line, running from Target Field Station to the southwestern suburbs of St. Louis Park, Hopkins, Minnetonka, and Eden Prairie, terminating at SouthWest Station. The project was given federal approval in November 2018, and ground was broken on construction on November 30, 2018.^[25] Completion of the project is expected in 2027, at an expected cost of over US$2 billion. It will be the largest infrastructure project in state history.^[26]

The B Line is an arterial bus rapid transit route under construction for the Twin Cities' Lake Street/Marshall Avenue corridor, replacing the existing Route 21. It will run from Bde Maka Ska in Minneapolis' Uptown neighborhood ^[27] to downtown Saint Paul along Selby Avenue. This line will largely replace route 21 and will connect with eight current or planned Metro lines.^[28][29] Major construction was completed by December 2024, with service scheduled to begin on June 14, 2025.^[27]

The E Line is an arterial bus rapid transit route under construction that will operate along the Hennepin Avenue corridor (existing Route 6). Metro Transit's 2012 rapid bus study identified a route that would run from downtown Minneapolis to a future Lake Street station on the Metro Green Line extension. However, after further study in the spring of 2019, Metro Transit recommended a route from the Green Line's Stadium Village stop, through Dinkytown to Hennepin Avenue, and then south via Hennepin, 44th Street, and France Avenue to Southdale Transit Center in Edina.^[30] The E Line is scheduled to open on December 6, 2025.^[31]

The Blue Line extension (also known as the Bottineau LRT) is a planned extension of the Blue Line to Brooklyn Park. After failing to come to an agreement with BNSF over co-locating light rail and freight trains in the railroad's corridor, the Metropolitan Council announced they would begin to "explore opportunities to advance this critical project without using BNSF Railway right of way."^[32] New alignments for the southern portion of route were presented for public comment in March 2021 and it was determined that the Blue Line extension will primarily run along Bottineau Boulevard (County Road 81).^[33][34]

The Gold Line is set to undergo an extension to downtown Minneapolis via Interstate 94 with an anticipated opening in 2027. It will replace the existing Route 94 and primarily travel on existing shoulders with a stop at Snelling Avenue to connect to the A Line.^[35]

The Purple Line, formerly known as the Rush Line Corridor, is a planned bus rapid transit route that will run between downtown Saint Paul and the city's northeastern suburbs. The current iteration of the line was proposed to run predominantly on the Ramsey County Regional Railroad Authority corridor adjacent to the Bruce Vento Regional Trail from downtown Saint Paul to downtown White Bear Lake.^[36] However, this route was eliminated in favor of studying an alignment along White Bear Avenue terminating somewhere in Maplewood as the White Bear Lake City Council passed a resolution requesting that the route not enter their city in March 2022.^[37] In October 2024, the Maplewood City Council also withdrew its support for the Purple Line.^[38] As of April 2025, the Metropolitan Council and Ramsey County are holding conversations with the City of Maplewood to determine next steps for the Purple Line.^[39] An updated locally preferred alternative is expected in 2025.^[40]

The F Line is an arterial bus rapid transit route undergoing planning that will run between downtown Minneapolis and Northtown Transit Center in Blaine. It will run mostly along Central and University Avenues (existing Route 10).^[41] Construction was originally anticipated for 2025, but has been moved to 2028 to align with roadway improvements by the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT).

The G Line is a planned arterial bus rapid transit route operating between West St. Paul and Little Canada via downtown Saint Paul. The line will run on Rice Street north of downtown and mostly on Robert Street south of downtown (existing Routes 62 and 68). Engineering is slated to be complete by 2026, while the route itself will be constructed and opened in two phases to align with planned construction on Robert Street. The first segment is between Little Canada Transit Station and downtown, and will be constructed in 2026 and 2027. The second, southern segment to Dakota County Northern Service Center is set to be built by the end of 2028.^[42]

The H Line is a planned arterial bus rapid transit route that will serve Como and Maryland Avenues, where Route 3 currently operates. It will run between downtown Minneapolis and Sun Ray Transit Center, where it will connect with the Gold Line. The project is currently in planning and will undergo station design work in 2026 and 2027.^[43]

The Riverview Corridor is a transit corridor connecting downtown Saint Paul and the Mall of America in Bloomington via the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport. The corridor creates a triangle connecting opposite ends of the Blue Line and Green Line. The corridor has been studied numerous times for transit improvements. In December 2017, a modern streetcar system similar to systems in Portland, Kansas City, and Detroit was selected as the locally preferred alternative with an alignment along West Seventh Street and MN-5 at an estimated cost of $2.1 billion.^[44] However, Ramsey County, the organization leading the effort, announced the cancellation of the project in September 2024, largely due to community pushback.^[45][46] In March 2025, the City of Saint Paul announced a renewed effort to pursue BRT along the corridor, including a bypass of the Interstate 494/34th Avenue interchange in Bloomington and a bus guideway along a Canadian Pacific Rail spur in Saint Paul. Preliminary estimates place the project's cost at $500 million with a planned opening in the early 2030s.^[47]

Metro Transit has begun the process of selecting its next three arterial BRT lines - the J, K, and L Lines, which are planned to be opened between 2030 and 2035. As of April 2025, 17 candidate corridors are being considered, with screening and evaluation to be conducted until late 2025 and early 2026.^[48]

There are also numerous proposals in early planning stages, including Highway 169 between northern Scott County and downtown Minneapolis, Highway 55 between Plymouth and Golden Valley and downtown Minneapolis, an extension of the Orange Line to Burnsville Center (led by Dakota County), infill stations and an extension of the Red Line, rail along the Midtown Greenway corridor, Red Rock Corridor Highway BRT on Highway 61 between Saint Paul and Hastings, West Broadway Modern Streetcar, Interstate 35W between downtown Minneapolis and Blaine, Highway 36 (led by Washington County), bus rapid transit as a part of MnDOT's Rethinking I-94 study, County Road 42 between Shakopee and Rosemount (led by the Minnesota Valley Transit Authority) and American Boulevard (led by the City of Bloomington).^[40]

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The Metro system's rail lines use a combination of exclusive and shared right-of-way, depending on the circumstances. Within the two Downtown Zones, trains run on surface streets in an exclusive right-of-way, without preemption. The Blue Line runs primarily alongside Hiawatha Avenue (Minnesota State Highway 55), along land originally acquired for expansion of that highway, except for a brief stretch in a tunnel underneath Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport. The Green Line runs along the median of University Avenue in an exclusive right-of-way, except for a brief stretch of the Washington Avenue Transit Mall where its tracks are shared with buses. The Blue Line's at-grade crossings are protected by automated grade crossing gates; the Green Line's crossings move in regular traffic, with signal priority but no preemption.

Since the completion of three-car station extensions in winter 2010, Metro Transit operates one-, two- and three-car trains on the Blue Line, depending on the time of day and ridership needs. Many stations on the line were initially built to be capable of serving only one- or two-car trains, as a cost-saving measure; all of the shorter platforms were designed and built with future extension in mind and currently all stations are capable of serving three-car trains. The Green Line was built with three-car platforms at all stations.

Currently three models of LRVs run in the Metro system.

Type I LRVs are Bombardier Flexity Swifts, utilizing a low floor for accessible boarding at all stations. Metro Transit operates 27 vehicles on the lines, numbered 101 through 127. Initially painted with Metro Transit livery, all have been repainted as of 2015 to reflect the Metro system branding. During this time, Type I cars also were retrofitted with colored LCD headboards for route destination displays and other improvements.

Type II LRVs are Siemens S70/Avantos. 64 vehicles were purchased, primarily to serve the Green Line. Type II LRVs are mechanically, but not electronically, compatible with the current fleet of 27 "type I" vehicles, so while the two generations do run on the tracks at the same time and both types are able to push a malfunctioning unit of the other type, multiple-unit consists may only be assembled of one type.^[49]

Type III LRVS are Siemens S700. In 2016, Metro Transit placed an order for 27 more Siemens S70 LRVs for its planned Southwest Corridor expansion.^[50] The cars in this order were considered to be model S70 at the time the order was placed, but in 2019/20 were retroactively rebranded as model S700 by Siemens.^[51] These used a modified center-truck design that allowed sideways-facing seating in the center section,^[52] for better passenger flow.^[51] In 2018, Siemens adopted a new model number, S700, for S70 LRVs that used the new center-section design, and in 2020 it retroactively applied the new designation to all previous S70 LRVs built to the new design; as a result, all of Metro Transit's type III LRVs (301–327) are now Siemens model S700.^[51][53] The first two S700 vehicles arrived in May 2020.^[54]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Metro Transit (Minneapolis-Saint Paul).

• What is METRO?
• METRO System Map - Future Rapid Transit Network

44°59′5″N 93°16′54″W / 44.98472°N 93.28167°W / 44.98472; -93.28167