List of MAX Light Rail stations

Goose Hollow/Southwest Jefferson Street station and Washington Park station: in-ground and underground, as well as island and split-platform, respectively. Both stations serve the Blue and Red Lines.

Metropolitan Area Express (MAX) is a light rail transit system serving the Portland metropolitan area, Oregon, United States.[1] The system is operated by TriMet, a public agency that operates public transit in the Portland area. Serving an average of 130,000 passengers a day (in Fiscal Year 2012),[2] MAX Light Rail is one of the largest light rail systems in the United States in terms of ridership.[3]

The MAX system currently consists of five lines, each designated by a color.

     Blue Line: Hillsboro – City Center – Gresham[4]
     Green Line: Clackamas – City Center – Portland State University[5]
     Orange Line: Union Station – City Center – Portland State University – Milwaukie[6]
     Red Line: Portland International Airport – City Center – Hillsboro Airport/Fairgrounds station[7]
     Yellow Line: Expo Center – City Center – Portland State University[8]

MAX Light Rail began service on September 5, 1986 with the opening of the original segment from Downtown Portland to Gresham.[9] An extension westward to Beaverton and Hillsboro opened in 1998.[10] The resulting 33-mile east-west line has always been operated as a single through route, and it became known as the Blue Line in 2001, after TriMet adopted color designations for its separate light rail routes after the Red Line opened to the airport.[11] The Yellow Line branch to the Expo Center opened in 2004.[12] In 2009, the Green Line opened, serving the Portland Transit Mall (along with the rerouted Yellow Line) and the new I-205 branch to Clackamas.

The system currently has a total of 97 stations, with 3 scheduled to close in March 2020. Fifty-one stations are served by the Blue Line, 28 stations by the Green Line, 17 by the Orange Line, 29 by the Red Line, and 17 by the Yellow Line, with 39 stations served by two or more lines and 8 by three. All trains connect at Pioneer Courthouse Square.

Since 2012, there is a flat fare for the entire TriMet system. Prior to 2012, fares on the MAX system were zonal (i.e. distance-based), the same as on TriMet's bus service.[13] The center of downtown was called Fareless Square (later the "Free Rail Zone") and included the area from the Library and Galleria stations to the Old Town/Chinatown Station. This was later expanded across the Steel Bridge into the Lloyd District as far as the Lloyd Center/NE 11th Ave station, and the Interstate/Rose Quarter station. When the Portland Transit Mall was remodeled in 2009 to accommodate light rail, all stations on the transit mall were included as part of Fareless Square. Moving out from the center of downtown, Zone 1 included the Albina/Mississippi station on the Yellow Line, and from Providence Park to Washington Park on the Red and Blue lines. Zone 2 consisted of the rest of the Yellow Line (from Overlook Park to the Expo Center) as well as the three stations next to Interstate 84 (Hollywood/NE 42nd, NE 60th, and NE 82nd). Zone 3 consisted of all other MAX stations, including all stations in Washington County and all stations beyond the Gateway/NE 99th Avenue Transit Center.

  1. ^ "MAX Light Rail Project History". TriMet. Archived from the original on January 7, 2010. Retrieved September 12, 2009.
  2. ^ "June 2012 Monthly Performance Report" (PDF). TriMet. July 23, 2012. p. 1. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 8, 2021. Retrieved September 2, 2012.
  3. ^ "TriMet Service and Ridership Information" (PDF). TriMet. October 19, 2011. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 8, 2021. Retrieved September 2, 2012.
  4. ^ "MAX Blue Line". TriMet. Archived from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved November 2, 2008.
  5. ^ "MAX Green Line". TriMet. Archived from the original on January 8, 2021. Retrieved September 12, 2009.
  6. ^ "ORANGE LINE SCHEDULES". TriMet. Archived from the original on January 8, 2021. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
  7. ^ "MAX Red Line". TriMet. Archived from the original on January 8, 2021. Retrieved November 2, 2008.
  8. ^ "MAX Yellow Line". TriMet. Archived from the original on December 11, 2018. Retrieved November 2, 2008.
  9. ^ "Eastside MAX Blue Line Project History". TriMet. Archived from the original on September 24, 2008. Retrieved November 2, 2008.
  10. ^ "Westside MAX Blue Line Project History". TriMet. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved November 2, 2008.
  11. ^ "Systems News [regular news section]". Tramways & Urban Transit. UK: Ian Allan Publishing. December 2000. p. 471. ISSN 1460-8324. With the light rail system due to expand to two services in September 2001, and three in 2004 (with all three using the same routing and stops in the city centre), Tri-Met has decided to assign route colours as follows ...
  12. ^ "Interstate MAX Yellow Line Project History". TriMet. Archived from the original on April 17, 2009. Retrieved August 5, 2009.
  13. ^ Bailey Jr., Everton (August 30, 2012). "TriMet boosts most fares starting Saturday; some routes changing". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on March 1, 2020. Retrieved September 2, 2012.