Regular Red Line light rail service returns after 10 weeks of track replacement

For the first time in 10 weeks, travel will return to normal Sunday for Pittsburgh Regional Transit riders who use the light rail system between Dormont Junction and South Hills Junction.

That means they will no longer have to use shuttles between the two stations because crews have finished replacing several thousand feet of track. Safety projects during the closure also included reconstructing four grade crossings, and the agency also did several other nonsafety projects so they wouldn’t have to disrupt service again later.

The tracks closed June 16 and shuttles were available to take Red Line riders from Dormont Junction to Overbrook Junction, near where they could board the Blue Line at Willow Station to travel inbound to Downtown Pittsburgh or outbound to South Hills Village.

The agency also set up two temporary bus routes, 42 Potomac that started at Potomac Station and 37 Castle Shannon at Castle Shannon Station. The buses took passengers to and from Station Square on Pittsburgh’s South Side.

The track work is part of $150 million in light rail projects the agency will complete over the next several years. That work will include replacing track inside the Mount Washington and Mt. Lebanon transit tunnels and rehabilitating the Panhandle Bridge that carries trains across the Monongahela River between South Side and Downtown Pittsburgh.

Riders also will continue to face disruptions at light rail stations on the Blue Line while crews put an epoxy sealer on a series of concrete platforms to prevent water from seeping in and causing deterioration, but the schedule for some of that work has changed.

Work at Overbrook Junction will cause the inbound platform to be closed from 7 a.m. Tuesday through the end of service on Wednesday. Riders can use a temporary low-level platform that will be built, but riders who need to the ramp should use Willow Station instead.

Red line riders should board at Castle Shannon Station or Washington Junction.

Two other stations will be completely closed for weekend projects: Memorial Hall Station will be closed from 8 p.m. Friday until the start of service on Monday with riders asked to use Willow or Killarney stations and Denise Station will be closed from 8 p.m. Sept. 13 until the start of service Sept. 16 with riders directed to Bon Air or South Bank stations.