MAX Red Line
The MAX Red Line is a light rail route in the Metropolitan Area Express light rail system in Portland, Oregon. The route runs between the Portland International Airport and Beaverton, via downtown Portland.
History of planning
When the Portland International Airport was suffering from heavy road traffic coming from increased passenger service, and the Port of Portland was running out of land for new parking lots, the Port approached TriMet with bringing MAX to the airport. The Airport MAX project was born, but the line did not go up for a vote after a North-South light rail route (part of which is today's MAX Yellow Line) was defeated. Instead, the Port and TriMet built the project through a Public-Private Partnership with the Bechtel Corporation. Bechtel agreed to pay for a large portion of the land cost of the line in exchange for rights to the Cascades development on empty land that the Port of Portland owned near I-205 and the Airport, but as of 2005, it still has not happened yet. The line opened on September 10, 2001, which ironically was one day before the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The line was a success even on the day of the terrorist attacks. The Airport MAX line is also the West Coast's first trains-to-planes connection. The MAX Red Line is owned by TriMet. In 2003, the Red Line was extended west from downtown to Beaverton to improve capacity between the Gateway area and Beaverton and also provide an airport connection for Westside MAX riders.
Future plans
The Red Line may branch up I-205 over the Glenn L. Jackson Memorial Bridge into Vancouver, Washington.
Stations
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