Houston - Groundbreaking marks MetroRail Expansion

From; TAMU Real Estate Center
July 13, 2009

Houston's light rail is expanding. METRO held groundbreaking on two additional light rail lines - one on the southeast side of town, and the other up north.

The newly built north corridor is expected to run more than five miles from University of Houston-Downtown to Northline Mall.

On the southeast side, the new line will stretch 6.5 miles, running from downtown, past Texas Southern University and University of Houston to Palm Center.

The $150 million tab is being picked up by the federal government.

METRO Chairman David Wolff says Houstonians should celebrate that. "In the president's budget, there are only five light rail projects in the U.S. that got into that budget. Of those five, two of them are ours,” Wolff said.

The $1.4 billion vision for Houston's light rail is to add the east end, university and uptown lines by 2013.

The addition of the north and southeast rail lines will give 60,000 Houstonians jobs.