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11D00012 Light rail train at south end of Blue line.

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Ernest H. Robl stock photos:
Charlotte, N.C., Lynx
light rail transit system

Charlotte opened its Lynx South Corridor light rail line at the end of November 2007, the first light rail line in the two Carolinas. Lynx is the light rail operation of CATS, the Charlotte Area Transportation System.

Click on the images to view a larger version with a more detailed caption. The numbers preceding the captions are the image file numbers. (These are only samples of more extensive coverage.)

060742 Lynx logo on light rail car.

Overview

The 9.6 mile dual-track light rail transit line runs from the center of the city to the southern outskirts. The "South Corridor" line is the first segment of what is expected to be an expanding rail transit network for Charlotte.

Click here to view images of a demonstration run of Kinkisharyo Ameritram prototype streetcar in Charlotte in January of 2011.

The South Corridor line has 14 stations, six of which are closely spaced in the center of the city, with the others near the south end of the line spaced at greater distances. The more outlying stations have park-and-ride lots.

The Charlotte Transportation Center station near the city center adjoins the main terminal of the CATS commuter bus system, allowing easy transfer between the modes.

While stations near the city center are mostly at grade level with surrounding streets, outlying stations are on an elevated section of the line--raised to avoid conflicts with busy cross streets.

The light rail cars

The Lynx system uses Siemens S70 articulated light rail cars. The cars have a 70 per cent low-floor layout, making for easy boarding, including access for people with mobility problems or with strollers or baby carriages.

The cars can be operated in multiple during busy times.

The cars were built in Sacramento, Calif., with several already having been delivered by the end of October of 2006. They are being tested and used for training on an operable section of track near the system shops.

Trains will operate seven days a week from 5 am to 1 am.

The Lynx name and the line

The Lynx name ties in with the over-all cat theme of several major Charlotte institutions. Both of Charlotte's major sports teams have cat names and the over-all Charlotte transit system goes by the name of CATS.

The South Corridor line mostly follows an existing rail corridor which had been largely unused (except for a historic trolley operation -- see below). The far southern section of the South Corridor line has a substantial elevated section to provide clearance of both busy cross streets and still-active rail connections to industries. The track to the industries is worked from the south.

 

The future

Charlotte is also looking at rail transit in several other corridors, with light rail being considered for several of these. So, the South Corridor line is intended to be the initial stage of a much larger system.

In 2011 CATS unveiled a scaled-back (due to current exonomic conditions) expansion plan to extend the current light rail plan northward to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC-C) campus. Earlier plans were to extend the line further north. That part of the expansion is still contemplated, but at a future time.

History

A historic trolley operation helped clear the way for Charlotte's light rail system. A group of volunteers restored Charlotte's last original trolley car and began operating it on an unused rail corridor as a tourist attraction.

City officials saw this operation as a means to promote the south Charlotte area that was undergoing redevelopment and helped upgrade the tracks, with a view toward ultimately using this corridor for light rail.

The trolley operation had single track with short passing sidings, allowing more than one vehicle to operate. The trolley proved so popular that the city ordered several replica trolleys to handle demand.

 

Present and future

The tourist trolley operation had to be shut down to allow the rail line to be rebuilt from one to two tracks and to make other improvements. However, the trolleys will be back.

The trolleys will share tracks with the light rail vehicles during non-peak periods and operate on only part of the corridor being used by light rail.

(The trolleys use trolley poles, while the light rail vehicles use pantographs, so special adaptations have to be made for the wire to be used by both types of vehicles.

The once and future rail corridor

In 1998, only fragments of the former rail line remained, but the corridor was still largely intact. The city had required all construction in the area to leave space for the rail corridor.

The photo at right shows a section of rails ending ignominiously in a hotel parking lot in downtown Charlotte.

For first the trolley project and then the light rail system, the remaining old rails and crossties were removed and replaced with new rail on concrete ties--and an entirely new roadbed and substructure.

The lower photo shows the same general location from a northbound Lynx train on what is now a double-track line.

One or the more notable provisions for the rail line consisted of having Charlotte's convention center built astride the rail corridor--but with a tunnel through the center of the building for the passage of the (then) future light rail trains.

11D00023 Current (as of early 2011) north end of the Charlotte light rail corridor. The former freight rail corridor beyond is still clearly visible. Plans are to expand to the north. The final two blocks of the line are single-track and normally used only by the historic trolley cars.

070561 Same location seen from a
northbound Lynx train (through tinted
windows).