It was a cool New Year’s Day 2004 when train doors on METRO’s Main Street Line – the city’s first rail line - opened to passengers.
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Fast forward ten years and you have a light-rail line that is arguably one of the most successful light-rail lines in the country – next to Boston – in terms of passengers per track mile.
“The success of the Main Street Line validates the importance rail plays in the city’s transportation landscape,” said METRO Chairman Gilbert Garcia. “It has been and continues to be a reliable means for customers to get to work, school, medical care, museums, sporting events and conferences, and our city’s world famous Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and more.”
The photos below show what Main Street looked like at the start of the line’s construction (March 2001) and what it looks like nearly 10 years later.
  
There has been nearly $4 billion in public/private development from 2004 to 2011 along the 7.5-mile line. At Main and Congress, several bars and restaurants have since opened their doors. And more recently, there is residential activity near Bell Station and other projects in the works near the ballpark and in Midtown.
“The Main Street transformation has been one of many challenges and rewards,” said Tom Lambert, interim METRO president & CEO. “The development that occurred after light-rail was built and the development that is happening today, shows growth and promise of a downtown that’s better connected and more walkable.”
METRO’s Main Street Line or Red Line reached major milestones ahead of projections: The line crossed 50-, 75- and 100 million boardings four years ahead of schedule. These achievements were reached with only 18 rail cars.
The Authority now has 37 rail cars and nearly 13-miles of track with the recent opening of the North Line, a 5.3-mile extension of the Red Line, December 21, 2013.
Two more light-rail lines – East End (Green) and Southeast (Purple) – will open for service in 2014.
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