Airport station (GCRTA)

Airport station is a station on the RTA Red Line in Cleveland, Ohio. It is the western terminus of the Red Line and is located off the lower level below the middle of the baggage claim level of Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.

Airport
Entrance to Airport station
General information
Location	5300 Riverside Drive Cleveland, Ohio
Coordinates	41°24′40″N 81°50′15″W
Owned by	Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority
Platforms	1 island platform
Tracks	2
Construction
Structure type	Underground
Parking	Paid parking only
Accessible	Yes[1]
Other information
Website	riderta.com/facilities/airport
History
Opened	November 15, 1968; 55 years ago (1968-11-15)
Rebuilt	1994
Original company	Cleveland Transit System
Services
Preceding station Rapid Transit Following station Terminus Red Line Brookpark toward Windermere
Location

History

The station opened on November 15, 1968, when the CTS Rapid Transit was extended four miles from West Park station, making Cleveland the first city in North America to offer direct rapid transit service to its major airport.^[2] A $1.9-million renovation of the station was completed in May 1994.^[2]

RTA has considered extending the Red Line beyond Hopkins Airport to Berea.^[3] Several different plans were considered in the late 1990s. One plan would have extended the Red Line from Hopkins Airport along Ohio State Route 237 past the I-X Center and into downtown Berea. Another plan would have the rapid extend from the Brookpark station past the I-X Center and into Berea. The proposal included the possibility that direct service to the airport terminal would end, with a new station outside the airport grounds which would require riders to be transferred to the terminal by other means. However, the extension failed to obtain approval of the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency because it was too expensive and would not attract enough riders.^[4]

RTA continues to consider Red Line extensions to development areas adjacent to the airport, and an extension along the southwest corridor to the I-X Center, Berea or the growing areas of Lorain County is included as part of RTA's long-range plan, Transit 2025.^[5] RTA is also working with the City of Cleveland, the State of Ohio, and other passenger rail interests to create an Amtrak station near Hopkins Airport, which would serve as an intermodal airport hub similar to those in Newark, Baltimore, or Milwaukee.^[6]

Notable places nearby

• Cleveland Hopkins International Airport
• I-X Center

Gallery

• 
  Red Line train at Airport station
• 
  Airport station platform
• 
  Airport station wall design
• 
  Airport station platform seem from entrance
• 
  Exit to terminal seen from Airport station platform
• 
  Hallway from ticket machines to platform

References

1. "Airport Rapid Station". Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
2. "About RTA: History of Public Transit in Greater Cleveland". RTA Website. Archived from the original on June 23, 2007. Retrieved June 3, 2007.
3. "RTA approves $1 million to assess Berea line". The Plain Dealer. April 23, 1997. pp. 2B. Retrieved June 2, 2007.
4. Sweeney, James F. (April 20, 2000). "Costs may halt Red Line extension". The Plain Dealer. pp. 1B. Retrieved June 2, 2007.
5. "Transit 2025 Plan" (PDF). Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority. March 2006. pp. 5–6.
6. "Greater Cleveland RTA rail planning updates". Transportation Choices. EcoCity Cleveland. Retrieved June 20, 2007.

External links

Media related to Airport station (GCRTA) at Wikimedia Commons

• Public Transit page at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport website
• Airport Rapid Station (GCRTA)