Luminaire Metro

The Luminaire Metro, commonly called the Metro, is the rapid transit system serving the greater Luminaire, Atlion area. It is operated by the Mass Transit Administration of Luminaire, which also operates Metrobus and Metrolink commuter rail services in the region. The Metro provides service to Davis County, Broker County, Kings County, and the City of Luminaire. Since its opening in 1965, the Metro network has grown to include six lines (incluing one still under construction).

Metro is the xth-busiest rapid transit system in Atlion, after the STN Statesport Subway and. Riders enter and exit the system using paper magnetic stripe fare media, or near field communication-enabled devices, such as smartphones, or reusable wireless ticket-cards.

History
During the construction of the Atlion National Interstate Highway Network in the early 1960s, opposition to freeway construction and the required demolition of homes and businesses along several freeway corridors led to the scaling back of construction plans in the dense areas of Luminaire's urban district. Where there were originally eight limited-access expressways planned for Luminaire and Peatree Islands, including a sunken corridor for Interstate 1 cutting across the northern half of both islands, only two were finally constructed, the Lakeland Freeway and the Branch Expressway, with the Interstate Highways being truncated at the Luminaire Orbital.

Federal funds for highways were instead diverted towards increasing the design capacity of the Orbital, and a proposed radial rail transit system, connecting the center city with communities along the Orbital. The Approved Luminaire Regional Transit Plan, was designed with community input over a series of years, and approved by the Regional and City governments in 1964. The Senate of Atlion passed a bill the same year providing for federal funding for a consolidated transit system for the National Capital Region and other areas with large amounts of Federal workers commuting to the capital for work.

The Regional government created the Mass Transit Administration, an agency of the Capital Department of Transportation]], with the responsibility of planning, building, and eventually operating the future rail rapid transit system. The regionally approved system included six lines, three east-west, and three north-south, all originating in or near the city's center and extending outward toward the suburbs.

Construction began in 1965, with groundbreaking on February 22. The system opened on May 16, 1975, with 4.5 miles of the Commons Line and 2.03 miles of the Luminaire Boulevard Line with 11 stations in the City of Luminaire and Davis County. The Victoire, De Laurent, and Eastern Shore lines opened along with extensions of the existing two lines on July 3, 1977, adding 13 stations to the system. Kings County was linked to the system on November 27, 1978 with the opening of the McFarlane Boulevard Line and further extension of the Commons, Victoire, De Laurent, and Luminaire lines.

The approved regional system was completed with the opening of the Commons Line segment to Broker Heights on January 23, 1995. Following the completion of the system, a relief line, the Orbital Line, was planned along Interstate 901. Construction was planned to be completed in three phases. The first phase, from Stevenson Park to Broker Heights, was completed and opened on January 13, 2006. The second phase, to Centerpoint Parkway, originally set to open in 2013, is now set to be completed in late 2014. The third and final phase is set to open in 2018.

Construction of the Metro system required billions of dollars. Funding was provided by the Senate, in the form of the National Capital Region Surface Transportation Act of 1966, and local governments, in the form of a National Capital Region-wide two cent transportation sales tax.

Metro network
Since opening in 1975, the Metro network has grown to include seven lines. The network primarily has a spoke-hub distribution model, with the six key lines running from downtown Luminaire to its nearby suburbs. The Orbital line, under construction, connects these lines near their suburban ends.

Stevenson Park station, on the Orbital line, just east of the Dentele River, is the deepest station in the system.

The "central" station of the system, is Government Center, the intersection of the Luminaire Boulevard and Commons lines, steps away from the National Capital Building. Other central transfer stations with high passenger volume include Four Corners, transfer station for the Luminaire Boulevard and De Laurent lines; Victoire Boulevard, transfer station for the Victoire and Commons lines; Christopher McFarlane Boulevard, transfer station for the McFarlane Boulevard and Commons lines; Tonway, transfer station for the Luminaire Boulevard (also its eastern terminus) and Eastern Shore lines; and Union Station, the busiest station by number of boardings.

Rolling Stock
The Metro fleet consists of 1,266 rail cars in permanently married pairs. Each car is 75 feet long, and has a maximum speed of 75 mph, with an average of 22 mph including stops. 1,200 cars are operated during peak service periods. Eight cars are not in regular service, for revenue collection duties. The remaining cars are for backups in the event of service interruptions.

The cars that make up Metro's rolling stock were acquired in phases, each phase identified by a letter. The original 350 rail cars were manufactured by Bombardier Transportation of Canada, named the "A series" and numbered A001-A350, with delivery completed in 1979. The second set of cars, also manufactured by Bombardier, named the "B series" and numbered B001-B500, were delivered in 1985. The "C series", numbered C001-C420, was completed and delivered by Bombardier in 1996. The newest cars, the "D series", numbered D001-D050, built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, are currently being delivered. 500 D series cars were ordered in 2008 to meet expected demand for Orbital Line service.

Signaling and operation
Metro trains are designed to be controlled by an integrated Automatic Train Operation and Automatic Train Control system that automatically accelerates and brakes trains. Train doors are designed to be opened and closed automatically and re-open in the case of an obstruction. Trains are also equipped with a computer controlled announcement system which makes station and service disruption announcements. All trains are manned with train operators who monitor the train's systems and may manually control the train if the need arises.

Hours of operation
The Metro operates 24 hours per day and 365 days per year. Extra service may be put in place for holidays or special events. Trains run more frequently during rush hours on all lines except the Orbital Line, with scheduled peak headways of 90 seconds on the Commons and Luminaire Boulevard lines; 3 minutes on the Victoire Boulevard, Pere Jean de Laurent Avenue, Christopher McFarlane Boulevard, and Eastern Shore lines; and 6 minutes on the Orbital Line. During off-peak, weekend, and holidays, headways are 3 minutes on the Commons and Luminaire Boulevard lines and 6 minutes on all other lines.

Connecting services
Most Metro stations are also served by a number of Metrobus routes. Connections to Metrolink are available at Union Station and several other stations.

Passenger information systems
Passenger information screens are installed in each Metro station. Displays are located on all platforms and at the entrances of stations, providing real-time arrivals of trains, service disruptions, emergency announcements, and occaisional advertisments. The Mass Transit Administration also provides the same information on its website and through an API available for developers to create applications for smartphones and browsers to access transit information.