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Pittsburgh local here- It’s great that the T exists at all, but it badly needs to be extended. Specifically if it connected to the Strip District, and had an East/West connection through the Universities and into Shadyside/Squirrel Hill, it could be a real winner.
It needs more than that. They should have embedded tracks into the busways and 279 HOV lane so they can go closer to the waterfront, the north hills, and the airport.
Yea the fact that getting to oakland from the south hills requires driving to a T stop, taking it into the city, and then finally grabbing a bus is ridiculous
I'd settle for some sweet, sweet grade separation for the West Busway across the Mon!! Those poor buses have to wait in PM rush hour traffic with everyone else trying to cross the Fort Pitt bridge and it makes me 😭
Pittsburgh's Penn Station was designed by the famed Daniel Burnham! Yup, the name Union Station is a misnomer since it was only served by the Pennsylvania RR as other railroads used other stations like Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad Station. For the Pittsburgh area's streetcar history, it's also worth mentioning that the iconic PBS show Mister Rogers' Neighborhood was recorded in Pittsburgh and famously features a little trolley that goes to the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. Living along the Metro-North's Hudson Line as a kid was what got me into trains, but Mister Rogers got me into the concept of trolleys/streetcars and mixed-use walkable transit-oriented communities with their models. The trolley on the show was hand-built from wood by a Toronto man named Bill Ferguson in 1967, the year before Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood premiered. During one 1984 episode of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, he visited the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum and remembered accompanying his dad on long trolley trips. Fred Rogers was originally from Latrobe which is outside Pittsburgh, known to be the place where the banana split was created! Viewers wrote to Rogers about why there were no people aboard the trolley, to which he responded that the lack of passengers encouraged kids at home to visualize themselves aboard. Rogers was a big fan of trains, and one day when it was a rainy day in NYC and he opted to take the subway instead of taking a taxi, the train was crowded in schoolchildren. But instead of them asking for his autograph, they sang his theme song in unison, turning the train into a choir (in a movie about Fred with Tom Hanks, they changed it to adults singing). Fred Rogers was an incredible person. He made the US government realize the importance of public educational broadcasting. LBJ introduced 20 million funding for PBS before he left office, but Nixon wanted to slash it to 10 million. If it wasn't for Fred and his powerful speech when he testified to the Senate in 1969, PBS wouldn't have been able to secure the funding it needed from the government. Fred saved PBS in 1969 by reading a children's song to a senator. His speech was so powerful, it brought Senator John Pastore of Rhode Island (who chaired the Subcommittee on Communications) to tears. The senator went from mocking him to practically holding back tears.
The PRT still maintains the Brown Line for use when the Mt. Washington tunnel is closed. It closed because of low ridership and the large grades meant the electric grid struggled with multiple trains on the line. I hope they do bring it back, since I think people will still ride it, and they’re spending the money to maintain it, so they might as we’ll make some money from the line. Classy Whale has a video where he rides the line during a reroute, which I recommend. Also, for more history on the light rail map, plus a bunch of other North American cities, I would recommend Vanishing Underground.
Tbh I feel like instead of having a separate service, the blue line should serve the former brown line tracks since it doesn’t have any unique stops anyway
@@mmrw I would disagree on the basis that the line to South Hills Village gets pretty good ridership, and the Blue is faster to downtown; though I still think the Blue running over the Brown is still an improvement.
Next summer they will be utilizing the line for reroutes while tunnel work is performed on the Mount Washington tunnel. Maybe Thom can make it back to ride during that time!
Current PRT driver of 27 years here. Here's a fun fact about navigating through the tunnel. The passenger side (right side) mirror is about 3 inches from the wall of the tunnel. The trick to not hitting the wall is to line up the middle of the steering wheel with the left rail and don't blink!
The colors of the Pirates, Penguins, and Steelers are black and Aztec gold to reflect Pittsburgh's flag and coat of arms, in turn based on based on the arms of William Pitt, the first Earl of Chatham. Same reason why the bridges are gold! The mural at 5:47 in Gateway station is called Pittsburgh Recollections by artist Romare Bearden, made of 780 tiles made by Bennington Potters of Vermont. Not only does it showcase historic scenes of Pittsburgh, from the French and Indian War, riverboats, and a banjo that accompanied songs by Stephen Foster (the father of American music; who wrote pieces like Oh Susanna, Camptown Races, and My Old Kentucky Home) but also Romare's personal memories of summers spent in the city at his grandparents’ boarding house. Bearden made the mural on a $90,000 budget and painted each of the stoneware tiles himself. When the station was rebuilt, the original mural had one tile which had accidentally been placed upside-down, and the reinstallation of the mural faithfully reproduced this error. Pittsburgh currently has three busways, not two! Besides the South Busway, there's the Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway and the West Busway! The Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway serves Pittsburgh's eastern neighborhoods and suburbs. Originally a Pennsylvania Railroad line, planning for the East Busway began shortly after the Port Authority of Allegheny County purchased the Pittsburgh Railways Company in 1964. The original segment of the busway opened in February 1983, running between Downtown Pittsburgh and Edgewood, a length of 6.8 miles, and expanded to 9.1 miles in 2002! The West Busway serves western neighborhoods and suburbs, running for 5.1 miles/8.2 km from the southern shore of the Ohio River near downtown to Carnegie, following the former Panhandle Route (called such because it served WV's northern panhandle) railroad ROW. In addition to running along the abandoned railroad right of way, the West Busway also reuses the historic Cork Run Tunnel, which opened in 1865 on the original Pittsburgh and Steubenville Railroad. The Airport Flyer bus uses the West Busway as far south as Bell Station where dedicated ramps connect the Busway to Interstate 376. The Airport Flyer has a stop restriction with buses outbound to the Airport only stopping to pick up passengers, with drop-offs along the busway prohibited. And the South Busway runs for 4.3 miles/6.9 km from the Mt. Washington Transit Tunnel across the Monongahela River from Downtown Pittsburgh to the Overbrook neighborhood.
Sorry to hear you encountered some not so friendly yinzers that left a bad impression. I am Belgian born and raised and live a couple stops after that Potomac station and I have always felt very welcome here. Loved the video and even learned a couple things!
Great presentation on a very interesting system! Your discovery of the Potomac Station restaurant was a delightful bit of serendipity! At one time, Pittsburgh had a large commuter rail network, operated by both the Pennsylvania and B & O railroads. That's all gone now, blamed on the decline of the steel industry. I don't know if the Pennsy commuter trains ever operated diesels--only seen pictures of steam. But I know the B & O operated rail diesel cars at the end. When I was there in 1965, there was still a train or two running in from Connellsville I believe. They operated the B & O station just for commuter trains. Through trains to Chicago stopped at the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie station which was across the Monongahela River from downtown, because B&O station was a stub-end terminal.
I never really thought about Pittsburgh as a commuter rail city. I do remember reading that there was a state-sponsored service for a few years that used Amtrak equipment.
I remember as a kid, going out to Oakland on the Parkway (westbound) and going by the B&O station (it was right up next to the parkway along the Mon) and the passenger trains were lined up at all hours.
As a former Pittsburgher, I've always thought you would find the "T" interesting, I used to ride it into downtown and back almost every day. Glad to see you made it there to do a video and check it out!
Pittsburgh native here! I live just off the light rail on the very end of the line in Bethel Park. It's such a great system and I'm glad to see it's getting so much love!
I recently came across a short talking about one of the many complex intersections in Pittsburgh - Route 51 (Sawmill) and Route 88 (Library). The real problem with the intersection is not bad design. It's just raw traffic volume because Route 51 is funnel for so many destinations. To the north it directly connects with the Liberty Tunnel and I-376. Those in turn lead to every single major destination the city has to offer. To the south Route 51 leads to Route 43 and Interstate 70. So while thinking about the intersection a thought crossed my mind -- What if Pittsburgh built stations for passenger service on the existing freight lines? Start with a mainline in the south hills with stations in Station Square, Homestead, Kennywood (seasonally), West Mifflin, and terminating in Clairton where the existing "park and ride" lot is located. All existing track, only stations and scheduling need to be determined. Next, add a short alternate line that crosses the Monongahela River between West Mifflin & Kennywood. Build one station in East Pittsburgh, and a second station near the Monroeville mall. The only track that needs laid here is a switch track from the Norfolk Southern lines to the Union lines. So, two switches and about 600 feet of track. Finally, after a few years, extend the mainline with a station to the north near Neville Island, a Moon Township station near the RMU campus, and most importantly - a station for Pittsburgh International Airport. This is the section that requires the most new track to be built. It's likely a 5 mile section of track. Might be able to built at grade all the way to the RMU station, but after that some tom foolery would need to happen, probably tunnels. That all said, this is still probably a lower cost project than the roughly 17 miles that need to be built to connect the PRT Light Rail system to the Airport. Any clue how to make this a real proposal?
Really interesting video, I actually have some information regarding Pittsburgh’s public transit system, soon we’re going to have a new bus route that’s going to connect downtown and oakland via dedicated bus lanes. There is also serious, yet still new talks about creating a gondola system similar to Medellín’s.
You should do a video on Cleveland. A lot of history here in Cleveland between the old Shaker Rapid (now Blue & Green Lines - Light Rail) and the Red Line (Heavy Rail). We were the first heavy rail system to connect downtown to a major airport. We're also finally getting new trains in 2026 so they will be re-doing stations in the future to fit the new trains. W.117th-Madson Station is already closed for bridge work and no one knows if it'll re-open before the new trains since the platforms all need extended.
That's really weird seeing a tunnel that's used by both buses and trams. I don't think New Zealand ever had anything like it (nine of our cities did have tram networks back in the day, but they had all closed by 1964; the good thing is that heritage trams can still be found running in museums or the tourist lines in Auckland and Christchurch). The free fare zone in Pittsburgh reminds me of the 'Free Tram Zone' in Melbourne, Australia. I was there a couple of weeks ago, and from what I remember, the free tram zone includes the entire city centre and can be used by tourists who just want to see the big touristy sites of central Melbourne. They've got heritage 'W8 class' trams running a special service entirely within the FTZ.
Actually,the Gateway station used to be a couple hundred feet away from its current location. The old Gateway was abandoned, and the new Gateway opened with the North Shore Extension. When travelling from Gateway to Wood Street, you pass through the old Gateway Station. You can still see the benches against the wall.
I used to ride this line in to work! I honestly thought PRT was a regional authority above PortAuthroity, surprised to learn the truth. The tickets still say PortAuthority
Pittsburgher here. In response to your name-change question, nobody here ever acknowledges any infrastructure name changes of any kind. Of course it is still called PAT! If you say PRT, you will get a blank stare. Just like the stadium is still Heinz Field and the arena is still Consol (pronounced with the emphasis on the second syllable) Energy Center. In recognition of this immutable fact, after dozens of name changes that literally no one paid attention to, the amphitheater that opened in the 1980s as Star Lake Amphitheater has now, 40 years later, been renamed Star Lake Amphitheater.
It's funny that even at the time of this recording, the ConnectCard they were issued says Port Authority on it and not PRT. Guessing they had a large number of already printed cards they wanted to distribute before redesigning it; but even the ConnectCard website, that would have been easy to change, still refers to it as "Port Authority's Online ConnectCard Management system.". Not surprising a re-brand isn't taking hold when the thing you use to access the service isn't re-branded. Adding to the point of local resistance to name changes, I used to frequently hear people refer to bus drivers as "PAT drivers" and a bus as a "PAT bus", but I don't think I've once heard someone use the term "PRT driver" or "PRT bus". The re-brand to me really feels like changing one 3 letter acronym for another for no good reason. Sure, adding Pittsburgh to the name better describes the area of service, but does that matter is nobody uses the full name?
They didn’t change the name of Heinz Stadium, they just changed the spelling: The A is silent as in LogicAlly The C is pronounced like H as in Chanukah The R is silent, as it always is in the New England dialect The I is long, pronounced just like it is in Island There is an N sound added next, just as there is a random N added where none exists in the word Comptroller The S is pronounced like a Z as in These The next three letters are silent: silent U as in gUest, silent R as in paRk (in Boston again), silent E and bathE. Therefore, the correct pronunciation of Acrisure is HEINZ.
Cool video! Its wild to me that Pittsburgh doesnt expand the light rail to go along the rivers, especially along the south side and the strip district. Those two business centers alone would pump so much money into the system and promote more movement in and around the city. I understand that building infrastructure around all the Hills and rivers can be a challenge, but I think what's holding back. The light rail system most is the lack of usable routes. The system connects North and South Pittsburgh, entirely ignoring the people who need more Transit the most does being students at Pitt, CMU, and the other universities. Those students usually don't have Transit, and use use the public transit system the most. From what I've seen. It would also help ease congestion from car s and diminish Road use, which definitely doesn't help when you see how much wear and tear and upkeep all these Bridges need.
The main reason is money, or lack thereof. There also is a bit of an attitude issue with PRT itself. Sometimes I think they'd be happier if the "T" magically disappeared and they could just run bus service everywhere, since they seem to see themselves less as a transit agency and more of a "bus agency", if that makes sense.
One of the few benefits of getting old(er) is having been able to see and do things long gone. In the early Spring of 1970, when I was 12, I went on a trip with the Akron Railroad Club to Pittsburgh, in the company of a relative who indulged my obsession with trains, to ride all SIX remaining streetcar lines, because they were planning on abandoning three of them. We took advantage of a change in B&O/C&O passenger service that truncated the former "Diplomat" day train from Washington to Chicago at Akron, turning the equipment there for an early morning departure to DC, and an approximately three-hour trip to Pittsburgh, using the P&LE station (now Station Square). I think we rode all six lines, at least the ones that were going to be abandoned, including what is now probably the sometimes used Brown Line, which was much longer back then. I know we rode both lines going to the far South end. I remember a frustrated operator having to stop a couple of times to try and find the owners of cars that were parked too close to the tracks to move them, having ice cream at an Isaly's ice cream parlor (there was one in Akron as well), riding one of the inclines, and going to the B&O Grant St. station and seeing the RDCs on weekend layover, the first time I ever saw one in person. The B&O service from DC to Akron was not much of a train - two, maybe three cars - but one of them was a coach/cafe counter car, which was a novelty to me. Little did I know that 15 years later I'd end up working Amcafes in the Northeast corridor for over a decade. That B&O train lasted less than a year, ending well before the final discontinuance of all B&O passenger service with the start of Amtrak.
I had two chances to ride the Brown Line when maintenance was happening in the Mt. Washington tunnel. The views of the city when coming down through the Southside Slopes towards the Mon are nothing short of stunning. It would be great if it were fully renewed!
They're actually going to be replacing all the rail in the Mount Washington Tunnel for 9 months starting in February of 2025. During that time they plan to run the Brown line. I have a feeling they may keep it open once they see what ridership is like. They have also been running to Penn Park due to construction in the Central Business District and I wouldn't be surprised if that leads to some amount of service in the future.
I actually did get to ride the brown line when it used to be called the 52 Allentown and I absolutely agree the views of the city when coming down through the south side slopes are absolutely spectacular especially at night Pittsburgh is truly a great city
I really hate to tell this but there’s a story behind the removal of streetcars in Pittsburgh. In 1947 a city solicitor named Anne Alpern began a campaign to rid streetcars in Pittsburgh and other politicians picked up on it. A lot of other factors entered into it as well but I won’t get into all that here.
Thanks for the shoutout at the beginning 😎 Wish you had taken a look at the outer end of the Silver Line, which as a traction buff still has a lot of early 1900s interurban infrastructure and is a fun ride! :)
I’m from Pittsburgh and still think of the public transportation as PAT, Port Authority Transit (or Transportation). I would see the new acronym PRT and have to look it up, then forget it soon after. Often I get it mixed up and think the “R” stands for “Rail” instead of “Regional”. I liked PAT! 😢
We have been to Pittsburgh and never took the trains anywhere, we walked all over. Now I feel like I need to go back and ride these trains! Thanks for another fun vlog!
I feel like the branch to Penn Station could be use as the start of a new light rail line along the MLK Busway towards East Liberty. Buses and light rail could still share that ROW. It would probably be a pretty well used line
Yeah it seems if they already have the right of way it would be pretty easy. Problem is the tunnel is single tracked, and expanding it to double is impossible.
I use the light rail quite frequently to travel from the northside to downtown and then transfer to the Martin Luther King Jr. E. Bus Way to go to East liberty and I absolutely agree a conversion to light rail on the E. Bus way would be great There are also proposals to extend the light rail to the north Hills and cranberry Township as well as a expansion to the Pittsburgh international airport maybe one day The other bus way I use quite frequently is the W. Bus way I went to high school at Langley high school in the West End section of Pittsburgh and when I was in high school I use the W. Bus Way every day
@@Thom-TRAif the proposed line’s trains ran at the same frequencies as the current P1 bus (6 minutes during peak hours, 15-20 minutes the rest of the day), then the single tracking through the tunnel wouldn’t be a huge deal. It only takes about a minute to get through it.
Idk of you felt it or not, but when they were building the Northshore Extension they screwed up the tunning under the Allegheny River. The tunnel machine veared off course and they had to recorrect it, and so now can feel a lot bit of a "jink" when you're under the river. The whole saga behind the Northside extension is fascinating because how controversial it was for being way over budget and the engineering choices that were made. Alot of people back then and still today think a tunnel should of never been built, and that the 11th Street bridge that the Amtrak uses should of been used to cross the river instead. I'm glad you liked the T and sorry you ran into some bad folks
Fun fact - there used to be red, and then two blue lines... the library and south hills village. Riders constantly got confused as to which they were on... someone then suggested to a Port Authority person who was out talking to riders, that maybe the South Hills Village line should be SILVER, (Since SLV is kind of like SHV) to stop people from always being confused about two blue lines. Well, they made silver... but it's the library that was changed to silver... while south hills village remains blue line... ugh. Additionally there was a Blue Line Grille (near library) that opened up about the time that the blue line changed to silver. So it screwed over their whole name LOL. They closed down recently though.
For many years, I lived about 100' from the Fallowfield station, just south of South Hills Junction. Was there when the T opened. Rode it frequently a loved it. Would even just ride it to the ends and back as recreation! ! When it opened (1982?) the thought that it would reach capacity in 10 years. It did so in 2 and they had to find a way to increase passenger load. So, with some juggling of the controls, they were able to put tow units---4 coaches---together and the signal system would treat it as a single unit. Not sure what ridership is now as I moved from Pgh some years ago, altho I still consider it 'home'! Nice vid. Glad you 'finally' got to Pgh! ! Sorry you didn't go to the ends of each line.
I went to college in Pittsburgh from 2013, this video brings back old memories! I only rode the light rail to go to the sports games though 🫠 this video makes me want to go back for a weekend trip. Sorry to hear the folks weren’t friendly to yinz. Thank you for the video Thom!
@@Thom-TRA yes! even the rolling stocks appear similar. the history of the right-of-way is very interesting too! i love when i get the opportunity to tell people the rich history of the right-of-way for st. louis metrolink as a freight train tunnel. it makes sense from the planning perspective to reuse the railroad right-of-way but it also allows for historic preservation in public transportation, such as the 8th and Pine station
As the freight train was shown at the end, I recalled that in 2018, a Norfolk Southern train derailed at Station Square causing damage to the light rail station below its tracks. I actually found folks to be nice the day and a half I spent in Pittsburgh. My son and I arrived and departed on Amtrak, and we rode buses, light rail, and both inclines.
I really need to visit Pittsburgh. Really hoping the Amtrak service between there and the Northeast Corridor really does improve, because right now, getting from DC to Pittsburgh sucks.
@@Thom-TRA, I'd even take the proposed increase on Philly or NYC to Pittsburg, as that might actually help us. I wouldn't mind transferring in Philly if I could shave two or three hours off the trip. It's getting better. I just have to keep telling myself. It's getting better. Baby steps.
GREAT VIDEO! Glad that Pittsburgh saved a remnant of the once vast streetcar system. Hopefully the T can be expanded. There has been talk of converting the East Busway to light rail, connecting at Penn Station. A BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) line is being constructed between downtown and Oakland, which hosts University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie-Mellon University as well as numerous medical facilities. A rail line would have been more efficient than a joke of a BRT"system" which consists of two bus lanes on parallel streets and has been studied to death for over 30 years. Paint some lines on the street and call it a day. The transit agency Port Authority had for many years used the acronym PAT, or Port Authority Transit. Then they relabeled themselves Port Authority, even though they didn't do anything with any ports. The newest rebrand is STUPID! PRT or "purt"--why not go back to the well known PAT for Pittsburgh Area Transit. Easier to pronounce and recognizable. Back to the Future--PAT. Go to WVU in nearby Morgantown--PRT.
Also from Pittsburgh - Brown line is allegedly going to be reopened in a few years. All other extensions are still up in the air at this point, although the vast majority of people here would be very happy if the northern corridor and some east/west lines could happen. City really needs to adopt an "if you build it, they will come" approach to public transit and to stop listening to bus companies. We need more rail.
Very cool to see these mid-western cities with technology that blends old and new infrastructure together... As an future video series, I'd love to see a tour of abandoned or unbuilt mid-western train systems like Cincinnati or Rochester which both have abandoned subway sections beneath their cities... Or cities that planned to build modern LRT but never did like Milwaukee, which I guess has a streetcar now but you know... Not the same thing! As a cool historic twist, Edmonton, my hometown, Go Oilers had drawn up extensive plans for a Skybus system using Pittsburgh's ill-fated technology but dropped it in favor of being the first North American city to revive modern Urban LRT Railway based on the Frankfurt U-Bahn and its Siemens-Duewag U2 cars... Which Calgary and San Diego then adopted shortly after...
Hey Tom, great video on the Pittsburgh light rail system I cannot wait to see your video of the Duquesne incline. That is a spectacular incline. I use it quite frequently. It is certainly a great piece of Pittsburgh history and a well preserved peace of Pittsburgh history. The staff that worked that incline is absolutely amazing. The Monongahela incline has been plagued with both electrical and computer problems since a major rehabilitation project was undertaken in 2022 in fact, the reliability problems got to appoint where Pittsburg Regional Transit recently invested money in purchasing three Ford transit connect vans to be used specifically as shuttle vehicles on the Monongahela incline when it is out of service due to these persistent electrical and computer problems Fortunately, it seems like the Pittsburg Regional Transit has had some great people coming in to look at the Monga Hill incline to figure everything out. Hopefully, they can get to the bottom of these problems and resolve them. The redline right now, as we speak is undergoing a major rehabilitation project. The red line is shut down from South Hills Junction to Overbrook Junction, and they have shuttle buses, running between the shut down segments and it is scheduled to reopen in the beginning of September.
My biggest issue with the PRT rebrand is that in the initial announcement, they insisted it was pronounced "part". The long Pittsburgh tradition of calling things by their old names (as well as navigating by previously-existing landmarks) says that it should be pronounced "port".
In Pittsburgh, the areas of the city that are called Oakland, East Liberty and Shadyside are the places where all the action is, including Pitt University, Carnegie Mellon University, numerous other colleges and massive hospitals and clinics. Unfortunately, Light Rail doesn't go to any of these places. Why? It's due to cost. People are never going to accept street-running rail vehicles in these super-dense and congested areas and tunneling at a billion dollars per mile won't be happening either. Pittsburgh's Light Rail was made possible by using ancient but very fortuitously-located existing rights-of-way to offer commuters convenient access to Downtown offices from residential neighborhoods that peaked in the 1960s. Work-from-home has now made Downtown commutes unnecessary and so ridership is decimated just at the time that the system through these old neighborhoods needs an expensive update. It's a problem. Already the Silver Line is headed for abandonment. Hundreds of new homes being built on the Silver Line are not bringing new commuters and the giant parking garage built for the Blue and Red lines is mostly empty as are the numerous park-and-ride lots that cost tons of money to keep them in good condition. Lately, the old LRVs are breaking down frequently, scheduled trips are frequently out of service due to drivers not showing up for work and infrastructure in the underground stations is very unreliable. I wouldn't want to be the one at Pittsburgh Regional Transit to make the hard decisions regarding what is to happen with Pittsburgh Light Rail.
I personally don’t mind the change in name, I just hope it lives up to the implication. Pittsburgh light rail only really serves the south of Pittsburgh, totally ignoring the east, which, frankly, is where the most populated/vibrant neighborhoods are (squirrel hill, lawrenceville, etc) Also, sorry the locals were so rude to you!!
Pittsburgh also had a short lived commuter rail line called PATrain which ran to the suburb of Versailles in the late 1970s through the 1980s that used the B&O right of way. PATrain was also supposed to take over another commuter rail line operated by the P&LE but P&LE decided to just end it’s commuter rail service and not hand it over to PATrain, so PATrain only ran the B&O line. Ridership was so low that PATrain ended all service in 1989. Those tracks are still used by Amtrak on the Capitol Limited
I visited Pittsburgh in 2018 and loved it. I want to visit again sometime. I rode the trains in the downtown and was also impressed with those stations there. I wish they had an east-west line to supplement the system. I rode the Duquesne Incline as well. Very cool and I loved how you can watch the mechanical parts in action.
8:30 The Pennsylvania Trolly Museum in Washington, PA has one of the last surviving PATransit PCCs. As for the name change, it took me a while to get used to it. After all, there is a Port Authority in New York City, which can get very confusing very quickly. Yeah, having the Mon Inclimb being closed due to some sort of issue is quite problematic, because that allows for quick access to Mount Washington from the Station Square T station.
Seattle's transit tunnel was first used by hi tech dual mode diesel electric trolleycoaches. Not unlike Boston's waterfront Silver Line. Philadelphia subway surface lines use a tunnel running west from Juniper Street and City Hall along Market Street, plus under the Schuylkill River before fanning out in west and southwest Philadelphia. So it's more apt to compare Philadelphia and Pittsburgh than San Francisco.
Except the tunnel in Philly opened in 1906, decades and decades earlier than the other examples. Plus, Philly still uses trolleys. Meanwhile, San Francisco, like Pittsburgh, has repurposed its infrastructure to accommodate larger light rail vehicles. So no, my comparison to San Francisco is the best one.
Awesome introduction to Pittsburgh's light rail system! I always see the infrastructure for this when I sometimes take the Pennsylvanian as it is visible by the bus shelter there. Speaking of the Pennsylvanian, since you were in Pittsburgh, will you be posting a Pennsylvanian report in the future? I didn't know if you had a chance to experience the Pennsylvanian while there.
Awesome!!! as a former Pittsburgher I really love this system and its stunning scenic views. It (along with Boston's Green Line) surpasses the Subway Surface lines in my native Philly. And nice pictures of the old PRR train station too. I didn't know about the change from PAT to PRT but it makes a lot more sense than Septa's rebranding of its rail lines from names to weird letters (OK, I get "L" for the Market-Frankford el) Anyway the video was excellent.
Who doesn’t like trains?!! Love your informative videos. They actually help with planning trips to various places, helping with great ideas for maneuvering around cities and towns! Great job with the videos !
So, it seems that one of the most noticable differences between North American LRT and German Stadtbahn is that most LRT systems have tunnel in their routes only when there had been an existing one before they built the system, while Stadtbahn systems build one if they did not get an existing one. Right? On the other hand, I had a very fun time when I visited Pittsburgh as a tourist and rode the system. But I felt sorry for students in University of Pittsburgh who cannot enjoy the benefit of the system on daily basis.
The tunnel in San Francisco was mostly newly built, I believe. But your observation is a good one. And then there’s Buffalo, who has street running downtown and then a tunnel in the suburbs…
The funny thing is that the US pioneered the premetro with the Green Line in Boston and the subway-surface trolleys in Philadelphia. It does however describe newer systems, though.
Los Angeles' light rail system has multiple tunnels, all built especially for the system (maybe one or two short ones are legacy infrastructure). Some of the above ground sections are reused rights of ways, but the tunnels are mostly or entirely new. In fact, the is a large tunnel project in downtown Los Angeles called the Regional Connector which just opened a couple years ago with three new stations and a complete rearranging of the light rail system that functions much like the tunnel in Pittsburgh.
Only a small portion of the underground running in downtown Pittsburgh is the re-used train tunnel, the segment that starts after 1st avenue and runs to Penn Station. The segment that goes towards Wood and Gateway stations was newly built in the 80s via cut-and-cover method of tunneling. The early 2000s addition was built using a TBM.
A small correction: PCC service continued into the downtown tunnel into the early 1990s. This is why the older downtown stations have platforms at two levels: high for LRVs, low for PCCs. These cars ran over the overbrook route from the south hills to downtown. Once that track broke down and needed to be rebuilt, they brought it up to LRV standard and just kept a few PCCs for the run to Drake, which persisted until the early 2000s.
Former Pittsburgher here. I seem to recall pronouncing the i in "yinz" about halfway between the i in Pittsburgh and a schwa. I missed my stop (on my way to Canton Avenue, the steepest street in the mainland US) due to not realizing about the low-level stops and had to walk back from the next stop. Surprised you found Pittsburgh to not be friendly. I've always found it to be friendlier than bigger cities. It's definitely worth riding all the way to Library.
About the name change from PAT to Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT). There has been a movement for the last decade to consolidate the seven transit authorities in the Pittsburgh region into one organization like what SEPTA in Philly does. The name change is just the first step in this consolidation. There are several hurdles in completing this consolidation but the main one is the Pa General Assembly to pass legislation that would create and finance this consolidation. As with everything concerning transit in PA, unless you are commuting into downtown for work, no one in the suburbs is willing to see their taxes go up for a service that they will not use. Unfortunately, transit in the Pittsburgh outlying county/communities are only used by the elderly and the economically disadvantaged.
Interesting to know about the broader plan for a larger transit agency. Has both potential and pitfalls. The idea that only the disenfranchised use public transportation is a little overgeneralized, but not just a Pittsburgh thing. What is the phrase "you have to spend money to make money". If public transit routes don't go where you are trying to get, then if you work in a suburban office park, then you are going to drive. So until they create a network of routes that reach points of commerce/shopping/religious/and cultural destinations with minimal transfers at a reasonable price and offer riders courtesy then it's an uphill battle.
@@Thom-TRA There are 33 independent transit authorities in PA. Most serve only one county with a few serving multiple counties. They all operate under Pennsylvania Department Transportation Bureau of Public Transportation
Its definitely a neat system, I just hope it can be expanded one day to really take advantage of the infrastructure and become a true network. Also Pittsburgh actually has 3 busways, though weirdly one directly parallels the Blue and Silver line, that being the South busway. But the other 2 also look decent. The MLK jr. East Busway especially could potentially be a good one to convert to Light rail in the long run, given that it also already has a downtown tunnel connection at Penn station.
I thought, even if Brown line trains don't use the Allentown branch that they could make it possible that you can go from one corner, or either the Beechview or Overbrook lines, to either corner on the other side or anywhere on the Beechview or Overbrook lines. My Idea was Blue and Silver serve Penn Station, joins Red on the Beechview line, then Silver on the Library Branch. Unless Pittsburgh added regional rail, I don't see any reason to extend it (to Upper St. Clair and Piney Fork Rd. Both of these branches would actually end up in Washington, PA. One would have a transfer one stop before a new stop at Morgan for a Cincinnati/St. Louis/DFW? route, the other connects to Kennywood en route to Penn Station)
Great video. I was just visiting Pittsburgh a month ago. Specifically to see how much we like the city for potentially relocating there from Philly. Philly is unfortunately getting too expensive for us to live in. Definitely very likely that we will move to Pittsburgh. We absolutely love this city. And riding the light rail was one of the highlights. If I happen to have a living and working situation that gives me the opportunity to ride the T for my commute, I'd love to do that. Edit: Just saw Classy Whale at the end of the video. Ayyy!
Thank you for this fascinating video. I don’t know Pittsburgh well, though I did visit when taking the train from Chicago to Harrisburg in 1992 (!) The train was of course Amtrak’s Broadway Limited, which sadly no longer runs. I now know I must revisit Pittsburgh ! Looking forward to the next episode.
@@Thom-TRA Yes, so do I ! I guess Amtrak could not justify running both the Broadway Limited, and the Lake Shore Limited between Chicago and New York, though they served very different markets. I also wish I had been able to see the Pennsylvania Railroad at the height of its existence !
Pittsburgh is another destination on my list. Also mainly because of the transportation. I’m glad to know that the remaining tunnel with light rail and buses is located there. I’d like to ride them both when I can.
The train system desperately needs to be expanded north with a few stops all the way up to cranberry and then from there to the airport and the airport to downtown. I know both north and west highways get crouded every day and having trains would be great for everyone. We need to also bring back trolleys to a few areas including from the strip district to Lawrenceville there is already existing but abandoned train lines that run that route so have a trolley run that area would be great. I think Pittsburgh could definitely benefit from streetcars similar to Toronto's.
I think the busways are great, it should be the norm to have fast buses run on exclusive rights of way. But it does make me think it might be a good idea to lay some tracks in them.
The downtown station looks gorgeous. Shame that Pittsburg doesn't seem too interested in expanding their network. How is the land use around the stations? Seemed pretty quiet on the train. Also this must've been shot in winter!
It isn’t so much that Pittsburgh isn’t interested in expanding it, but the transit agency that operates the buses and light rail has a heavy preference towards buses. Maintaining the rail network is almost seen as an inconvenience.
Here's a paradox I want you to answer: is Buffalo's "light rail" line a light rail or subway? (Hint: 80% of the line is actually underground, and non-articulated vehicles are used)
From a native here-overall a very good video. You really did your homework here however you did make one error- PCC streetcar service in Pittsburgh ended in 1999, not 1985. Also I wished you stopped by the PA Trolley Museum in nearby Washington, PA. As a volunteer motorman there I would've been more than happy to give you an in-depth look on the history of streetcar service in the Burg.
I said “streetcar service in downtown Pittsburgh ended in 1985.” I said nothing about the PCCs. Is it not true that there was no more street running after 1985?
God what I’d give for this train to go east-west. As much as I love it, it often feels like a rail for suburbanites to get to the stadiums. Not that they don’t deserve public transport, I’d just like to be able to use the train at all 😢
Pittsburgh does have strange buses that go to weird places. In terms of tram fleet history they interesting tram vehicles dating back to the early 1980s, the SD400 came in 1985. Only issue with Pittsburgh PCCs is the city didn't opt to do something like SF, Boston, Kenosha, San Diego and Philadelphia. I am trying to get to Pittsburgh both as a railfan and tourist. I never seen you with a Sponsorship before.
Support my channel by getting TrainStation 2 on your mobile device for free pixelfederation.onelink.me/Aaa9/b84crybi! Use my link to get a special free starter pack - 200 gems + extra dispatcher + 500 keys for the initial boost and save 15 USD (available for new players). Share your thoughts on the game in the pinned comment!
Is this your first sponsor?
@@roscalenecrailfanning8847 no, I’ve had several already
@@Thom-TRAhmm cool, first time I seen one lol
Trolleys making a comeback as Light Rail Vehicles and retaining trolley characteristics.
Should also mention that in Pennsylvania, as part of the PA lottery, senior citizens 65 and up ride mass transit for free. Anywhere in the state.
Pittsburgh local here- It’s great that the T exists at all, but it badly needs to be extended. Specifically if it connected to the Strip District, and had an East/West connection through the Universities and into Shadyside/Squirrel Hill, it could be a real winner.
Yeah it’s quite basic. The classic “one line with branches is fine” mentality
It needs more than that. They should have embedded tracks into the busways and 279 HOV lane so they can go closer to the waterfront, the north hills, and the airport.
Yea the fact that getting to oakland from the south hills requires driving to a T stop, taking it into the city, and then finally grabbing a bus is ridiculous
I'd settle for some sweet, sweet grade separation for the West Busway across the Mon!! Those poor buses have to wait in PM rush hour traffic with everyone else trying to cross the Fort Pitt bridge and it makes me 😭
Yes please to Universities. ❤
"Yinz really wanted me to come to Pittsburgh..."
PERFECT!!!
😁😁😁
Yinz asked, I delivered
@@Thom-TRA I did too, and thanks
Pittsburgh's Penn Station was designed by the famed Daniel Burnham! Yup, the name Union Station is a misnomer since it was only served by the Pennsylvania RR as other railroads used other stations like Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad Station. For the Pittsburgh area's streetcar history, it's also worth mentioning that the iconic PBS show Mister Rogers' Neighborhood was recorded in Pittsburgh and famously features a little trolley that goes to the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. Living along the Metro-North's Hudson Line as a kid was what got me into trains, but Mister Rogers got me into the concept of trolleys/streetcars and mixed-use walkable transit-oriented communities with their models. The trolley on the show was hand-built from wood by a Toronto man named Bill Ferguson in 1967, the year before Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood premiered. During one 1984 episode of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, he visited the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum and remembered accompanying his dad on long trolley trips. Fred Rogers was originally from Latrobe which is outside Pittsburgh, known to be the place where the banana split was created!
Viewers wrote to Rogers about why there were no people aboard the trolley, to which he responded that the lack of passengers encouraged kids at home to visualize themselves aboard. Rogers was a big fan of trains, and one day when it was a rainy day in NYC and he opted to take the subway instead of taking a taxi, the train was crowded in schoolchildren. But instead of them asking for his autograph, they sang his theme song in unison, turning the train into a choir (in a movie about Fred with Tom Hanks, they changed it to adults singing). Fred Rogers was an incredible person. He made the US government realize the importance of public educational broadcasting. LBJ introduced 20 million funding for PBS before he left office, but Nixon wanted to slash it to 10 million. If it wasn't for Fred and his powerful speech when he testified to the Senate in 1969, PBS wouldn't have been able to secure the funding it needed from the government. Fred saved PBS in 1969 by reading a children's song to a senator. His speech was so powerful, it brought Senator John Pastore of Rhode Island (who chaired the Subcommittee on Communications) to tears. The senator went from mocking him to practically holding back tears.
He is still missed every day
When you return, please ride the Red Line from North Side Station non-stop to South Hills Village Mall.
The PRT still maintains the Brown Line for use when the Mt. Washington tunnel is closed. It closed because of low ridership and the large grades meant the electric grid struggled with multiple trains on the line. I hope they do bring it back, since I think people will still ride it, and they’re spending the money to maintain it, so they might as we’ll make some money from the line. Classy Whale has a video where he rides the line during a reroute, which I recommend. Also, for more history on the light rail map, plus a bunch of other North American cities, I would recommend Vanishing Underground.
Tbh I feel like instead of having a separate service, the blue line should serve the former brown line tracks since it doesn’t have any unique stops anyway
@@mmrw I would disagree on the basis that the line to South Hills Village gets pretty good ridership, and the Blue is faster to downtown; though I still think the Blue running over the Brown is still an improvement.
@@mmrw It makes far more sense for either the red or as silver to run over it.
Next summer they will be utilizing the line for reroutes while tunnel work is performed on the Mount Washington tunnel. Maybe Thom can make it back to ride during that time!
Current PRT driver of 27 years here. Here's a fun fact about navigating through the tunnel. The passenger side (right side) mirror is about 3 inches from the wall of the tunnel. The trick to not hitting the wall is to line up the middle of the steering wheel with the left rail and don't blink!
Sounds stressful! Does it go wrong often?
6:30 that’s such a shame!
Pittsburghers generally pride themselves on being friendly and courteous, especially to out-of-towners
The colors of the Pirates, Penguins, and Steelers are black and Aztec gold to reflect Pittsburgh's flag and coat of arms, in turn based on based on the arms of William Pitt, the first Earl of Chatham. Same reason why the bridges are gold! The mural at 5:47 in Gateway station is called Pittsburgh Recollections by artist Romare Bearden, made of 780 tiles made by Bennington Potters of Vermont. Not only does it showcase historic scenes of Pittsburgh, from the French and Indian War, riverboats, and a banjo that accompanied songs by Stephen Foster (the father of American music; who wrote pieces like Oh Susanna, Camptown Races, and My Old Kentucky Home) but also Romare's personal memories of summers spent in the city at his grandparents’ boarding house. Bearden made the mural on a $90,000 budget and painted each of the stoneware tiles himself. When the station was rebuilt, the original mural had one tile which had accidentally been placed upside-down, and the reinstallation of the mural faithfully reproduced this error.
Pittsburgh currently has three busways, not two! Besides the South Busway, there's the Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway and the West Busway! The Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway serves Pittsburgh's eastern neighborhoods and suburbs. Originally a Pennsylvania Railroad line, planning for the East Busway began shortly after the Port Authority of Allegheny County purchased the Pittsburgh Railways Company in 1964. The original segment of the busway opened in February 1983, running between Downtown Pittsburgh and Edgewood, a length of 6.8 miles, and expanded to 9.1 miles in 2002! The West Busway serves western neighborhoods and suburbs, running for 5.1 miles/8.2 km from the southern shore of the Ohio River near downtown to Carnegie, following the former Panhandle Route (called such because it served WV's northern panhandle) railroad ROW. In addition to running along the abandoned railroad right of way, the West Busway also reuses the historic Cork Run Tunnel, which opened in 1865 on the original Pittsburgh and Steubenville Railroad. The Airport Flyer bus uses the West Busway as far south as Bell Station where dedicated ramps connect the Busway to Interstate 376. The Airport Flyer has a stop restriction with buses outbound to the Airport only stopping to pick up passengers, with drop-offs along the busway prohibited. And the South Busway runs for 4.3 miles/6.9 km from the Mt. Washington Transit Tunnel across the Monongahela River from Downtown Pittsburgh to the Overbrook neighborhood.
A comment from Kim jong un
I love riding the T. If you ever come back I'll show you from Potomac to the mall.
Sorry to hear you encountered some not so friendly yinzers that left a bad impression. I am Belgian born and raised and live a couple stops after that Potomac station and I have always felt very welcome here. Loved the video and even learned a couple things!
Ah nee, een Belg op mijn Nederlands kanaal!
@@Thom-TRAsorry, French speaking Belgian in spite of my very Dutch last name :). I did enjoy your videos in Belgium though :)
we call those people "jagoffs"
Great presentation on a very interesting system! Your discovery of the Potomac Station restaurant was a delightful bit of serendipity!
At one time, Pittsburgh had a large commuter rail network, operated by both the Pennsylvania and B & O railroads. That's all gone now, blamed on the decline of the steel industry. I don't know if the Pennsy commuter trains ever operated diesels--only seen pictures of steam. But I know the B & O operated rail diesel cars at the end. When I was there in 1965, there was still a train or two running in from Connellsville I believe. They operated the B & O station just for commuter trains. Through trains to Chicago stopped at the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie station which was across the Monongahela River from downtown, because B&O station was a stub-end terminal.
I never really thought about Pittsburgh as a commuter rail city. I do remember reading that there was a state-sponsored service for a few years that used Amtrak equipment.
I remember as a kid, going out to Oakland on the Parkway (westbound) and going by the B&O station (it was right up next to the parkway along the Mon) and the passenger trains were lined up at all hours.
Wish they had rebranded as Pittsburgh Area Transit so they could keep using the PAT acronym a lot of locals used (Port Authority Transit)
Oh yeah that would have worked!
AGREED! PAT was familiar and easier to pronounce. People have to spell out P-R-T or say "purt." It's very awkward.
Naw that would have made too much sense!!
Wow! Pittsburgh Light Rail is not that ridden. But in Manila, it's the opposite as it's always packed.
As a former Pittsburgher, I've always thought you would find the "T" interesting, I used to ride it into downtown and back almost every day. Glad to see you made it there to do a video and check it out!
I enjoyed it!
Pittsburgh native here! I live just off the light rail on the very end of the line in Bethel Park. It's such a great system and I'm glad to see it's getting so much love!
I recently came across a short talking about one of the many complex intersections in Pittsburgh - Route 51 (Sawmill) and Route 88 (Library). The real problem with the intersection is not bad design. It's just raw traffic volume because Route 51 is funnel for so many destinations. To the north it directly connects with the Liberty Tunnel and I-376. Those in turn lead to every single major destination the city has to offer. To the south Route 51 leads to Route 43 and Interstate 70.
So while thinking about the intersection a thought crossed my mind -- What if Pittsburgh built stations for passenger service on the existing freight lines?
Start with a mainline in the south hills with stations in Station Square, Homestead, Kennywood (seasonally), West Mifflin, and terminating in Clairton where the existing "park and ride" lot is located. All existing track, only stations and scheduling need to be determined.
Next, add a short alternate line that crosses the Monongahela River between West Mifflin & Kennywood. Build one station in East Pittsburgh, and a second station near the Monroeville mall. The only track that needs laid here is a switch track from the Norfolk Southern lines to the Union lines. So, two switches and about 600 feet of track.
Finally, after a few years, extend the mainline with a station to the north near Neville Island, a Moon Township station near the RMU campus, and most importantly - a station for Pittsburgh International Airport. This is the section that requires the most new track to be built. It's likely a 5 mile section of track. Might be able to built at grade all the way to the RMU station, but after that some tom foolery would need to happen, probably tunnels. That all said, this is still probably a lower cost project than the roughly 17 miles that need to be built to connect the PRT Light Rail system to the Airport.
Any clue how to make this a real proposal?
Really interesting video, I actually have some information regarding Pittsburgh’s public transit system, soon we’re going to have a new bus route that’s going to connect downtown and oakland via dedicated bus lanes. There is also serious, yet still new talks about creating a gondola system similar to Medellín’s.
You should do a video on Cleveland. A lot of history here in Cleveland between the old Shaker Rapid (now Blue & Green Lines - Light Rail) and the Red Line (Heavy Rail). We were the first heavy rail system to connect downtown to a major airport. We're also finally getting new trains in 2026 so they will be re-doing stations in the future to fit the new trains. W.117th-Madson Station is already closed for bridge work and no one knows if it'll re-open before the new trains since the platforms all need extended.
That's really weird seeing a tunnel that's used by both buses and trams. I don't think New Zealand ever had anything like it (nine of our cities did have tram networks back in the day, but they had all closed by 1964; the good thing is that heritage trams can still be found running in museums or the tourist lines in Auckland and Christchurch).
The free fare zone in Pittsburgh reminds me of the 'Free Tram Zone' in Melbourne, Australia. I was there a couple of weeks ago, and from what I remember, the free tram zone includes the entire city centre and can be used by tourists who just want to see the big touristy sites of central Melbourne. They've got heritage 'W8 class' trams running a special service entirely within the FTZ.
Actually,the Gateway station used to be a couple hundred feet away from its current location. The old Gateway was abandoned, and the new Gateway opened with the North Shore Extension. When travelling from Gateway to Wood Street, you pass through the old Gateway Station. You can still see the benches against the wall.
You didn't go all the way to South Hills Village?? That is the base of operations. The line also goes underground in Mt Lebanon.
I used to ride this line in to work! I honestly thought PRT was a regional authority above PortAuthroity, surprised to learn the truth. The tickets still say PortAuthority
Pittsburgher here. In response to your name-change question, nobody here ever acknowledges any infrastructure name changes of any kind. Of course it is still called PAT! If you say PRT, you will get a blank stare. Just like the stadium is still Heinz Field and the arena is still Consol (pronounced with the emphasis on the second syllable) Energy Center. In recognition of this immutable fact, after dozens of name changes that literally no one paid attention to, the amphitheater that opened in the 1980s as Star Lake Amphitheater has now, 40 years later, been renamed Star Lake Amphitheater.
It seems Pittsburgh and Chicago have much in common lol
Gimbel, Hornes, EBA, 6th, 7th, and 9th Street bridges. Heinz Field might be an intentional protest.
It's funny that even at the time of this recording, the ConnectCard they were issued says Port Authority on it and not PRT. Guessing they had a large number of already printed cards they wanted to distribute before redesigning it; but even the ConnectCard website, that would have been easy to change, still refers to it as "Port Authority's Online ConnectCard Management system.". Not surprising a re-brand isn't taking hold when the thing you use to access the service isn't re-branded.
Adding to the point of local resistance to name changes, I used to frequently hear people refer to bus drivers as "PAT drivers" and a bus as a "PAT bus", but I don't think I've once heard someone use the term "PRT driver" or "PRT bus". The re-brand to me really feels like changing one 3 letter acronym for another for no good reason. Sure, adding Pittsburgh to the name better describes the area of service, but does that matter is nobody uses the full name?
@@williammcginnis1232 Low effort rebrand Hahahaha
They didn’t change the name of Heinz Stadium, they just changed the spelling:
The A is silent as in LogicAlly
The C is pronounced like H as in Chanukah
The R is silent, as it always is in the New England dialect
The I is long, pronounced just like it is in Island
There is an N sound added next, just as there is a random N added where none exists in the word Comptroller
The S is pronounced like a Z as in These
The next three letters are silent: silent U as in gUest, silent R as in paRk (in Boston again), silent E and bathE.
Therefore, the correct pronunciation of Acrisure is HEINZ.
Cool video! Its wild to me that Pittsburgh doesnt expand the light rail to go along the rivers, especially along the south side and the strip district. Those two business centers alone would pump so much money into the system and promote more movement in and around the city.
I understand that building infrastructure around all the Hills and rivers can be a challenge, but I think what's holding back. The light rail system most is the lack of usable routes. The system connects North and South Pittsburgh, entirely ignoring the people who need more Transit the most does being students at Pitt, CMU, and the other universities. Those students usually don't have Transit, and use use the public transit system the most. From what I've seen. It would also help ease congestion from car s and diminish Road use, which definitely doesn't help when you see how much wear and tear and upkeep all these Bridges need.
I’ve always thought it can’t be that hard to add rails to the dedicated busways.
The main reason is money, or lack thereof. There also is a bit of an attitude issue with PRT itself. Sometimes I think they'd be happier if the "T" magically disappeared and they could just run bus service everywhere, since they seem to see themselves less as a transit agency and more of a "bus agency", if that makes sense.
One of the few benefits of getting old(er) is having been able to see and do things long gone. In the early Spring of 1970, when I was 12, I went on a trip with the Akron Railroad Club to Pittsburgh, in the company of a relative who indulged my obsession with trains, to ride all SIX remaining streetcar lines, because they were planning on abandoning three of them. We took advantage of a change in B&O/C&O passenger service that truncated the former "Diplomat" day train from Washington to Chicago at Akron, turning the equipment there for an early morning departure to DC, and an approximately three-hour trip to Pittsburgh, using the P&LE station (now Station Square). I think we rode all six lines, at least the ones that were going to be abandoned, including what is now probably the sometimes used Brown Line, which was much longer back then. I know we rode both lines going to the far South end. I remember a frustrated operator having to stop a couple of times to try and find the owners of cars that were parked too close to the tracks to move them, having ice cream at an Isaly's ice cream parlor (there was one in Akron as well), riding one of the inclines, and going to the B&O Grant St. station and seeing the RDCs on weekend layover, the first time I ever saw one in person. The B&O service from DC to Akron was not much of a train - two, maybe three cars - but one of them was a coach/cafe counter car, which was a novelty to me. Little did I know that 15 years later I'd end up working Amcafes in the Northeast corridor for over a decade. That B&O train lasted less than a year, ending well before the final discontinuance of all B&O passenger service with the start of Amtrak.
I had two chances to ride the Brown Line when maintenance was happening in the Mt. Washington tunnel. The views of the city when coming down through the Southside Slopes towards the Mon are nothing short of stunning. It would be great if it were fully renewed!
If there’s enough advance warning I might just come up someday to try it out.
They're actually going to be replacing all the rail in the Mount Washington Tunnel for 9 months starting in February of 2025. During that time they plan to run the Brown line. I have a feeling they may keep it open once they see what ridership is like. They have also been running to Penn Park due to construction in the Central Business District and I wouldn't be surprised if that leads to some amount of service in the future.
I actually did get to ride the brown line when it used to be called the 52 Allentown and I absolutely agree the views of the city when coming down through the south side slopes are absolutely spectacular especially at night Pittsburgh is truly a great city
I really hate to tell this but there’s a story behind the removal of streetcars in Pittsburgh. In 1947 a city solicitor named Anne Alpern began a campaign to rid streetcars in Pittsburgh and other politicians picked up on it. A lot of other factors entered into it as well but I won’t get into all that here.
19th admendment.
Thanks for the shoutout at the beginning 😎 Wish you had taken a look at the outer end of the Silver Line, which as a traction buff still has a lot of early 1900s interurban infrastructure and is a fun ride! :)
I gotta save something for next time!
I’m from Pittsburgh and still think of the public transportation as PAT, Port Authority Transit (or Transportation). I would see the new acronym PRT and have to look it up, then forget it soon after. Often I get it mixed up and think the “R” stands for “Rail” instead of “Regional”. I liked PAT! 😢
We have been to Pittsburgh and never took the trains anywhere, we walked all over. Now I feel like I need to go back and ride these trains! Thanks for another fun vlog!
I feel like the branch to Penn Station could be use as the start of a new light rail line along the MLK Busway towards East Liberty. Buses and light rail could still share that ROW. It would probably be a pretty well used line
Yeah it seems if they already have the right of way it would be pretty easy. Problem is the tunnel is single tracked, and expanding it to double is impossible.
I use the light rail quite frequently to travel from the northside to downtown and then transfer to the Martin Luther King Jr. E. Bus Way to go to East liberty and I absolutely agree a conversion to light rail on the E. Bus way would be great
There are also proposals to extend the light rail to the north Hills and cranberry Township as well as a expansion to the Pittsburgh international airport maybe one day
The other bus way I use quite frequently is the W. Bus way I went to high school at Langley high school in the West End section of Pittsburgh and when I was in high school I use the W. Bus Way every day
@@Thom-TRAif the proposed line’s trains ran at the same frequencies as the current P1 bus (6 minutes during peak hours, 15-20 minutes the rest of the day), then the single tracking through the tunnel wouldn’t be a huge deal. It only takes about a minute to get through it.
Idk of you felt it or not, but when they were building the Northshore Extension they screwed up the tunning under the Allegheny River. The tunnel machine veared off course and they had to recorrect it, and so now can feel a lot bit of a "jink" when you're under the river. The whole saga behind the Northside extension is fascinating because how controversial it was for being way over budget and the engineering choices that were made. Alot of people back then and still today think a tunnel should of never been built, and that the 11th Street bridge that the Amtrak uses should of been used to cross the river instead. I'm glad you liked the T and sorry you ran into some bad folks
That’s so hilariously stupid that they went the wrong way! I’ll try to see next time if I feel anything. Thanks for the history!
Fun fact - there used to be red, and then two blue lines... the library and south hills village. Riders constantly got confused as to which they were on... someone then suggested to a Port Authority person who was out talking to riders, that maybe the South Hills Village line should be SILVER, (Since SLV is kind of like SHV) to stop people from always being confused about two blue lines. Well, they made silver... but it's the library that was changed to silver... while south hills village remains blue line... ugh. Additionally there was a Blue Line Grille (near library) that opened up about the time that the blue line changed to silver. So it screwed over their whole name LOL. They closed down recently though.
I always wonder how much thought goes into planning stuff like that. Like really guys, you didn’t see the confusion coming? 😂
For many years, I lived about 100' from the Fallowfield station, just south of South Hills Junction. Was there when the T opened. Rode it frequently a loved it. Would even just ride it to the ends and back as recreation! ! When it opened (1982?) the thought that it would reach capacity in 10 years. It did so in 2 and they had to find a way to increase passenger load. So, with some juggling of the controls, they were able to put tow units---4 coaches---together and the signal system would treat it as a single unit. Not sure what ridership is now as I moved from Pgh some years ago, altho I still consider it 'home'! Nice vid. Glad you 'finally' got to Pgh! ! Sorry you didn't go to the ends of each line.
I ride trains for fun all the time too
This video was recommended to me while riding the T 😂
Love Pittsburgh. Great city, light rail is good but needs expanding.
Agreed
Indeed. I think it needs to be expanded to Pittsburgh International Airport as well as Oakland.
This is my original rail system! I used to live in Pittsburgh, and this is a staple of my nostalgia!
I hope you enjoyed the video!
As someone who used the DC Metro very often and now live in Pittsburgh and still have not used the T, I appreciate the video.
You should go out and use it!
@@Thom-TRA I told my fiance we need to have a "T day" and ride it around as a result of this video!
I hope you get back to Pittsburgh again and ride the Silver Line all the way to Library. Old school route with modern rolling stock!
I’ve heard it’s great!
I went to college in Pittsburgh from 2013, this video brings back old memories! I only rode the light rail to go to the sports games though 🫠 this video makes me want to go back for a weekend trip. Sorry to hear the folks weren’t friendly to yinz. Thank you for the video Thom!
very nice video! the st. louis metrolink is a favorite transit system of mine, putting the pittsburgh light rail on my must-see transit list
They feel oddly similar!
@@Thom-TRA yes! even the rolling stocks appear similar. the history of the right-of-way is very interesting too! i love when i get the opportunity to tell people the rich history of the right-of-way for st. louis metrolink as a freight train tunnel. it makes sense from the planning perspective to reuse the railroad right-of-way but it also allows for historic preservation in public transportation, such as the 8th and Pine station
Thanks for your informative, objexctive and just wonderful urban rail videos. Way to go!
As the freight train was shown at the end, I recalled that in 2018, a Norfolk Southern train derailed at Station Square causing damage to the light rail station below its tracks. I actually found folks to be nice the day and a half I spent in Pittsburgh. My son and I arrived and departed on Amtrak, and we rode buses, light rail, and both inclines.
I really need to visit Pittsburgh. Really hoping the Amtrak service between there and the Northeast Corridor really does improve, because right now, getting from DC to Pittsburgh sucks.
Yeah I wish they’d add frequency on the DC to Pittsburgh section
@@Thom-TRA, I'd even take the proposed increase on Philly or NYC to Pittsburg, as that might actually help us. I wouldn't mind transferring in Philly if I could shave two or three hours off the trip.
It's getting better. I just have to keep telling myself. It's getting better. Baby steps.
GREAT VIDEO! Glad that Pittsburgh saved a remnant of the once vast streetcar system. Hopefully the T can be expanded. There has been talk of converting the East Busway to light rail, connecting at Penn Station. A BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) line is being constructed between downtown and Oakland, which hosts University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie-Mellon University as well as numerous medical facilities. A rail line would have been more efficient than a joke of a BRT"system" which consists of two bus lanes on parallel streets and has been studied to death for over 30 years. Paint some lines on the street and call it a day.
The transit agency Port Authority had for many years used the acronym PAT, or Port Authority Transit. Then they relabeled themselves Port Authority, even though they didn't do anything with any ports. The newest rebrand is STUPID! PRT or "purt"--why not go back to the well known PAT for Pittsburgh Area Transit. Easier to pronounce and recognizable. Back to the Future--PAT. Go to WVU in nearby Morgantown--PRT.
Careful, you’ll unlock my honest thoughts on BRT…
Also from Pittsburgh - Brown line is allegedly going to be reopened in a few years. All other extensions are still up in the air at this point, although the vast majority of people here would be very happy if the northern corridor and some east/west lines could happen. City really needs to adopt an "if you build it, they will come" approach to public transit and to stop listening to bus companies. We need more rail.
I heard the brown line might even be open next winter for some construction detours. In that case I’ll definitely come.
Pittsburgh has some really cool and weird transit
Absolutely!
Pittsburgh has 3 busways and the south hills busway is the oldest in the US and second in the world.😊
Very cool to see these mid-western cities with technology that blends old and new infrastructure together... As an future video series, I'd love to see a tour of abandoned or unbuilt mid-western train systems like Cincinnati or Rochester which both have abandoned subway sections beneath their cities... Or cities that planned to build modern LRT but never did like Milwaukee, which I guess has a streetcar now but you know... Not the same thing! As a cool historic twist, Edmonton, my hometown, Go Oilers had drawn up extensive plans for a Skybus system using Pittsburgh's ill-fated technology but dropped it in favor of being the first North American city to revive modern Urban LRT Railway based on the Frankfurt U-Bahn and its Siemens-Duewag U2 cars... Which Calgary and San Diego then adopted shortly after...
I have train station 2 and I love it it's really cool thank you for promoting something good
Hey Tom, great video on the Pittsburgh light rail system
I cannot wait to see your video of the Duquesne incline. That is a spectacular incline. I use it quite frequently. It is certainly a great piece of Pittsburgh history and a well preserved peace of Pittsburgh history. The staff that worked that incline is absolutely amazing.
The Monongahela incline has been plagued with both electrical and computer problems since a major rehabilitation project was undertaken in 2022 in fact, the reliability problems got to appoint where Pittsburg Regional Transit recently invested money in purchasing three Ford transit connect vans to be used specifically as shuttle vehicles on the Monongahela incline when it is out of service due to these persistent electrical and computer problems
Fortunately, it seems like the Pittsburg Regional Transit has had some great people coming in to look at the Monga Hill incline to figure everything out. Hopefully, they can get to the bottom of these problems and resolve them.
The redline right now, as we speak is undergoing a major rehabilitation project. The red line is shut down from South Hills Junction to Overbrook Junction, and they have shuttle buses, running between the shut down segments and it is scheduled to reopen in the beginning of September.
My biggest issue with the PRT rebrand is that in the initial announcement, they insisted it was pronounced "part". The long Pittsburgh tradition of calling things by their old names (as well as navigating by previously-existing landmarks) says that it should be pronounced "port".
How they took PRT and thought it would be pronounced part is a mystery to me
In Pittsburgh, the areas of the city that are called Oakland, East Liberty and Shadyside are the places where all the action is, including Pitt University, Carnegie Mellon University, numerous other colleges and massive hospitals and clinics. Unfortunately, Light Rail doesn't go to any of these places. Why? It's due to cost. People are never going to accept street-running rail vehicles in these super-dense and congested areas and tunneling at a billion dollars per mile won't be happening either. Pittsburgh's Light Rail was made possible by using ancient but very fortuitously-located existing rights-of-way to offer commuters convenient access to Downtown offices from residential neighborhoods that peaked in the 1960s. Work-from-home has now made Downtown commutes unnecessary and so ridership is decimated just at the time that the system through these old neighborhoods needs an expensive update. It's a problem. Already the Silver Line is headed for abandonment. Hundreds of new homes being built on the Silver Line are not bringing new commuters and the giant parking garage built for the Blue and Red lines is mostly empty as are the numerous park-and-ride lots that cost tons of money to keep them in good condition. Lately, the old LRVs are breaking down frequently, scheduled trips are frequently out of service due to drivers not showing up for work and infrastructure in the underground stations is very unreliable. I wouldn't want to be the one at Pittsburgh Regional Transit to make the hard decisions regarding what is to happen with Pittsburgh Light Rail.
That’s really unfortunate
"What do you think about the name change?"
You notice that PRT's logo is three rings? Thats to let you know just what kind of circus they are.
I personally don’t mind the change in name, I just hope it lives up to the implication. Pittsburgh light rail only really serves the south of Pittsburgh, totally ignoring the east, which, frankly, is where the most populated/vibrant neighborhoods are (squirrel hill, lawrenceville, etc)
Also, sorry the locals were so rude to you!!
It’s okay! It was mostly shopowners and bus drivers.
@@Thom-TRABefore I watch the video, I hope one of the rude drivers wasn't my brother, my cousin, or a couple of my friends from high school.
@@robertlunderwood I’m sure they weren’t!
Pittsburgh also had a short lived commuter rail line called PATrain which ran to the suburb of Versailles in the late 1970s through the 1980s that used the B&O right of way. PATrain was also supposed to take over another commuter rail line operated by the P&LE but P&LE decided to just end it’s commuter rail service and not hand it over to PATrain, so PATrain only ran the B&O line. Ridership was so low that PATrain ended all service in 1989. Those tracks are still used by Amtrak on the Capitol Limited
Is that the PennDOT service that used the Amtrak rolling stock?
@@Thom-TRA yes
Really enjoyed seeing this awesome light rail system in action! Your research and information is greatly appreciated and awesome!!!
I visited Pittsburgh in 2018 and loved it. I want to visit again sometime. I rode the trains in the downtown and was also impressed with those stations there. I wish they had an east-west line to supplement the system. I rode the Duquesne Incline as well. Very cool and I loved how you can watch the mechanical parts in action.
Welp, since you made it to Pittsburgh, have you gotten a chance to ride my home rail system - the Cleveland RTA?
Not yet… hoping to soon
8:30 The Pennsylvania Trolly Museum in Washington, PA has one of the last surviving PATransit PCCs. As for the name change, it took me a while to get used to it. After all, there is a Port Authority in New York City, which can get very confusing very quickly. Yeah, having the Mon Inclimb being closed due to some sort of issue is quite problematic, because that allows for quick access to Mount Washington from the Station Square T station.
If you would have continued on the Red line you would have gotten to go thru a tunnel that goes under a cemetery between Dormont and Mt Lebanon stops.
Seattle's transit tunnel was first used by hi tech dual mode diesel electric trolleycoaches. Not unlike Boston's waterfront Silver Line.
Philadelphia subway surface lines use a tunnel running west from Juniper Street and City Hall along Market Street, plus under the Schuylkill River before fanning out in west and southwest Philadelphia. So it's more apt to compare Philadelphia and Pittsburgh than San Francisco.
Except the tunnel in Philly opened in 1906, decades and decades earlier than the other examples. Plus, Philly still uses trolleys. Meanwhile, San Francisco, like Pittsburgh, has repurposed its infrastructure to accommodate larger light rail vehicles.
So no, my comparison to San Francisco is the best one.
Awesome introduction to Pittsburgh's light rail system! I always see the infrastructure for this when I sometimes take the Pennsylvanian as it is visible by the bus shelter there.
Speaking of the Pennsylvanian, since you were in Pittsburgh, will you be posting a Pennsylvanian report in the future? I didn't know if you had a chance to experience the Pennsylvanian while there.
Thanks! No, the Pennsylvanian is still on my to do list. Maybe next winter!
Wuz good to see both of yinz dann tan.
Hope to come back sometime soon!
It's almost like you saw me searching for your not-yet-existing Pittsburgh video last week after I discovered your channel! 😀
Glad the timing worked out great!
Im from pgh 🙌 please post about the bus system or let me know if you have any good resources!!!
Awesome!!! as a former Pittsburgher I really love this system and its stunning scenic views. It (along with Boston's Green Line) surpasses the Subway Surface lines in my native Philly. And nice pictures of the old PRR train station too. I didn't know about the change from PAT to PRT but it makes a lot more sense than Septa's rebranding of its rail lines from names to weird letters (OK, I get "L" for the Market-Frankford el) Anyway the video was excellent.
I didn’t realize you were from Pittsburgh!
@@Thom-TRA I'm not, Philly all the way, but I went to Pitt, so I knew the place quiet well.
Who doesn’t like trains?!! Love your informative videos. They actually help with planning trips to various places, helping with great ideas for maneuvering around cities and towns! Great job with the videos !
This is the best thing to hear! Thank you!!
So, it seems that one of the most noticable differences between North American LRT and German Stadtbahn is that most LRT systems have tunnel in their routes only when there had been an existing one before they built the system, while Stadtbahn systems build one if they did not get an existing one. Right?
On the other hand, I had a very fun time when I visited Pittsburgh as a tourist and rode the system. But I felt sorry for students in University of Pittsburgh who cannot enjoy the benefit of the system on daily basis.
The tunnel in San Francisco was mostly newly built, I believe. But your observation is a good one.
And then there’s Buffalo, who has street running downtown and then a tunnel in the suburbs…
The funny thing is that the US pioneered the premetro with the Green Line in Boston and the subway-surface trolleys in Philadelphia. It does however describe newer systems, though.
Los Angeles' light rail system has multiple tunnels, all built especially for the system (maybe one or two short ones are legacy infrastructure). Some of the above ground sections are reused rights of ways, but the tunnels are mostly or entirely new.
In fact, the is a large tunnel project in downtown Los Angeles called the Regional Connector which just opened a couple years ago with three new stations and a complete rearranging of the light rail system that functions much like the tunnel in Pittsburgh.
Only a small portion of the underground running in downtown Pittsburgh is the re-used train tunnel, the segment that starts after 1st avenue and runs to Penn Station. The segment that goes towards Wood and Gateway stations was newly built in the 80s via cut-and-cover method of tunneling. The early 2000s addition was built using a TBM.
A small correction: PCC service continued into the downtown tunnel into the early 1990s. This is why the older downtown stations have platforms at two levels: high for LRVs, low for PCCs. These cars ran over the overbrook route from the south hills to downtown. Once that track broke down and needed to be rebuilt, they brought it up to LRV standard and just kept a few PCCs for the run to Drake, which persisted until the early 2000s.
I never said the PCCs ended in 1985, I said streetcar service downtown ended that year.
Ohhhhhh, you meant on surface downtown. I thought you meant into downtown at all. Gotcha.
The last revenue service on the Drake Line ended in 1999.
I think there was some kind of bridge issue that led to the PCCs being removed from full T line service .
Brilliant video sir, good tosee Lyndsey keeping an eye on you!!
Former Pittsburgher here. I seem to recall pronouncing the i in "yinz" about halfway between the i in Pittsburgh and a schwa.
I missed my stop (on my way to Canton Avenue, the steepest street in the mainland US) due to not realizing about the low-level stops and had to walk back from the next stop.
Surprised you found Pittsburgh to not be friendly. I've always found it to be friendlier than bigger cities.
It's definitely worth riding all the way to Library.
You need to visit Cleveland next to ride the Green Road & Van Aken lines (Shaker Heights Rapids)
About the name change from PAT to Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT). There has been a movement for the last decade to consolidate the seven transit authorities in the Pittsburgh region into one organization like what SEPTA in Philly does. The name change is just the first step in this consolidation. There are several hurdles in completing this consolidation but the main one is the Pa General Assembly to pass legislation that would create and finance this consolidation. As with everything concerning transit in PA, unless you are commuting into downtown for work, no one in the suburbs is willing to see their taxes go up for a service that they will not use. Unfortunately, transit in the Pittsburgh outlying county/communities are only used by the elderly and the economically disadvantaged.
Does each county currently have their own agency?
Yes, they do. Unfortunately their routes don't all reach to the county lines to allow passengers to transfer.
Interesting to know about the broader plan for a larger transit agency. Has both potential and pitfalls.
The idea that only the disenfranchised use public transportation is a little overgeneralized, but not just a Pittsburgh thing. What is the phrase "you have to spend money to make money". If public transit routes don't go where you are trying to get, then if you work in a suburban office park, then you are going to drive. So until they create a network of routes that reach points of commerce/shopping/religious/and cultural destinations with minimal transfers at a reasonable price and offer riders courtesy then it's an uphill battle.
@@Thom-TRASome counties have *multiple* agencies, such as Washington County being served by Freedom Transit and Mid-Mon Valley Transit.
@@Thom-TRA There are 33 independent transit authorities in PA. Most serve only one county with a few serving multiple counties. They all operate under Pennsylvania Department Transportation Bureau of Public Transportation
Its definitely a neat system, I just hope it can be expanded one day to really take advantage of the infrastructure and become a true network. Also Pittsburgh actually has 3 busways, though weirdly one directly parallels the Blue and Silver line, that being the South busway. But the other 2 also look decent. The MLK jr. East Busway especially could potentially be a good one to convert to Light rail in the long run, given that it also already has a downtown tunnel connection at Penn station.
Oh yeah I forgot about the west busway, I was as just thinking of MLK and South
Are you doing a video on the inclines?
Are you planning to watch this video until the end?
@@Thom-TRA sorry hadn’t finished it quite yet
I thought, even if Brown line trains don't use the Allentown branch that they could make it possible that you can go from one corner, or either the Beechview or Overbrook lines, to either corner on the other side or anywhere on the Beechview or Overbrook lines. My Idea was Blue and Silver serve Penn Station, joins Red on the Beechview line, then Silver on the Library Branch. Unless Pittsburgh added regional rail, I don't see any reason to extend it (to Upper St. Clair and Piney Fork Rd. Both of these branches would actually end up in Washington, PA. One would have a transfer one stop before a new stop at Morgan for a Cincinnati/St. Louis/DFW? route, the other connects to Kennywood en route to Penn Station)
Great video. I was just visiting Pittsburgh a month ago. Specifically to see how much we like the city for potentially relocating there from Philly. Philly is unfortunately getting too expensive for us to live in. Definitely very likely that we will move to Pittsburgh. We absolutely love this city. And riding the light rail was one of the highlights. If I happen to have a living and working situation that gives me the opportunity to ride the T for my commute, I'd love to do that.
Edit: Just saw Classy Whale at the end of the video. Ayyy!
I’m sorry to hear Philly is becoming so expensive
Thank you for this fascinating video. I don’t know Pittsburgh well, though I did visit when taking the train from Chicago to Harrisburg in 1992 (!) The train was of course Amtrak’s Broadway Limited, which sadly no longer runs. I now know I must revisit Pittsburgh ! Looking forward to the next episode.
I wish the Broadway Limited still ran…
@@Thom-TRA Yes, so do I ! I guess Amtrak could not justify running both the Broadway Limited, and the Lake Shore Limited between Chicago and New York, though they served very different markets. I also wish I had been able to see the Pennsylvania Railroad at the height of its existence !
Pittsburgh is another destination on my list. Also mainly because of the transportation. I’m glad to know that the remaining tunnel with light rail and buses is located there. I’d like to ride them both when I can.
Ride one one way, then the other the other way!
@@Thom-TRA Yeah, that’s what I should do in that tunnel.
The train system desperately needs to be expanded north with a few stops all the way up to cranberry and then from there to the airport and the airport to downtown. I know both north and west highways get crouded every day and having trains would be great for everyone. We need to also bring back trolleys to a few areas including from the strip district to Lawrenceville there is already existing but abandoned train lines that run that route so have a trolley run that area would be great. I think Pittsburgh could definitely benefit from streetcars similar to Toronto's.
The first subway system I used regularly was WMATA in the D.C. Metro area. By comparison, the Pittsburgh subway system is terrible and inadequate.
Agreed
I would like your opinion on Pittsburgh's busways and how they fit into some sort of BRT concept that can be replicated elsewhere...
I think the busways are great, it should be the norm to have fast buses run on exclusive rights of way. But it does make me think it might be a good idea to lay some tracks in them.
Trains are awesome!
Yes they are! Thank you for the generous gift!
Congrats on getting your videos sponsored! That's so cool.
Didn't know about the wide gauge. Interesting.
Thanks for visiting! Hope you enjoyed it
I did!
The downtown station looks gorgeous. Shame that Pittsburg doesn't seem too interested in expanding their network. How is the land use around the stations? Seemed pretty quiet on the train. Also this must've been shot in winter!
Yes, this was shot early January! Second video I shot in 2024
I seem to have a fetish about streetcars in the snow. So I tell people that I was a motorman in Syracuse in my previous life.😊
It isn’t so much that Pittsburgh isn’t interested in expanding it, but the transit agency that operates the buses and light rail has a heavy preference towards buses. Maintaining the rail network is almost seen as an inconvenience.
@@SebisRandomTechRunning buses is an inconvenience for them.
Here's a paradox I want you to answer: is Buffalo's "light rail" line a light rail or subway? (Hint: 80% of the line is actually underground, and non-articulated vehicles are used)
Well call it a “special case”
south hills junction is my stop 🤟🏿 cool vid nice information!
Glad you enjoyed it!
From a native here-overall a very good video. You really did your homework here however you did make one error- PCC streetcar service in Pittsburgh ended in 1999, not 1985. Also I wished you stopped by the PA Trolley Museum in nearby Washington, PA. As a volunteer motorman there I would've been more than happy to give you an in-depth look on the history of streetcar service in the Burg.
I said “streetcar service in downtown Pittsburgh ended in 1985.” I said nothing about the PCCs. Is it not true that there was no more street running after 1985?
Just wanna say how much I love your channel there hasn’t been a single vid I didn’t like
Awww thanks!!!!
@@Thom-TRA np!
God what I’d give for this train to go east-west. As much as I love it, it often feels like a rail for suburbanites to get to the stadiums. Not that they don’t deserve public transport, I’d just like to be able to use the train at all 😢
Yeah there’s a lot left to be desired
Next time go into the PLEE building at STATION square for some really cool architecture and good restaurant.
Thanks for the tip!
Aw a video full of special guests? Hopeful for the day where I can be in one of your videos. Maybe when Caltrain electrification opens.
How did u get from DC to Pittsburg for this trip?
Car
yinz lol. nailed it.
Pittsburgh does have strange buses that go to weird places. In terms of tram fleet history they interesting tram vehicles dating back to the early 1980s, the SD400 came in 1985. Only issue with Pittsburgh PCCs is the city didn't opt to do something like SF, Boston, Kenosha, San Diego and Philadelphia. I am trying to get to Pittsburgh both as a railfan and tourist. I never seen you with a Sponsorship before.
Outstanding Video. 😊 Thanks For The History. 😂🎉😊
Thank you!