"Welcome to the T"

[Derrick J Brashear]

I apologize for the strange line breaks in this message; It's OCRed from
a brochure put out by PAT around the time of the reopening of Dormont
portion of the line.

-Welcome to the T
Welcome to the T, a 22.5 mile light rail system serving the South Hills. Your
new light rail transit system will provide you with efficient transportation
into the next century. The T was designed with the most advanced features
in safety, comfort, and convenience in mind.

Construction along the new portion, a 10.5 mile line from downtown Pittsburgh
to South Hills Village began in 1980 and was constructed in three major
segments. Work proceeded from both ends toward the middle.

At the northern end, the Downtown Subway opened on July 3,1985. All vehicles 
now run beneath the streets of downtown Pittsburgh rather than on the surface.
At the southern end of the line, construction was completed and the section 
between South Hills Village and Washington Junction opened in May 1984.

The middle section of the line is the old Mt. Lebanon/Beechview trolley
route. Trolley service in this section was discontinued in April 1984 to
permit construction of the new line. Upon its reopening on May 22,1987,
commuters have a direct rail link between downtown Pittsburgh and South
Hills Village and all communities in between. For the first time, there
will be all-day service along the T between Castle Shannon and Mt.
Lebanon. Before reconstruction, only rush hour service was available by
way of an extension from Mt. Lebanon to Castle Shannon.

Included in the entire reconstruction were new double track, drainage,
electrical facilities, bridges, retaining walls, and street crossings.
Two sections are totally underground: downtown Pittsburgh and a section
under Washington Road between Dormont and  Mt. Lebanon. Also included are
five Park and Ride lots with 1,600 spaces. Thirteen stations provide
high-level boarding for easier access as well as handicapped
accessibility and 23 stops have street-level boarding. Adjacent to the
South Hills Village Station is a fifty-acre Rail Center, opened in 1984
for maintenance and storage of rail vehicles as well as headquarters for
the PAT communications systems. The Rail Center replaced an
eighty-year-old shop and yard at South Hills Junction near Mt. Washington.

Also included in the project are fifty-five new light rail vehicles with
high- and low-level boarding doors, air conditioning, and comfortable
seating. Many existing trolleys are being rehabilitated for use on the
Overbrook, Drake, Library, and Allentown lines. Because of the
deteriorated condition of Arlington Avenue, which is being reconstructed
by the City of Pittsburgh, T service on the Allentown line is currently
suspended with substitute bus service provided.

The new portion of the T line has been designated the Red Line to make it
easy for riders to know which route it follows and which vehicles (new
light rail vehicles or PCC trolleys) will serve the stations and stops.
The Overbrook/Library line has been designated the Blue Line.

The Red Line is the 10.5 mile section which has been totally
reconstructed. Timetables for this route are red and are numbered 42 MT.
LEBANON and 42S SOUTH HILLS VILLAGE VIA BEECHVIEW. To board the Red Line
at a station, stand on the high-level platform with the corresponding red
route designation sign. New light rail vehicles will use this route
exclusively.

The Blue Line is the Overbrook/Library line. Timetables for routes that
use this line are blue and numbered 47 SHANNON VIA OVERBROOK, 47D DRAKE,
47L LIBRARY, and 47S SOUTH HILLS VILLAGE. To board the Blue Line at a
station, stand on the low-level platform with the corresponding blue route
designation sign. PCC trolleys use the Blue Line only and share the Red
Line between Castle Shannon and South Hills Village. Both Red and Blue
Lines serve Station Square and the Downtown Subway Stations.

-The Dormont/Mt. Lebanon Transit Tunnel
In addition to the Downtown Subway, the Dormont/Mt. Lebanon Transit
Tunnel is the other underground section of the T. The 3,000 foot tunnel
connects the Dormont and Mt. Lebanon Stations beneath Washington Road
from Shady Drive to McFarland Road at a maximum depth of 100 feet.

Riders will notice that this tunnel differs significantly from the
Downtown Subway tunnel. This is because of the method used to construct
it. The Dormont/Mt. Lebanon Tunnel was constructed by a technique called
the New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM), a tunneling process developed
thirty years ago that has become the primary tunneling practice in
Europe. This is the first time that this money-saving technique was used
for transit construction in the United States.

The difference with NATM lies in the means of support required to
maintain the rock cavity and the configuration of the tunnel structure.
With conventional tunneling, support of the rock cavity consists of a rib
cage framework of steel beams and horizontal wooden planks A reinforced
steel concrete lining is added to create a perfectly shaped tunnel. With
NATM, the rock surrounding the hole becomes the support system. This is
done by lining the tunnel cavity with several thin layers of shotcrete,
concrete that is blown on under air pressure. Because shotcrete does not
alter the original configuration of the excavated tunnel cavity, the
final tunnel assumes a wavy and undulating appearance.


-Safety on the T
Because the T travels through residential and commercial areas, it is
important to remember a few safety tips.

*	Please obey signal lights where street traffic crosses the T tracks.
*	Do not walk on or near the tracks. Signals which change the course
	of the track are switched automatically by remote control so
	switches may move at anytime, even if an LRV or PCC is not in sight.
*	Be alert for faster, quieter vehicles traveling the track.
*	Stay clear of the live overhead wire.
*	Be cautious of T and street traffic at all safety islands.