Tower City station

Tower City station, known alternatively as Tower City–Public Square and Tower City Center is a rapid transit station in Cleveland, Ohio, part of Tower City Center. It is the central station on the RTA Red Line and the major station on the RTA Green and Blue Lines. The station is located directly beneath Prospect Avenue in the middle of the Avenue shopping mall. The station is only accessible through the Tower City Center shopping complex, and, for this reason, the public concourse of the shopping mall is open at all times that the RTA Rapid Transit is in operation.

Tower City
rapid transit and light rail station
The westbound Red Line platform
Location	230 West Huron Road, Cleveland, Ohio
Coordinates	41°29′51″N 81°41′38″W
Owned by	Greater Cleveland RTA
Platforms	2 low island platforms for light rail 2 high island platforms for rapid transit
Tracks	2 outer through tracks, 2 inner stub tracks, 2 non-revenue tracks
Connections	HealthLine (Public Square/Tower City station) B Line Trolley E Line Trolley Other bus service at Public Square
Construction
Structure type	Underground
Parking	Paid parking only
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Website	Tower City Rapid Station
History
Opened	December 17, 1990 July 10, 1996 (Waterfront Line)
Services
Preceding station Rapid Transit Following station West 25th–Ohio City toward Airport Red Line Tri-C–Campus District toward Louis Stokes–Windermere through to Waterfront Line Blue Line Tri-C–Campus District toward Warrensville–Van Aken Green Line Tri-C–Campus District toward Green Road Settlers Landing toward South Harbor Waterfront Line through to Blue and Green Lines

Located in downtown Cleveland, the station is the busiest RTA Rapid Transit station. It is also the only station to serve all of downtown Cleveland, in spite of the fact the Tower City complex is located on the south end of this district near the east shore of the Cuyahoga River; the rest of downtown is serviced by frequent bus service. It offers connections to all RTA buses serving Public Square. The station also includes a "Walkway to Gateway," which is a completely enclosed and air-conditioned skyway from Tower City Center to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse and Progressive Field of the Gateway Sports and Entertainment Complex, allowing RTA passengers, as well as those using the Tower City parking facilities, to walk to the arena or ballpark without having to go outside.

History

The Waterfront Line began service at Tower City on July 10, 1996.

On July 31, 2016, RTA began replacing the track bed for track 8, the main westbound track.[1] In order to prevent service disruptions during the track replacement, RTA temporarily reopened the Shaker rapid track to the public. Westbound trains arrived on that track and temporary platforms and station facilities were set up. The temporary station was not accessible from the main station entrance and had a separate entrance.[2] The new track opened to passengers on November 26, 2016.[3]

Station layout

The station has two fare-collection entrances, one leading to a low platform station for use by the light rail Green and Blue Lines, and one leading to a high platform station for the heavy rail Red Line. Both entrances open from a lobby located on the lowest level of the Tower City shopping mall, and this lobby is accessible by escalators and elevators from the other levels of the mall. Each entrance has multiple fare gates along with two operator booths. The entrance for the Green and Blue Lines collects fares from passengers entering and leaving the station, since westbound passengers pay their fare upon leaving. The Red Line entrance collects fares from passengers entering the station and also requires arriving passengers to swipe their proof of payment card at the gate in order to exit the station.[4] In order to transfer from the Red Line to the Green or Blue Lines, or vice versa, passengers must exit through the fare gates at one station entrance and enter through the other station entrance. The high and low platform portions of the station could also be reached from each other without going through the lobby by an access ramp located along each side of tracks around the lobby; however, with the implementation of the proof of payment system on the Red Line, the ramps have been closed.

Waterfront trains operate as an extension of select Blue and Green trains,[5] meaning that Waterfront trains departing from Track 8 arrived into the station as Blue or Green trains. Similarly, Blue and Green trains departing from Track 13 arrived into the station as Waterfront trains.

M3	Skylight	Tower City Center access
M2	Street level	Exit/entrance, buses, HealthLine, Public Square
M1	Concourse	Tower City Center access, transfer between Red and Blue/Green/Waterfront lines
P Platform level	Track 6	← No service
	Island platform, not in service
	Track 7	← No service
	Track 8	←      Red Line toward Airport (West 25th–Ohio City)			←      Waterfront Line toward South Harbor (Settlers Landing)
	Island platform			Lobby, fare control, exit to Tower City Center	Island platform
	Track 10	←      Red Line toward Airport (West 25th–Ohio City)				Blue Line toward Warrensville–Van Aken (Tri-C–Campus District) →      Green Line toward Green Road (Tri-C–Campus District) →
	Island platform				Island platform
	Track 13	←      Red Line toward Louis Stokes–Windermere (Tri-C–Campus District) →				Blue Line toward Warrensville–Van Aken (Tri-C–Campus District) →      Green Line toward Green Road (Tri-C–Campus District) →

Gallery

• 
  Exit to Tower City Center
• 
  Station navigation
• 
  Entrance to the Red Line platforms
• 
  Entrance to the Blue/Green/Waterfront Line platforms
• 
  Ticket machines
• 
  Eastbound Blue/Green Line platforms
• 
  The westbound track on the Blue/Green Line platform

References

1. Christ, Ginger (2016-07-29). "Westbound RTA passengers to use new Tower City entrance starting Sunday". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved 2016-08-05.
2. Christ, Ginger (2016-08-01). "RTA passengers begin using new Tower City entrance". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved 2016-08-05.
3. "Rail Riders - Track 8 Returns to Full Service". Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority. 2016-11-26. Retrieved 2016-12-04.
4. "Red Line upgrades fare collection system" (Press release). Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority. 2009-08-05. Retrieved 2009-08-10.
5. "Blue Line, Green Line, Waterfront Line" (PDF). Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority. April 12, 2020. Retrieved May 29, 2020.

External links

• Official website