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 Atlanta
is the capital of the US state of Georgia in the southeast of North America.
The city (500,000 inhabitants) is the centre of a metropolitan area with
some 4 million inhabitants. Due to increasing traffic problems MARTA (Metropolitan
Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority) was founded in 1966 to develop a mass
transit system for the entire metropolitan area. In the early 1970's a
referendum was held and a clear majority voted in favour of a 81 km rail
network which included two trunk routes, one north-south and one east-west,
plus four branches. Trains should run partly underground in downtown Atlanta
(14 km with 10 stations), partly at grade (37 km with 17 stations) and
partly elevated (30 km with 10 stations). Later another 5 km were added
to the planned network. Construction started in 1975 on a 22 km section
which included 17 stations.
 The
first line to be put into service was the East-West
Line from Georgia State
in the city centre to Avondale (30 June 1979). The same line was
extended to Hightower (now Hamilton E. Holmes) in the west
in Dec. 1979. The North-South Line began operating between Garnett
and North Ave in April 1981. In a second phase, finished in 1987,
the North-South Line reached Lenox in the north and Lakewood
in the south. During the 1990's further extensions were inaugurated,
southwards to Atlanta's International Airport, northwards to Doraville
and Dunwoody, westwards a branch to Bankhead (Proctor Creek
Line) and eastwards to Indian Creek. The last section to start
revenue service was Dunwoody - North Springs (16 Dec 2000), which
includes 3.2 km and two stations, Sandy Springs (underground) and
North Springs (with large park&ride facilities). Currently the
network is 79.2 km long and has 38 stations. Although some branches are
still planned there won't be any new extensions in the near future.
Most stations
are large, bright and user-friendly. They also include artistic elements
like murals or sculptures. Average station distance is 2.1 km although
this is reduced to 680 m in downtown Atlanta. Platforms are 183 m long
to allow use of 8-car trains, which can carry up to 1,600 passengers.
In Oct.
2009, the official designations Red Line,
Gold Line, Blue
Line and Green Line were
introduced to replace the formerly used East-West
Line, Proctor
Creek Line and North-South
Line.
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