All East Side rail service replaced with buses through Sunday, March 13

 All East Side rail service replaced with buses through Sunday, March 13

Mar 11, 2016

Updated at 11:30 am Friday, March 11, 2016

CLEVELAND – All rail service east of Tower City will remain under repair through Sunday, March 13. RTA will provide updates as more information becomes available. 

Because of a fire that impacted overhead power lines of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority, RTA buses replace ALL trains east of Tower City for the rest of today and tonight. This includes the Red, Blue and Green lines.

RTA staff will work into tonight to restore service. Rail service will not be restored in time for the Friday morning rush hour.

Red Line service west of Tower City, and Waterfront Line service, are not affected.

The 66R bus for the Red Line will pick up customers at all 66R bus stop signs located at stations between Tower City and the Louis Stokes Station at Windermere. The Red Line stop for Tower City is located on Public Square in front of the Horseshoe Casino.

The 67R bus for the Blue/Green Line will pick up customers at all 67R bus stop signs at each station between Tower City and:
• The end of the Blue Line at Warrensville-Van Aken and
• The end of the Green Line at Green Road.

The Blue/Green Line stop for Tower City is located on Public Square in front of the Horseshoe Casino.

On Friday, Blue/Green Line replacement buses (#67R) will serve all Blue and Green Line stations except E. 34th, E. 55th, and E. 79th. These buses will also stop at the Woodland/E. 79th intersection.

Red Line replacement buses (#66R) will serve all East Side Red Line stations, including E. 34th Station, E 55th Station, and the East 79thRed Line Station (at Woodland/E. 79th intersection).

Service east of Tower City was suspended at about 7:30 a.m. Thursday, when a fire ignited a section of the RTA overhead signal wire. The fire was extinguished by the Cleveland Fire Department, and no one was injured. Passengers on two trains were evacuated to the rail platforms and continued their trip on replacement buses. Other customers who had not boarded trains at the time of the shutdown were served by replacement buses along the rail routes.

Several thousand feet of overhead may need to be replaced in the area of East 55th Street. The overhead supplies power to the trains and signal systems.

RTA will provide updates as work progresses. Repairs may take several days.

Media contact:

Linda Scardilli Krecic

216-566-5211
216-390-9605, cell