Metro Blue Line in Minneapolis | Mall of America to Target Field

It's time to try out one of America's best-known light rail systems: the Metro Light Rail, in Minnesota's Twin Cities. Minneapolis and St. Paul are the two largest cities in the state, and they are located only a few miles from each other. They make up the same metropolitan area, and so they have a shared transit system. This includes two light rail lines, the Blue Line and the Green Line.
Today we are riding the Blue Line. This 14 mile line opened in 2004, and it connects the Mall of America (the largest mall in the US) with MSP Airport and downtown Minneapolis.
Find out what it's like to ride the Metro Blue Line and come along with us!

Trains Are Awesome

Chapters
0:00 The Mall of America
1:42 MOA Transit Station
3:30 Bus Replacement Service
5:05 Bombardier Flexity Tour
6:14 Free Airport Shuttle
7:09 The Rest of the Line
9:52 Target Field
11:54 Siemens S70
13:42 Scenes of Trains Running Through Downtown

[Astraya_simmons]

America's biggest shopping mall, connects to international airport and to Downtown Minneapolis with a connection to another big downtown St Paul. That's an awesome line!!!

[johnappleseed]

I lived in Downtown Minneapolis and am a flight attendant, so work out of MSP. Because of the Blue Line and living downtown, I was able to walk/bike/ or ride the train anywhere I needed, so I lived without a car for 6 years. I saved so much money from taking the Blue Line I was able to buy my first rental property in Summit Hill, St Paul. Im living my American Dream. Thanks for visiting my state, hope you had a good time!

[davidburrow]

Living in northern Iowa, the Twin Cities is the metro area closest to me, so I've ridden Metro rail more times than I can count. It's not at all unusual to have loud and often crude passengers on the trains in the Twin Cities, though they're usually more plentiful on the green line than the blue. This tends to be a problem in all cities that use "honor system" ticketing. (Like you, I've also experienced it in Portland, and in Seattle, Sacramento, and Los Angeles, too.) I've experienced it much less in Chicago, and I think the turnstiles do tend to keep some of the more marginal passengers off the trains. While I try to have compassion for everyone, it can be a challenge when people are vulgar or violent.

[dexteralexander]

Extra points for the electrical storm light show!

[jonathanbott]

From my visit, overall, I was happy with the service and found that both lines served key areas. Being street running provided some better proximity to POIs - there's ~4 stops in/near UMinn (that likely get a lot of business), the downtowns, the airport, Mall, etc.
I found most traffic lights had reasonable prioritization - only twice did I have notable waits for the light to cycle back around, and the other light waits were very brief. Downtown M & SP stations were unfortunately disgusting, but other stations were in good order.

[zackmorris]

I work as a light rail operator up here for Metro Transit MN. I'm only 22 and I been doing this job for 2 months now.

[robertschaefer]

I worked up in St. Paul on a regular basis for several years and during the winter, I'd go to the Mall in the evening to walk. It usually was not too crowded on a mid-week evening during the winter.

[gabeschmidt]

The blue line has been my literally childhood with the exact LRV he was on. They put in plastic seats to replace the fabric seats that couldn’t stay clean and because we unfortunately have an issue with a lot of drunks on the trains

[jonathanbott]

The one thing I was shocked by was the bus service - I took 83 from Green to Como Zoo & was picked up by a regularly scheduled mini-bus that only held about 20 people.
Guessing its a slow route, but they still want to provide service coverage - overall, impressive coverage of the bus network.

[mrAhollandjr]

I like the fact that they list the bus routes serving each station.

[OliverHarrington]

That bell sound you hear at 8:05 is not actually the train's external warning bell – it's the chime that plays before PA announcements to get people's attention. But yes, the trains do in fact have both a horn and external bell. Most American LRVs do.

[bnsf]

Dude your Brave riding the blue line at night Fights, Stabbings, Robberies are almost a daily occurrence

[CameronLandels]

Thank you for the video Thom. It looks an interesting system and well used along with the BRT's. It's a neat idea of the 24hr service at the airport. It's nice seeing the system being expanded albeit delayed. 🙂

[nathanbakken]

One more thing, the station map ladders were in the process of being replaced in August. The new thinner line map is the updated version, many people confused the Red Line as rail, so they moved to a map that is only rail with the BRT connections listed at appropriate stations.

[dangelohartley]

The twin cities and the Mall of America are definitely places on my bucket list

[tinotcg]

Cool video. I love our transit system out here but I could probably write a book about improvements needed and why it would benefit the city.

[AustinSersen]

I had a layover at MSP recently, and was also surprised at how unsafe the blue line felt. As soon as I boarded, there was a self-proclaimed homeless guy (younger than me, maybe 20-25) singing at the top of his lungs and banging on the plexiglass. The Bombardier vehicle also smelled terrible. Social issues in the USA run deep and I'm not optimistic that it will turn around in my lifetime.

[BoBo]

I ride the Blue Line to work every day. During construction I rode my bike (there are racks on all buses and trains) from the airport to the MegaMall, which was usually faster than the replacement bus!

[mjchicagoland]

I love visiting the Mall Of America and I would be traveling again for the spring and summer time in 2023.

[nathanbakken]

The bells running at the airport are only when a train is sitting in the station, and since it was the layover point for the shutdown, it rang a lot more often, when the train leaves the station they turn off.