CLEVELAND — The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority provided an important (though limited) update to its schedule Tuesday that has been years in the making.
The RTA's Waterfront Line, an extension of its Blue and Green Lines near the shores of the Cuyahoga River and Lake Erie, will officially resume services beginning Sept. 10. However, there's a catch, as trains will only only be running on days where the Browns are playing a regular-season home game.
First closed at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Waterfront Line reopened the next year only to be shut down again in September of 2021 due to safety concerns regarding its main bridge near the East Bank of the Flats. No train has run on the tracks since, with construction crews working to stabilize the overpass.
With permanent repairs "on schedule," the RTA feels the bridge is good enough to withstand traffic one day a week while workers continue with renovations during the remaining six days. Full services to the line, which opened in 1996 as a transportation option to areas like the Flats and Cleveland Browns Stadium, are expected to be restored by "next spring or summer, on a date to be determined."
As the Aug. 11 preseason game is not included, here are the dates the Waterfront Line is slated to be running on this year (some dates are subject to change depending on the NFL's flex scheduling decisions):
- Sunday, Sept. 10 (Browns vs. Cincinnati Bengals)
- Sunday, Sept. 24 (Tennessee Titans)
- Sunday, Oct. 1 (Baltimore Ravens)
- Sunday, Oct. 15 (San Francisco 49ers)
- Sunday, Nov. 5 (Arizona Cardinals)
- Sunday, Nov. 19 (Pittsburgh Steelers)
- Sunday, Dec. 10 (Jacksonville Jaguars)
- Sunday, Dec. 17 (Chicago Bears)
- Thursday, Dec. 28 (New York Jets)
In addition to the Waterfront Line, the RTA also announced that the Blue and Green Lines will be closed beginning Aug. 20 until Oct. 1, which will affect the first two Browns home games. Replacement buses will be available, with full schedules on rideRTA.com.
