Valley Metro Rail & Streetcar is a light rail and streetcar transit system that serves the Phoenix metropolitan area in Arizona, United States. The system, which operates under the Valley Metro brand name, has 54 stations along two light rail lines, covering of tracks within the cities of Phoenix, Tempe, and Mesa, and 14 stations along one streetcar line, covering of tracks within the city of Tempe. The system serves on average over 49,400 weekday riders as of 2016, making it one of the busiest light rail systems in the United States.
Valley Metro Rail opened its initial starter line on December 27, 2008. The starter line, which was funded through a combination of federal, regional and local municipal funds, operated from the Montebello/19th Avenue station in Phoenix, through Tempe, serving the Arizona State University Tempe campus, and ended at the Sycamore/Main Street station in Mesa. The starter line provided service to 28 stations in total, which were primarily located on-street at the intersections of major arterial roads every , although mid-block stations are common in areas of higher urban density. On April 8, 2013, the PHX Sky Train people mover opened, providing direct service from the 44th Street/Washington station to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. On August 22, 2015, Valley Metro's first light rail extension, the Central Mesa Extension, opened, which added four new stations on the eastern end of the starter line going through downtown Mesa, including a new terminus at Mesa Drive/Main Street station. The second light rail extension, the Northwest Extension Phase I opened on March 19, 2016, which added three new stations on the western end of the starter line on 19th Avenue, including a new terminus at 19th Avenue/Dunlap station. The S Line streetcar in Tempe would open on May 20, 2022.
Three new stations opened on 2019. Two of these, Stapley/Main Street station and Gilbert Road/Main Street station, are part of the Gilbert Road Extension, which began service on May 18, 2019. The third station, 50th Street/Washington station, is an infill station located between the 44th Street/Washington station and Priest Drive/Washington station in Phoenix. This station opened in April 2019, and was funded by Proposition 104, Phoenix's 2015 ballot initiative that extended and expanded the city's transportation sales tax.
Three new stations opened on 2024. The Metro Parkway station, Mountain View/25th Avenue station, 25th Avenue/Dunlap station are part of the Northwest Extension Phase II, which began service on January 27, 2024. The Metro Parkway station is also the first elevated station in the system.
Each light rail station is approximately long, which allows up to three separate light rail vehicles to be linked into one train (each light rail vehicle is long). Access is primarily provided at the end of the stations, usually at signalized intersections. All stations maintain a similar design, are ADA accessible and provide level boarding throughout. Each station consists of a platform and an overhead canopy that provides shade and shelter from the weather. Station amenities include seating, trash canisters, a drinking fountain, lighting, digital and vocal rider information, emergency call boxes and public art. Fares can be purchased at the ticket vending machines located at each end of the station platforms. Five of the stations have associated transit centers for transferring between light rail and buses. 10 of the stations have associated park-and-ride facilities that provide approximately 4,500 public parking spaces combined along the entire light rail system.
Valley Metro is currently in various phases of planning and development on two light rail extensions. Combined, these extensions will expand the light rail system by by the year 2030. Two of these extensions have completed a sufficient amount of planning to determine the number of stations they will include. The South Central Extension will add eight stations. The other two extensions are still going through the station selection process. The Capitol Extension will add approximately two new light rail stations. The I-10 West Extension will add 8 new stations. The West Phoenix Extension is in the planning process, and thus the number of stations have yet to be determined. The Northeast Extension has not begun the planning process, and thus the number of stations have yet to be determined. Valley Metro also completed the S Line in downtown Tempe, which has 14 stops along its alignment. Two of these stops directly interface with the existing light rail stations at Mill Avenue/3rd Street station and Dorsey/Apache Boulevard station. After the completion of all of these extensions and the 50th St/Washington infill station, the Phoenix metropolitan area will have of light rail and over 65 separate light rail stations. As part of Phoenix's Proposition 104, various new extensions have been proposed, although none of these have been formally adopted by Valley Metro's board of directors.
System The system has 66 stations serving its three lines. Three stations are transfer stations, which allow passengers to transfer between lines. Six stations are termini—stations at the end of lines. 38 stations are within the city of Phoenix, 21 stations are within the city of Tempe, and seven stations are within the city of Mesa.
Lines There are three Valley Metro Rail & Streetcar lines, each of which is associated with a letter.
Name Stations Termini Opening Newest extension Type A Line 26 Downtown Phoenix Hub (west)Gilbert Road/Main Street (east) 2008 2025 Light rail B Line 29 Metro Parkway (north)Baseline/Central Avenue (south) 2008 2025 S Line 14 Marina Heights/Rio Salado Parkway (north)Dorsey/Apache Boulevard (south) 2022 – Streetcar
Stations
† Terminal station * Transfer station Park and ride station Transport hub Bike rack station → Transfer to PHX Sky Train
Station Line(s)CityCharacter area/travel sheds/urban villageOpenedPlatform typeRidership (FY 2021)Ridership is reported as average weekday boardings.CoordinatesRef(s)3rd Street/Ash Avenue S LineTempeRio SaladoSide–3rd Street/Jefferson A LinePhoenixCentral CitySide3963rd Street/Washington A LinePhoenixCentral CitySide2785th Street/Ash Avenue S LineTempeRio SaladoSide–6th Street/Mill Avenue S LineTempeRio SaladoSide–7th Avenue/Camelback B LinePhoenixAlhambraIsland3999th Street/Mill Avenue S LineTempeRio SaladoIsland–11th Street/Mill Avenue S LineTempeRio SaladoIsland–12th Street/Jefferson A LinePhoenixCentral CitySide15712th Street/Washington A LinePhoenixCentral CitySide13619th Avenue/Camelback B LinePhoenixAlhambraIsland69319th Avenue/Dunlap B LinePhoenixNorth MountainIsland1,46524th Street/Jefferson A LinePhoenixCentral CitySide21824th Street/Washington A LinePhoenixCentral CitySide237 B LinePhoenixNorth MountainJan 27, 2024Island–38th Street/Washington A LinePhoenixCentral CityIsland32744th Street/Washington → A LinePhoenixCamelback East Island90350th Street/Washington A LinePhoenixCamelback EastIsland217Alma School/Main Street A LineMesaDowntownIsland581 † B LinePhoenixSouth MountainJun 7, 2025Island– B LinePhoenixSouth MountainJun 7, 2025Island– B LinePhoenixCentral CityJun 7, 2025Island–Campbell/Central Avenue B LinePhoenixEncantoIsland257Center Parkway/Washington A LineTempeNorth TempeIsland138Center/Main Street A LineMesaDowntown Island217Central Avenue/Camelback B LinePhoenixAlhambraSide313College Avenue/Apache Boulevard S LineTempeApacheIsland–Country Club/Main Street A LineMesaDowntown Island558Dorsey/Apache Boulevard †* A Line S LineTempeApache (A Line) (S Line)Island (A Line)Side (S Line)346Downtown Phoenix Hub †* A Line B LinePhoenixCentral CityJun 7, 2025Side–Encanto/Central Avenue B LinePhoenixEncantoIsland200Gilbert Road/Main Street † A LineMesaDowntown Island1,261Glendale/19th Avenue B LinePhoenixAlhambraIsland592Hayden Ferry/Rio Salado Parkway S LineTempeRio SaladoIsland–Indian School/Central Avenue B LinePhoenixEncantoIsland543Lincoln/1st Avenue B LinePhoenixCentral CityJun 7, 2025Side–Lincoln/Central Avenue B LinePhoenixCentral CityJun 7, 2025Side–Marina Heights/Rio Salado Parkway † S LineTempeRio SaladoIsland–McClintock/Apache Boulevard A LineTempeApacheIsland541McDowell/Central Avenue B LinePhoenixCentral CityIsland568Mesa Drive/Main Street A LineMesaDowntown Island354 † B LinePhoenixNorth MountainJan 27, 2024Island–Mill Avenue/3rd Street* A Line S LineTempeRio SaladoSide494Montebello/19th Avenue B LinePhoenixAlhambraIsland740 B LinePhoenixNorth MountainJan 27, 2024Island–Northern/19th Avenue B LinePhoenixAlhambraIsland469Osborn/Central Avenue B LinePhoenixEncantoIsland359Paseo del Saber/Apache Boulevard S LineTempeApacheIsland– B LinePhoenixSouth MountainJun 7, 2025Island–Price–101 Freeway/Apache Boulevard A LineTempeApacheIsland326Priest Drive/Washington A LineTempeNorth TempeIsland443 B LinePhoenixSouth MountainJun 7, 2025Island–Roosevelt/Central Avenue B LinePhoenixCentral CityIsland436Rural/Apache Boulevard S LineTempeApacheIsland–Smith–Martin/Apache Boulevard A LineTempeApacheIsland229 B LinePhoenixSouth MountainJun 7, 2025Island–Stapley/Main Street A LineMesaDowntownIsland273Sycamore/Main Street A LineMesaDowntownIsland581Tempe Beach Park/Rio Salado Parkway S LineTempeApacheSide–Thomas/Central Avenue B LinePhoenixEncantoIsland633University Drive/Ash Avenue S LineTempeRio SaladoSide–University Drive/Rural A LineTempeRio SaladoSide547Van Buren/1st Avenue This station is a split platform that serves one-way traffic. B LinePhoenixCentral CitySide371Van Buren/Central Avenue B LinePhoenixCentral CitySide589Veterans Way/College Avenue A LineTempeRio SaladoSide541Washington/Central Avenue B LinePhoenixCentral CitySide470
See also
Transportation in Arizona
Notes
References