25-05-09 PHOTOS: MARTA East-West

It's easy to forget that MARTA is a thing that exists.  The last large heavy rail system to be stood up in North America, MARTA takes after the DC Metro with a bit more transit mojo. For my first ever trip to downtown Atlanta I wasn't about to pass up riding as much of MARTA as I could and I prioritized the east-west Blue/Green line over two mornings with a final trip to the airport on a third day. You can find the full set of photos here.

Starting service in 1979, MARTA currently operates with three batches of railcars. The initial batch of 120 cars from Société Franco-Belge in 1979, a follow-up batch of 120 cars from actual Hitachi in 1982 and a final batch of 100 cars from Breda in 1999. Here Hitachi car #257 arrives at Peachtree Center on the Red/Yellow line. Note the exposed bedrock which makes the area above suitable for building skyscrapers.

The four color services runs on two main trunk lines, Red/Yellow going North-South and Blue/Green going East-West. The two trunks meet at the Five Points station, which I think is a legacy title from referring to an unbuilt 5th MARTA line that would have also served the station.

With new vehicles from Stadler already on order, I was eager to ride the most vulnerable Société Franco-Belge cars. I got my wish with #188 on a Green Line routing. The interior has a style very similar to the contemporary Budd UTV seen in Baltimore and Miami. Most notable is the deep cab area that creates a tunnel effect when halfed mid-train. 

Bankhead is the Green Line's only unique station with a two car platform that make it the limiting factor on Green Line operations. As one might suspect this was the remnant of a northwestern line that was never build with Bankhead itself opening in 1992 to make use of the junction and righto of way that was built in 1979. Today the Green Line provides supplementary service on the Blue Line between MLK and Bankhead. Here Franco-Belge married pair 188-187 is seen at the platform and reversing direction on the tail track.

The Blue Line's western terminus is the Hamilton E. Holmes Station, which is not named directly for the civil rights leader, but an adjacent arterial roadway named in honor of the civil rights leader after his death in 1995. Prior to that the station was named Hightower, I assume after the famed law enforcement officer. Here we see MARTA car, #699, adjacent to fellow Breda car #676 at the Hamilton E. Holmes Station platform in addition to the #699 departing eastbound.

Here is Hitatchi car #279 arriving at  Hamilton E. Holmes. You can still see that hint of 1970's styling that would vanish with the 1999 Breda order.

More MARTA action in the form of  Franco-Belge car #151 at Five Points and Hitachi car #219 at Peachtree.

The Hitachi cars, like #236 seen here, had a shallowed cab-end tunnel and a similar beige interior with explicitly 80's two tone plastic bucket seats.

The Avondale station was the East-West line's original 1979 terminus with the main tracks proceeding directly into the yard. When the line was extended to a park-n-ride on Atlanta's perimeter beltway the tracks has to be built on flyovers over the yard. Here we see the Breda trainset with #676 at the station platform with Franco-Belge car #147 on the yard lead with its ends open. Something may have been the matter with the #676 train as we crossed over the wrong railed to the Indian Creek terminal.

Opened in 1992 and seemingly refreshed somewhat recently, Indian Creek serves a function similar to the DC Metro's Greenbelt, a large Park-N-Ride with direct highway access. Here we see the gorgeous station concourse along with Hitachi car #286.

On my way back from Indian Creek I got this photo of part of the Avondale Yard. Avondale, GA is best known for being home to the first ever Waffle House restaurant.

As you may have noticed the car end views are all pretty reasonable. Here is a through-end photo of Hitachi car #265 near the Georgia State station.

The East-West line was built alongside the CSX Abbeville Sub with views of the now defunct Hulsey Intermodal Terminal. From the train I managed to catch CSX ET44AC #3265 and C40-10W #5435 with a manifest freight in the Hulsey Yard area.

Hitachi car #219 at Five Points and a Franco-Belge car from above at Peachtree.

Heading to the airport here is the cab and interior of  penultimate Breda car #701. If you thought that #699 should have been the ultimate car on a 100-car order, the numbering started at #601 and pair 655/666 was skipped due to the association with Satan. 

Hitachi car #276 arrived at the track opposite just before #701 departed.

Arguably the busiest airport in the world, the MARTA Hartsfield-Jackson Airport station features a staffed 4-bay ticket window to help travelers purchase a Breeze Card. Due to open payment and a general upgrade, the Breeze Card was to be phased out in 2026.

That concludes my first trip to downtown Atlanta. Next week I'll be heading back down to Tidewater Virginia, but I suspect I'll be returning to Atlanta again.