Hiawatha light-rail service in and out of downtown Minneapolis will be halted through the weekend for scheduled construction and maintenance, Metro Transit officials announced.

The shutdown, from stations at Target Field to Franklin Avenue in Minneapolis, started Friday evening and will continue until 3:30 a.m. Monday. Route 55 buses will fill in during that time and have a more frequent schedule than the trains.

Service along the rest of the 12-mile Hiawatha rail line will operate normally.

The stations that will close are: Target Field, Warehouse District/Hennepin Avenue, Nicollet Mall, Government Plaza, Downtown East/Metrodome and Cedar-Riverside.

During the shutdown, Central Corridor light-rail project construction crews will be working east of the Metrodome, where the new line meets the Hiawatha line.

PAUL WALSH