Country megastar Luke Bryan sang his final number, and a minute after 11 p.m. the radio call came into the Rail Control Center: The first concert ever held at U.S. Bank Stadium was over. It was show time for Metro Transit.
Stung by harsh criticism of the long lines, slow trains and jammed cars that met capacity crowds after the stadium's opening event Aug. 3, agency officials were out to prove themselves.
This time, as more than 8,000 fans swarmed the light-rail platforms outside the new $1 billion home of the Minnesota Vikings Aug. 19, the control center activated its new, improved response. Agency officials invited the Star Tribune into the center, in an undisclosed location where reporters are rarely allowed, to watch the action firsthand.
The Bryan show was sold out, just like the Aug. 3 soccer match that overwhelmed the agency and prompted Met Council Chairman Adam Duininck to vow that he "had every bit of confidence that Metro Transit will be better prepared for the next event."
The agency threw everything at this one, from summer interns to state-of-the-art technology.
It stationed interns and employees from across the agency on platforms to direct fans to the right lines and ticket machines. It deployed its full fleet of rail cars. Blue and Green line trains pulled in and out of U.S. Bank Stadium Station every 2 minutes and 30 seconds.
Sixteen train operators picked up extra shifts, allowing for 27 trains to run instead of the nine or 10 on a typical Friday night. Eleven members of the maintenance crew — three more than normal — fanned out along the lines, just in case. And in a "new approach to customer service," two Metro Transit employees were embedded inside U.S. Bank Stadium to radio updates on the concert back to the control center and cue controllers when to start rolling trains.
Metro Transit has been running special service to Twins and Vikings games since the Blue Line opened more than a decade ago. But it's different now. Two light-rail lines are running downtown between the Twins and Vikings stadiums. Stadium event ridership is at record levels — 13,700 for the opening soccer match at U.S. Bank Stadium.