Federal, state, and local officials held a special signing ceremony for a major federal grant for Houston's light-rail expansion at a construction site overlooking downtown. The observation on Monday, Nov. 28, at 10:15 a.m. at 800 Burnett St. brought METRO officials together with FTA Administrator Peter Rogoff and a host of elected officials to sign long-awaited Full Funding Grant Agreements (FFGA) for the North and Southeast rail lines.

Program participants included:

• Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff
• U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison
• U.S. Representative Gene Green
• U.S. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee
• U.S. Representative Al Green
• Houston Mayor Annise Parker
• METRO Board Chair Gilbert Garcia
• METRO President and CEO George Greanias

More than 30 percent of commuters heading into the downtown area and the Texas Medical Center ride METRO. The rail expansion approved by Houston voters in 2003 includes the North (Red) Line and extends the current Main St. Line starting at UHD and running to the Northline Transit Center, Houston Community College and Northline Commons Mall. The Southeast (Purple) Line connects downtown with local universities including Texas Southern University and the University of Houston central campus. For PDFs of work being performed see: METRORail North Line Construction Map - Nov. (PDF) METRORail Southeast Line Construction Map - Nov. (PDF)