Laclede's Landing station is a

St. Louis MetroLink MetroLink is the Greater St. Louis Metropolitan mass transit system serving Missouri and the Metro East area of Illinois. The system consists of two rail lines (Red Line and Blue Line) connecting St. Louis Lambert International Airport and ...

station. It is located near

Laclede's Landing Laclede's Landing (), colloquially "the Landing", is a small urban historic district in St. Louis, Missouri. It marks the northern part of the original settlement founded by the Frenchman Pierre Laclède, whose landing on the riverside the placenam ...

and

Gateway Arch National Park Gateway Arch National Park is an American national park located in St. Louis, Missouri, near the starting point of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The memorial was established to commemorate: *the Louisiana Purchase and subsequent westward mov ...

Downtown St. Louis Downtown St. Louis is the central business district of St. Louis, Missouri, the hub of tourism and entertainment, and the anchor of the St. Louis metropolitan area. The downtown is bounded by Cole Street to the north, the river front to the ea ...

, Missouri. The National Park Service recommends visitors accessing the Arch via public transportation use this station or the 8th & Pine station. Laclede's Landing is the easternmost station in Missouri, located on the lower deck of the

Eads Bridge The Eads Bridge is a combined road and railway bridge over the Mississippi River connecting the cities of St. Louis, Missouri and East St. Louis, Illinois. It is located on the St. Louis riverfront between Laclede's Landing, to the north, and t ...

before crossing the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

into Illinois. The station sits at the east portal of the

St. Louis Freight Tunnel The St. Louis Freight Tunnel is a historic railroad tunnel beneath Washington Avenue and Eighth Street in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. Completed in 1874, it bypassed busy downtown streets between the Eads Bridge and the rail yards in the Mill Cre ...

, constructed in 1874 to carry trains between the Eads Bridge and the

Mill Creek Valley Mill Creek Valley was a historic neighborhood located in the central corridor between 20th Street and Saint Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri. European settlement began in the 18th century with mills established along ''La Petite Rivière'' ...

rail yards, it saw its last train (

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

) in 1974. The tunnel was refurbished in 1991 in preparation for the opening of MetroLink, which uses the route to connect Illinois and Missouri via downtown St. Louis. St Louis Gateway Arch from Metrolink station

St Louis Gateway Arch from Metrolink station

The station is known for its historic brickwork that frames the Gateway Arch from the platform level.

Station layout

The station consists of a single

island platform An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on ...

with an entrance on either end: one on Rue de L'Eglise (2nd Street) at the west end with stairs and an elevator and one on 1st Street at the east end with only stairs.

Public artwork

In 2013, Metro's Arts in Transit program commissioned the work ''Build'' by Beliz Brother for this station. The aluminum panels are meant to represent the drawings James Eads used to construct his namesake bridge.

References

External links

St. Louis Metro
MetroLink stations in St. Louis Railway stations in the United States opened in 1993 Red Line (St. Louis MetroLink) Blue Line (St. Louis MetroLink) {{Missouri-railstation-stub