TriMet is inviting the community to join us in celebrating an icon of public transportation, our original light rail vehicles, the Type 1 MAX train.
On Saturday, April 18, from noon to 3 p.m., TriMet will host a public celebration of our Type 1 trains before they go out of service forever. The event will be at Holladay Park in Northeast Portland, adjacent to our Lloyd Center/NE 11th Ave MAX Station. Anyone can join in this historic moment and interact, possibly for the last time, with a piece of regional and national transit history. It’s an opportunity to say goodbye to a train that has provided hundreds of thousands of trips over the past 40 years.
The Type 1s launched modern light rail in the Portland metro area in 1986. In doing so, the vehicles set a standard for other public transportation agencies to follow. After nearly four decades of service — providing millions of trips and traveling millions of miles — the remaining Type 1s are now 10 years past their due date, with their final days numbered.
TriMet began decommissioning the vehicles — preparing them for recycling or donation — in 2024 as we began introducing our newest trains, the Type 6s. The Type 1s, among the oldest light rail vehicles still operating on a major transit system in the United States, had exceeded their lifecycle, and replacement parts for them had become difficult to source.
“As much as the Type 1 has served as a reliable means of transportation for countless people over the decades, it has also acted as an inspiration for what’s possible here at TriMet,” TriMet General Manager Sam Desue Jr. said. “Without top-notch mechanics, operators, supervisors, cleaners and others, these trains would not have been able to provide the decades of service they have.”
The April 18 event will celebrate the 40-year history of the Type 1 and the employees, current and retired, who helped keep these trains running amid a changing system. Everyone is welcome aboard! It’s an opportunity to experience a piece of Portland’s transit legacy up close.
Click here to learn more about the event.