EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. – MetroLink continues to roll out security upgrades at its stations across the metro area. Beginning Monday, riders will notice a change at the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Center Station in East St. Louis.
“Emmerson Park; we brought online last Monday,” Kevin Scott, general manager of security for Bi-State Development, said. “JJK is where we are today. We’ll be locking the gates Friday or Monday at Washington Park, and then the last station to complete package number one is Southwestern Illinois College.”
MetroLink riders who purchase their tickets still have to get them validated. A Metro security officer will check the ticket and allow you onto the platform and trains coming and going. Separate gates will allow disabled passengers through onto the platform.
Up next? “Delmar, Forest Park, CWE, Cortex, Grand, Union Station, and the Civic Center,” Scott said.
The 8-foot-tall metal fencing and security gates and cameras make it clear, only ticketed passengers will be allowed onto the platforms at this and many more to come.
The $52 million project is paid for, in part, by St. Louis businesses and federal government COVID relief funds. New fare media collection systems will be on the way as part of the improvements for MetroLink, which first opened in 1993.
“This is a huge deal,” Bi-State Development Commissioner Derrick Heath Cox said. “This will finally be making trains safe for riders again.
There are more security upgrades coming along the route, from Mid-America St. Louis Airport to St. Louis Lambert International Airport. By January 2026, they will be complete.
Commuters will eventually be able to use their phones to show MetroLink security and board the trains.
“The secure platform plan really focuses on the high security fencing and gating system, which everyone notices, but it also is a complete upgrade of our camera system,” Scott said. “We’re going from 800 cameras to 2,000.”
