Portland's regional transit agency,
TriMet, had served
Portland International Airport with
buses since 1970. In 1986, the same year TriMet began operating the
Metropolitan Area Express (MAX), the
Portland metropolitan area's regional government,
Metro, proposed a
light rail extension to the airport. Early plans envisioned a line running from
Clackamas to the airport via
Interstate 205 (I-205) using
rights-of-way provided by the
I-205 busway, which was originally built to accommodate a
bus rapid transit line that never materialized. In 1991, the
Port of Portland adopted a multi-phased, $300 million airport master plan to address expected passenger traffic growth through 2010. The plan upgraded the main passenger terminal building and provisioned for a future light rail station outside the terminal's arrivals hall. By 1994, travelers using the airport had risen by 34 percent, far exceeding the Port's projections. Struggling to meet demand, Port officials moved to accelerate airport light rail plans, which regional planners did not anticipate pursuing until the late 2000s. TriMet had also wanted to prioritize completing the
Westside MAX and
South/North Corridor projects before extending MAX to the airport. In 1996, engineering firm
Bechtel approached the Port with an unsolicited proposal to build the airport line. After negotiations between Bechtel, the Port, and local jurisdictions, Bechtel was granted the
design–build contract for the light rail extension in exchange for development rights to the Portland International Center, the largest commercially zoned property in Portland at the time. Bechtel later developed this property and renamed it
Cascade Station. The Port projected the airport terminal station to cost $8.4 million and allocated a $3
ticket fee to fund its construction.
Delta Air Lines,
Reno Air, and
United Airlines protested the use of ticket fees but the
Federal Aviation Administration authorized it in May 1999. Construction of the
Airport MAX extension commenced the following month.
Hoffman Construction began building the station's platform in July 2000 and by August,
Stacy and Witbeck had started to lay the of rail along the segment closest to the terminal. Celebrations planned for the following weekend were canceled following the
September 11 attacks, and the airport was closed for three days. Planners projected single-car trains to initially serve Portland International Airport station but TriMet deployed two-car
consists on the line after recording 3,800 riders over
Thanksgiving weekend in November 2001. In September 2003, TriMet extended Red Line service farther west using the existing Westside MAX tracks to
Beaverton Transit Center. This was done in an effort to provide a one-seat ride to the airport for westside riders. In 2006, the station handled more than one million passengers in a single year for the first time. TriMet had reintroduced bus service to the airport with the 272–PDX Night Bus route on September 2, 2018. The bus route ran in the late night and early morning hours when the Red Line was not operating. It was indefinitely suspended on April 5, 2020, amid the
COVID-19 pandemic.
2023 reconstruction On June 18, 2023, TriMet temporarily ceased MAX Red Line service from Portland Airport station to Gateway Transit Center to make way for reconstruction. The newly renovated Portland Airport station opened on October 22, 2023. ==Station details==