Starting Wednesday, riders using Valley Metro buses in Harlingen will have a new transfer station.

The new Harlingen transfer station will be located on T Street near I 69-E Frontage Road and Harrison Road. Soon, riders will be able to stop at the new station instead of the former Valley Metro Station near Fair Park Field. 

That former location was just benches with an awning, but the new station is formerly an AEP office and warehouse.

The expanded space gives riders access to bathrooms and more protection from the weather.

Officials say service will stay the same. All routes and buses will be relocated to the new station beginning Wednesday. 

Valley Metro's Director Tim Logan believes this type of terminal was needed in Harlingen for many years.

"Harlingen is the crossroads of the Valley, and we have seen it through many studies, plannings where they call that we have to have a more robust hub," Logan said.

For VTC and Greyhound, riders that have to wait down the road at a fruit stand. Logan says they want coach bus service out of this terminal sometime down the road.

Talks for this new station have been going on since at least 2013.

Logan says construction costs doubled from over $5 million to $10 million during the pandemic, and Valley Metro was not able to get the keys to the property until late last year.

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