Train arrives late to stations  July 31, 2013   Twenty years ago
today, MetroLink trains began rolling in the area. We've seen
the system grow out to Scott Air Force Base, to the Galleria and
Shrewsbury. We've seen it grow in popularity, blasting past the
3 million rider prediction by 2000 to 14 million that year and
now 17 million riders a year. We've seen an elaborate bike trail
grow next to it.  But for all the fares paid, all the tax
dollars raised and spent, what we haven't seen is enough of a
pay-off.  We see crime, from the foul-mouthed drunk to a woman
being raped after she left the train. We see trains that are
slow -- nearly double the time from Belleville to the airport
that it takes to drive. We see inconveniences that include
20-minute intervals on the weekend and off-peak times, train
routes that don't go to enough of the places we want to go, plus
the oddities of needing an extra quarter for fare and punching
the ticket you just bought.  Most disappointing is that we don't
see enough of the dev