116-479: The Third Street Light Rail Project was the construction project that expanded the Muni Metro system in San Francisco , California, linking downtown San Francisco to the historically underserved southeastern neighborhoods of Bayview-Hunters Point and Visitacion Valley along the eastern side of the city. Construction was finished in late 2006, non-revenue weekend service began on January 13, 2007, and full service began on April 7, 2007. The new service, as
232-728: A CPUC regulatory inspection in early November 2017 and car #2006 was the first LRV to enter revenue service on November 17, 2017, following a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Duboce and Church . The first 68 cars were used to expand the Muni fleet to 219 cars and once the fleet reached that total in October 2019, Breda cars would be retired as new Siemens cars are accepted. It is expected that deliveries of cars will continue through 2028. Muni Metro runs from approximately 5 am to 1 am weekdays, with later start times of 7 am on Saturday and 8 am on Sunday. Owl service , or late-night service,
348-540: A Free Muni for Seniors program that provides low- and moderate-income seniors residing in San Francisco free access to all Muni transit services, including Muni's cable cars. Free Muni is open to all San Francisco senior Clipper card holders, ages 65 and over, with a gross annual family income at or below 100 percent of the Bay Area median income level (qualifying income levels are posted on the program's web page). Enrollment
464-605: A "do nothing" alternative) ranging from building a trolley coach to expanding the MUNI Metro light rail system. In the two alternative light rail routes proposed, rail service would be extended south to Caltrain's Bayshore Station along Third Street from the Financial District . Potential future extensions studied included lines along Hunter's Point, in Little Hollywood (to Candlestick Park ), and along Bayshore and Geneva to
580-443: A $ 212 million design and procurement contract and a $ 114 million ten-year support contract with Hitachi Rail in October 2024. The Muni Metro system consists of 71.5 miles (115.1 km) of standard gauge track, seven light rail lines (six regular lines and one peak-hour line), three tunnels, 12 subway stations, 25 surface stations, and 87 surface stops. The backbone of the system is formed by two interconnected subway tunnels,
696-514: A 2014 study to extend the line, and daily ridership was projected to increase by 40,000 if the extension was completed. San Francisco Chronicle architecture critic John King wrote there was "a compelling power to the idea of an extension that, if nothing else, would make the Central Subway seem less like a boondoggle and more of a factor in the shaping of tomorrow’s city. The empty lot of the Pagoda
812-458: A long way towards resolving persistent crowding and scheduling issues. Nonetheless, Muni remains one of the slowest urban transport systems in the United States. In 1980, the M Ocean View was extended from Broad Street and Plymouth Avenue to its current terminus at Balboa Park . In 1991, the J Church was extended from Church and 30th Streets to its current terminus at Balboa Park. In 1998,
928-404: A lower speed limit of 30 mph (48 km/h), down from 50 mph (80 km/h), because the brakes were problematic. The ATC system was plagued by numerous glitches when first implemented, initially causing significantly more harm than good. Common occurrences included sending trains down the wrong tracks, and, more often, inappropriately applying emergency braking. Eventually the result
1044-426: A multi-year reconstruction on the surface section of the line until it resumed train service on September 28, 2024. Service only ran until 9pm until October 2, 2021, when it was extended to 10pm on Sundays and midnight on other days to better align with BART's late-night service. J Church service resumed subway service on February 19, 2022. Several further expansions have been proposed. SFMTA has studied extending
1160-424: A new train control system that utilizes communications-based train control and infrastructure improvements that would enable longer trains to run in the subway and on some surface lines with greater reliability. As of 2024, the train control system replacement was in the planning stages with a pilot implementation planned in 2025 and with the entire upgrade estimated to be completed in 2029. The SFMTA board approved
1276-640: A pedestrian plaza known as "Winter Walk". Some have called for Winter Walk to be made a permanent year-round fixture, but notable opposition included Rose Pak , who wanted to retain Stockton as a link from Market to Chinatown. Workers breached a natural gas pipeline in May 2015 while working on the Yerba Buena/Moscone station, forcing the evacuation of the nearby Yerba Buena Center for the Arts . On September 20, 2022,
SECTION 10
#17328515720051392-422: A recovery schedule. In January 2018, for example, TPC modified their construction sequence at Chinatown station and were able to shave 18 days off the schedule, changing the estimated revenue service date to November 22, 2019. By May 2019, the estimated opening had slipped to February 2020. In September 2019, it was announced that the opening was delayed yet again, this time to mid-2021. Another delay to late 2021
1508-531: A result, the southern end of the line terminates at the Sunnydale Station on Bayshore Boulevard for the time being. 18 new stations were built along the line. They consist of either island platforms between the tracks or side platforms , with elevated platform heights to allow level boarding with the internal train stairs raised, similar to the ones used by the N Judah along the Embarcadero . As part of
1624-695: A single east–west tunnel, the Market Street subway . The T Third Street uses a north–south tunnel downtown, the Central Subway . The supplementary S Shuttle service operates within the Market Street subway and Twin Peaks Tunnel . Muni Metro operates a fleet of 151 Breda high-floor light rail vehicles (LRVs), which are currently being replaced by a fleet of 249 Siemens S200 LRVs. The system has 117 stations , of which 63 (54%) are accessible . Muni Metro
1740-576: A standalone Geary subway line, such as in the 2017 20-year Capital Plan, and the planning effort started in 2014 (called the Muni Subway Expansion Project) to extend the M Ocean View in a fully grade-separated right-of-way to better serve the 19th Avenue corridor that had begun preliminary engineering studies in 2018. The ConnectSF report also identified the need to modernize the Muni Metro system. Key improvements that are planned include
1856-510: A temperature of 72 °F (22 °C) inside the car. The Breda cars feature four doors per car, versus three for the Boeing (only the middle two doors of the Boeing cars were available while in the tunnels due to the cars' end curvature). The initial batch of 136 Breda cars were ordered on contracts exceeding US$ 320,000,000 (equivalent to $ 585,281,662 in 2023), for an average per-car cost of US$ 2,350,000 (equivalent to $ 4,298,162 in 2023);
1972-508: A third phase (northern extension to Fisherman's Wharf) and a conceptual fourth phase (extension west to the Presidio). Formal planning for a Central Subway extension was kicked off in late 2018 with several community meetings, and an Alternatives Study is underway with a projected completion in late 2019. Muni Metro Muni Metro is a semi-metro system (form of light rail ) serving San Francisco , California, United States. Operated by
2088-399: A weekend-only shuttle service between Chinatown station and 4th and Brannan station on November 19, 2022. Full service as part of the T Third Street line began on January 7, 2023. With the addition of the Central Subway, the T Third Street line is projected to become Muni Metro's highest ridership line by 2030. The budget to complete the Central Subway was $ 1.578 billion. The project
2204-504: Is not already served by extremely slow, uncomfortable high-ridership local service. A study released in 2000 called for the Central Subway as part of a larger plan to alleviate projected traffic gridlock which also included a light rail line along Geary. Voters approved the Central Subway in 2003, and the alignment was selected in 2008. Ground was broken for the project on February 9, 2010, however, physical work did not begin until June 2012. The first phases of work included preparation of
2320-440: Is not automatic. To participate in the program, a qualified senior must have or obtain a Clipper card and submit an application either online or by mail. Like Muni buses, the Muni Metro operates on a proof-of-payment system; on paying a fare, the passenger will receive a ticket good for travel on any bus, historic streetcar, or Metro vehicle for 120 minutes. Payment methods depend on boarding location. On surface street sections in
2436-530: Is one of the surviving first-generation streetcar systems in North America . The San Francisco Municipal Railway was created in 1909 and opened its first streetcar lines in 1912. Five of the current lines were added in the following decades: the J in 1917, the K (including the Twin Peaks Tunnel) in 1918, the L in 1919, the M in 1925, and the N in 1928. The other Municipal Railway streetcar lines, and those of
SECTION 20
#17328515720052552-411: Is provided along much of the L and N lines by buses that bear the same route designation. The cash fare for Muni Metro, like Muni buses, effective January 1, 2020, is $ 3 for adults and $ 1.50 for seniors, and the disabled, and free for youths 5–19. Clipper and MuniMobile fares are lower than cash fares. Their fares are $ 2.50 for adults. For all people under 20 service is free. Muni currently operates
2668-574: Is the only line in the Muni Metro that does not enter the tunnel, instead going through the Central Subway . An additional tunnel, the Sunset Tunnel , is located near the Duboce portal and is served by the N. The interconnected tunnels contain nine subway stations. Three stations—West Portal, Forest Hill and the now-defunct Eureka Valley —were opened in 1918 as part of the Twin Peaks Tunnel, while
2784-460: The BART system drawn up in the 1950s envisioned a double-decked subway tunnel under Market Street (known as the Market Street subway) in downtown San Francisco; the lower deck would be dedicated to express trains, while the upper would be served by local trains whose routes would spread south and west through the city. However, by 1961 these plans were altered; only a single BART route would travel through
2900-532: The Balboa Park station . The project was initially budgeted at $ 667 million. As of July 2006, the budget increased by $ 120 million. The T Third starts at Chinatown station , and runs through the Central Subway to the Caltrain Depot at 4th and King streets, then along Third Street. The 15-Third bus line was eliminated and the 8-Bayshore bus line was extended to replace the 15 in areas not served by
3016-646: The Caltrain terminal at 4th and King Street opened in 1998. The T Third Street line opened in 2007, serving the southeastern portion of the city. The Central Subway, with three new subway stations and one new surface station opened on November 19, 2022. The first street railroad in San Francisco was the San Francisco Market Street Railroad Company, which was incorporated in 1857 and began operating in 1860, with track along Market Street from California to Mission Dolores. Muni Metro descended from
3132-460: The N Judah was extended from Embarcadero Station to the planned site of the new Pacific Bell Park and Caltrain Depot , The extension was briefly served between January and August of that year by the temporary E Embarcadero light rail shuttle (restored in 2015 as the E Embarcadero heritage streetcar line). In 2007, the T Third Street , running south from Caltrain Depot along Third Street to
3248-629: The San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni), a part of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), Muni's light rail lines saw an average of 87,000 boardings per day as of the third quarter of 2024 and a total of 24,324,600 boardings in 2023, making it the sixth-busiest light rail system in the United States . Five services – J Church , K Ingleside , L Taraval , M Ocean View , and N Judah run on separate surface alignments and merge into
3364-770: The San Francisco Railway Museum , but have since been scrapped; five were sold to the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority for the modest price of US$ 200 (equivalent to $ 338.8 in 2023) to US$ 500 (equivalent to $ 846.99 in 2023) each; one was acquired by the Oregon Electric Railway Historical Society in 2001, but the Society declined to take any more Boeing cars after experiencing several breakdowns. Boeing car no. 1258 has been on exhibit at
3480-546: The T Third Street Metro line, replaced the 15 Third bus line, which ran south from the Caltrain Depot at 4th and King streets, along Third Street and Bayshore Boulevard to the southeastern neighborhoods. In 1993, the San Francisco Municipal Railway published the Bayshore Transit Study , which offered the following seven goals: The Bayshore Transit Study presented nine alternatives (including
3596-660: The Western Railway Museum near Suisun City since its acquisition in 2002. The first of four prototypes of the new Breda cars was delivered in January 1995. After delivery of additional cars and training of operators, the cars began to enter service on December 10, 1996. They were the most expensive street railway vehicles built to-date, at a cost of US$ 2,000,000 (equivalent to $ 3,885,423 in 2023) each, and they were assembled at Pier 80. After suffering initial breakdowns and despite facing complaints of noise and vibrations,
Third Street Light Rail Project - Misplaced Pages Continue
3712-553: The 175 cars from the first two phases, 44 additional cars, and surplus 30 cars were contracted in 2021. Siemens has named the new Muni cars the S200 SF while the SFMTA refers to them as the LRV4. They operate at speeds of up to 50 miles per hour (80 km/h). The S200 SF is 75 feet (23 m) long, 8 feet 8.32 inches (2.65 m) wide, 11 feet 6 inches (3.51 m) high (with
3828-534: The Boeing LRVs they replaced) that some homeowners, claiming that the exceptional weight of the Breda cars damaged their foundations, sued the city of San Francisco. The Breda cars are longer and wider than the previous Boeing cars, necessitating the modification of subway stations and maintenance yards, as well as the rear view mirrors on the trains themselves. Furthermore, the Breda cars do not run in three car trains, like
3944-447: The Boeing cars used to, as doing so had, in some instances, physically damaged the overhead power wires. The Breda trains were so noisy that San Francisco budgeted over $ 15 million to quiet them down, while estimates range up to $ 1 million per car to remedy the excessive noise. To this day, the Breda cars are noisier than the PCC or Boeing cars. In 1998, federal inspectors mandated
4060-549: The Breda cars have been blamed for reduced train capacity, as multiple cars are not able to be coupled together as intended. Muni originally ordered 35 cars from Breda in 1991, and exercised options to add another 116 cars throughout the 1990s, including an option to purchase another 15 cars in 1999. The fleet had 151 LRVs in 2014, all made by Breda. The double-ended cars are 75 feet (23 m) long, 9 feet (2.7 m) wide, 11 feet (3.4 m) high, have graffiti-resistant windows, and contain an air-conditioning system to maintain
4176-553: The Bredas gradually replaced the Boeings, with the last Boeing car being retired in 2002. Residents along streetcar lines complained the new Breda cars would screech during acceleration and deceleration and their 80,000-pound (36,000 kg) weight, 10,000 pounds (4,500 kg) heavier than the Boeing cars, was blamed for vibration issues. At one point in 1998, 12 Breda cars were unavailable for service due to door problems. Faulty couplers on
4292-510: The Central Subway as an above-ground light rail line or subway through North Beach, and into the Marina district, with the possibility of eventually terminating in the Presidio. Starting in 2017, the SFMTA, in collaboration with other city agencies, began its ConnectSF process to plan its vision for future transit expansions that would follow its then under construction projects such as Van Ness BRT and
4408-695: The Central Subway at a portal under the Interstate 80 viaduct. Yerba Buena/Moscone station is located under 4th Street at Folsom Street. At Market Street, the subway crosses under the Market Street subway , with a reverse curve to align under Stockton Street. Union Square/Market Street station is located under Stockton Street between Market Street and O'Farrell Street, with an outside-fare-control connection to Powell Street station . The line continues north to Chinatown station at Washington Street. The twin subway tunnels continue north under Stockton Street and terminate under Columbus Avenue near Union Street, where
4524-440: The Central Subway to Chinatown, began on January 7, 2023. Additional shuttle trains signed "S Chase Center" will operate between Chinatown and UCSF/Chase Center for events at Chase Center. Initial ridership was "tepid" – the T only saw a modest increase in ridership, while the parallel route 30 and 45 buses saw small drops. In February 2023, the three subway stations averaged 2,966 daily boardings and 4,501 daily exits. Half
4640-530: The Central Subway. The final report on transit from the ConnectSF program was released in 2021 and identified two major corridors for Muni Metro expansion: a subway line along the Geary Boulevard and 19th Avenue corridor connecting to Daly City, and the extension of the Central Subway to Fisherman's Wharf that had already undergone preliminary analysis. The Geary/19th corridor would replace earlier efforts to plan
4756-478: The Central Subway; the next firm order of 151 cars would replace all of the Breda vehicles and an option to purchase up to 85 additional cars, funding permitting, to accommodate projected ridership growth through 2040. A grant of $ 41 million from the California Transportation Agency awarded on July 2, 2015, allowed Muni to purchase 40 additional Siemens light rail vehicles. Upon awarding
Third Street Light Rail Project - Misplaced Pages Continue
4872-602: The Chinatown station. In December 2017, Tutor Perini (TPC) circulated a report predicting a fifteen-month delay past December 2019 due to circumstances beyond their control, including hard rock and required utility relocations. TPC is liable for penalties of up to $ 50,000 per day for late completion beyond December 2019. Also in December 2017, the Central Subway Program Director, John Funghi, announced he would leave
4988-482: The City and County of San Francisco. The tunnel is about 1.7 miles (2.7 km) long, including 0.4 miles (0.64 km) of non-revenue tail tracks, and includes three subway stations; the surface tracks built as part of the project are 0.4 miles (0.64 km) long and include one surface station. These surface tracks begin at 4th and King and continue northwest along 4th Street to 4th and Brannan station . The line enters
5104-601: The Embarcadero–Sunnydale portion of the T Third Street on January 23, 2021. N Judah and K Ingleside light rail service resumed on May 15, 2021, with the K and T again interlined, along with S Shuttle service now converted to supplementary. At that time, some stations were converted to new wayfinding signage based on international standards, with compass directions like "westbound" replacing older "inbound"/"outbound" directions. M Ocean View light rail service resumed on August 14, 2021. The L remained served by buses due to
5220-455: The Muni Metro was closed on weekends. At the end of the service day September 19, 1982, streetcar operations on the surface of Market Street were discontinued entirely, the remaining PCC cars taken out of service, and weekend service on the five light rail lines was temporarily converted to buses. Finally, on November 20, 1982, the Muni Metro subway began operating seven days a week. At the time, there were no firm plans to revive any service on
5336-436: The SFMTA announced that service in the Central Subway would begin on November 19, 2022. Initial service was a "soft launch", running only on weekends, while operator training continued on weekdays. This early service ran only between Chinatown station and 4th and Brannan station. The T Third Street line continued to use the Market Street subway during this period. Full service, with the T Third Street line rerouted to run through
5452-554: The T-Third trains between Embarcadero and Sunnydale; E-Embarcadero service was suspended for two weekends; K-Ingleside again terminated at Embarcadero; and streets were closed in the vicinity of 4th and King. A Project Management Oversight Committee report released in mid-2017 reported ten months of delays in construction, pushing back the date of service as late as December 10, 2019. The $ 76 million contingency fund may be used to expedite completion. The delays were attributed to work on
5568-456: The TBMs marked the completion the boring operation phase. The two TBMs were to be disassembled and removed, and the extraction shaft filled in by the end of 2014. The twin tunnels were fully complete by May 2015, when Mayor Ed Lee toured the project underground. Each completed tunnel is 8,500 feet (2,600 m) long and 20 feet (6.1 m) in diameter, supported by 1,750 concrete rings placed during
5684-407: The aegis of a single municipal corporation, which then began phasing out much of the streetcar network in favor of buses. However, five heavily used streetcar lines traveled for at least part of their routes through tunnels or otherwise reserved right-of-way , and thus could not be converted to bus lines. As a result, these lines, running PCC streetcars , continued in operation. Original plans for
5800-519: The basic features of efficient BRT operations. Compounding these conditions is the fact that many Chinatown residents are transit-dependent and do not own cars, helping rationalize funding for a subway. The high-ridership Muni bus lines serving Chinatown (e.g., the 1 California and the 30 Stockton ) are typically over capacity. In October 2012, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced it would provide $ 942.2 million for
5916-452: The boring operation. Two of the three underground stations were constructed using cut-and-cover methods while Chinatown station was constructed with the sequential excavation method . Just before construction began in 2012, the start of revenue service on the Central Subway extension was scheduled for December 2018. When the main contract was awarded to Tutor Perini in May 2013, schedule float (the amount of time set aside for delays)
SECTION 50
#17328515720056032-521: The city on the lower deck, while the upper deck would be served by the existing Muni streetcar routes. The new tunnel would be connected to the existing Twin Peaks Tunnel . The new underground stations would feature high platforms, and the older stations would be retrofitted with the same, which meant that the PCCs could not be used in them. Hence, a fleet of new light rail vehicles was ordered from Boeing-Vertol , but were not delivered until 1979–80, even though
6148-459: The city to Embarcadero Station in the heart of the Financial District . Three lines—the K Ingleside , the L Taraval , and the M Ocean View —feed into the tunnel at West Portal, while two lines, the J Church and N Judah , enter at a portal near Church Street and Duboce Avenue in the Duboce Triangle neighborhood. The N Judah enters and exits the tunnel at Embarcadero. The T Third Street
6264-404: The city's "Transit First" policy and that they would favor the removal of the equipment if a subway stop was planned, approved and financed for their neighborhood. Muni General Manager Ed Reiskin announced a plan in December 2012 to extend the tunnel to Columbus and Powell, using the site of the long-closed Pagoda Palace theater to extract the TBMs, with a potential option to purchase the Pagoda as
6380-509: The construction barricades erected around the Chinatown and Yerba Buena/Moscone stations. The art was printed on adhesive vinyl and wrapped onto the plywood panels, measuring approximately 8 ft (2.4 m) high by 190 ft (58 m) long at Chinatown, along Stockton, or 160 ft (49 m) long at Yerba Buena/Moscone, along Folsom. Temporary art was also installed around the Pagoda Palace Theatre from 2014 to 2017, while it
6496-580: The contract, Muni officials cited several lessons learned from the prior Breda contract, including not buying enough cars, dictating too much of the design, lax reliability requirements and a failure to account for maintenance costs. The US$ 648,000,000 (equivalent to $ 834,001,687 in 2023) contract for 175 cars (the first two phases) was signed by Mayor Ed Lee in September 2014, making the cost of each car approximately US$ 3,700,000 (equivalent to $ 4,762,047 in 2023). Muni ultimately purchased 249 vehicles:
6612-441: The difficulty in running a hybrid streetcar and light rail system, with five lines merging into one, led to scheduling problems on the main trunk lines with long waits between arrivals and commuter-packed trains sometimes sitting motionless in tunnels for extended periods of time. Muni did take steps to address these problems. Newer, larger Breda cars were ordered, an extension of the system towards South Beach — where many of
6728-406: The entire corridor. The goal is to allow LRVs to have a green light at every intersection so they can travel from station to station without stopping. The Third Street Light Rail Project is the first part of a multi-phase plan to expand the Muni Metro system. The second phase, known as the Central Subway , removed the need for the T Third to share tracks with N Judah north of 4th and King. T Third
6844-447: The excavation, workers accidentally breached a water main in July 2014, causing basement-level flooding in shops along Geary between Stockton and Grant. The ensuing cleanup took several days and required a few businesses to keep stores closed. Since Stockton Street has been closed between Geary and Ellis, starting in 2014, construction is suspended in December and the area is transformed into
6960-552: The existing T Third Street line at 4th and King station . Muni estimates that the Central Subway section of the T Third Street line will carry roughly 35,100 riders per day by 2030. Originally set to open in late 2018, the subway opened with weekend-only shuttle service on November 19, 2022. Full service as part of the T Third Street line began on January 7, 2023. Additional shuttle trains signed "S Chase Center" will operate between Chinatown and UCSF/Chase Center for events at Chase Center. On March 30, 2020, Muni Metro service
7076-530: The fleet; these 30 had been rejected by MBTA after suffering numerous breakdowns. In 1982, the Boeing cars averaged only 600 miles (970 km) between breakdowns; by 1988 this had improved to 1,800 to 2,000 miles (2,900 to 3,200 km) between breakdowns. In 1998, Rudy Nothenberg, president of the Public Transportation Commission, said the Boeing cars were "impossible to maintain and [...] have many, many design flaws;" that same year, Muni
SECTION 60
#17328515720057192-410: The initial 100-car order arrived in San Francisco in 1978; Boston had been running the cars since 1976 and by 1978, MBTA was already returning 35 cars for manufacturing defects. After receipt of the first cars, MBTA forced Boeing to make 70 to 80 modifications on each car. Boeing ended up paying US$ 40,000,000 (equivalent to $ 214,175,439 in 2023) in damages to Boston. The purchase price for each car
7308-786: The introduction of the T Third Street were implemented on June 30, 2007, when the K and T trains were interlined, or effectively merged into one single line with route designations changing at the entrances into the subway (T becomes K outbound at Embarcadero; K becomes T inbound at West Portal). The Central Subway runs between Chinatown station in Chinatown and a portal in South of Market (SoMa) , with intermediate stops at Union Square/Market Street station in Union Square and Yerba Buena/Moscone station in SoMa. A surface portion runs through SoMa to connect to
7424-594: The junction with existing trackage at 4th and King took place in November 2021. Residents and workers near the 4th Street portal and North Beach extraction sites noted an increase in the visible number of rats after construction began. Construction of the Union Square/Market Street station required closing Stockton Street just north of Market, which depressed traffic to retailers in Union Square. During
7540-450: The line. LRVs operate in mixed flow traffic at the 4th Street Bridge (the bridge does not have enough room for LRV exclusive right-of-way) and in a 10 block segment (from Kirkwood/La Salle stop through Revere/Shafter) in the Bayview business district to maintain parking on both sides of the street for customers of local businesses. In addition, transit signal priority has been implemented along
7656-541: The main contract for Central Subway construction was awarded in May 2013 to the lowest bidder, Tutor Perini , the $ 840 million contract was up to $ 120 million over the budgeted amount, which took up nearly two-thirds of the entire project's contingency. Due to the capital cost ($ 1.578 billion for the 1.7 mile light rail line), the Central Subway project has come under criticism from transit activists for what they consider to be poor cost-effectiveness. In particular, they note that Muni's own estimates show that
7772-612: The metro extension, including City College and Fisherman's Wharf . The extension was supposed to connect directly to the Bayshore Caltrain Station when the station was in San Francisco County. However, as part of Caltrain's 2004 CTX project , Caltrain relocated the Bayshore Station to San Mateo County without informing Muni. To complicate matters, this connection has been plagued by cost and design issues. As
7888-529: The municipally-owned traditional streetcar system started on December 28, 1912, when the San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni) was established. The first streetcar line, the A Geary, ran from Kearny and Market Streets in the Financial District to Fulton Street and 10th Avenue in the Richmond District . The system slowly expanded, opening the Twin Peaks Tunnel in 1917, allowing streetcars to run to
8004-453: The need to transfer at West Portal and Church stations. In November 2020, the SFMTA that announced some rail lines such as the N Judah and T Third would likely return in early 2021, followed by a gradual return to full operation. Kirschbaum said the agency was reconsidering its approach to maintenance after the botched attempt to reopen in August, and that it might take 5 to 8 years to fully address
8120-599: The new Mission Bay Loop , which was completed in 2019 at a cost of $ 10.2 million. This improves service to Chase Center . T Third trains began through-running into the Central Subway on January 7, 2023. In early March 2009, media and community groups proposed that as the Central Subway is being built, plans should be drawn up to extend the T Third past Chinatown through North Beach and Fisherman's Wharf neighborhoods, passing Pier 39 , potentially using an old steam railroad line underneath Fort Mason and ending up at The Presidio . These plans were presented in October 2014 as
8236-563: The new cars had a mean distance between failures (MDBF) of 3,300 mi (5,300 km) shortly after being delivered; by August 2019, the MDBF had improved to 8,000 mi (13,000 km). Siemens publicly unveiled a full-size mockup of the S200 SF in San Francisco on June 16, 2015. The first car was delivered from the Siemens plant in Sacramento to San Francisco on January 13, 2017. A test car passed
8352-477: The new dot-coms were headquartered — was built, and the underground section was switched to Automatic Train Operation (ATO). The Breda cars, however, came in noisy, overweight, oversized, under-braked, and over-budget (their price grew from US$ 2.2 million per car to nearly US$ 3 million over the course of their production). In fact, the new trains were so heavy (10,000 pounds (4,500 kg) more than
8468-410: The older Twin Peaks Tunnel and the newer Market Street subway, both controlled by automatic train operation systems to run trains with the operators closing the door to allow the train to pull out of a station. This ATO system was upgraded in 2015 to replace outdated software and relays . The tunnels, 5.5 miles (8.9 km) in total length, run from West Portal Station in the southwestern part of
8584-434: The opportunity for extracting the excavators existed. The platforms of all stations on the Central Subway can only accommodate two-car trains, limiting the capacity of the line. In 2000, the estimated cost of the Central Subway project was $ 530 million. By 2001, the cost had risen to $ 647 million and completion was projected for 2009. When construction began in 2012, the cost had reached $ 1.6 billion. When
8700-406: The option of 15 additional cars was exercised on a contract worth US$ 42,300,000 (equivalent to $ 77,366,920 in 2023), making the last batch of 15 cars US$ 2,600,000 (equivalent to $ 4,755,414 in 2023) each. By 2011, the fleet of Breda LRVs was only able to manage a mean distance between failures (MDBF) of 617 mi (993 km). With the Breda cars growing increasingly unreliable and
8816-525: The other seven— Castro Street , Church Street , Van Ness , Civic Center , Powell Street , Montgomery Street and Embarcadero—were opened in 1980 as part of the Market Street subway. Four stations, Civic Center, Powell Street, Montgomery Street, and Embarcadero, are shared with Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), with Muni Metro on the upper level and BART on the lower one. Above ground, there are twenty-four surface platform stations. Two stations, Stonestown and San Francisco State University , are located at
8932-471: The pantograph locked down), and weighs 78,770 pounds (35,730 kg), making it comparable in size and weight to the existing Breda cars. The expected maximum capacity is 203 passengers per car. They are expected to have the same coupling device as the Breda cars; however, the new Siemens trains can couple up to five cars at a time. The new S200 SF vehicles are projected to be able to run 59,000 miles (95,000 km) between maintenance intervals. Initially,
9048-438: The phase 3 project could improve transit trip time by at least 50% and would increase the ridership on the T Third by 55%. Project cost estimates ranged from $ 440 million to $ 1.4 billion depending on the design. In June 2018, the SFMTA began a detailed study of possible routes to narrow down options for a future environmental impact study. A conceptual fourth phase has been advanced by SFMTA and transit advocates to further extend
9164-521: The platform area. Faregates closest to an unmanned Muni staff booth open automatically if a passenger has a valid pass or transfer that cannot be scanned. Muni's fare inspectors may board trains at any time to check for proof of payment from passengers. All cars are also equipped with Clipper card readers near each entrance, which riders may use to tag their cards to pay their fare. The cards themselves are then used as proof of payment; fare inspectors carry handheld card readers that can verify that payment
9280-465: The portals in time to combine into longer trains. In the mid- to late-1990s, San Francisco grew more prosperous and its population expanded with the advent of the dot-com boom , and the Metro system began to feel the strain of increased commuter demand. Muni criticism had been something of a feature of life in San Francisco, and not without reason. The Boeing trains were sub-par and grew crowded quickly. And
9396-491: The previously existing T Third Street line at 4th and King station . The project was initiated after the Embarcadero Freeway was demolished following the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake , as activist Rose Pak "almost single-handedly persuaded the city to build" the Central Subway to compensate Chinatown for the loss of the fast cross-town connection. Originally set to open in late 2018, the subway initially opened with
9512-461: The privately owned Market Street Railway , were converted to buses in the 1920s to 1950s, but these five lines were retained as streetcars because of their private rights of way. The system was converted to light rail, with larger US Standard Light Rail Vehicles , in the late 1970s and early 1980s. This included the opening of the Market Street subway as well as an extension of three lines to Balboa Park station . An extension along The Embarcadero to
9628-555: The project for Caltrain , where he headed the Peninsula Corridor Electrification Project starting in February 2018. In April 2018, SFMTA announced that excavation was complete for Chinatown station, which was expected to be the last station completed for the Central Subway in mid-2019. The other underground stations, Yerba Buena/Moscone and Union Square, were scheduled to be completed by the end of 2018 ahead of
9744-424: The project under its New Starts program after indicating it would approve the grant in January. This award included the recognition that better, more comfortable service for an already intensively-used transit corridor, particularly for low-income residents as in Chinatown, justifies the investment even if it does not attract a high percentage of "new" riders the way a new rapid transit investment might somewhere that
9860-497: The project would increase Muni ridership by less than 1% and yet by 2030 would add $ 15.2 million a year to Muni's annual operating deficit. Previous transit access to these areas was provided entirely on the surface through small blocks that feature intense pedestrian activity and narrow streets with multi-modal street congestion. Other, lower-cost rapid transit options were explored, such as bus rapid transit (BRT), but were rejected in part because these conditions do not support
9976-451: The project, the entire Third Street corridor was repaved and received new streetlights. Additionally, palm trees were planted, sidewalks reconstructed and the pavement on 3rd Street repaved. Stations along the route have a distinctive marquee pole with a sculpture or mobile. Light rail vehicles (LRVs) operate in an exclusive right-of-way in the center of the street along most of the line to bypass vehicular congestion and increase speed along
10092-545: The ridership was at Union Square/Market Street. Ten permanent installations were built as part of the project: three at each subway station and one at 4th and Brannan. A draft of the Central Subway Arts Master Plan was presented to the San Francisco Arts Commission in September 2008. Artworks are divided into "landmark" and "wayfinding" categories. Candidates were announced in July 2010 and
10208-538: The site of a future North Beach station. In 2013, MTA reached a lease agreement with the owners of the Pagoda to tear down the old building and use its site for TBM removal. This will reduce impact of construction on the public space. On June 11, 2014, "Big Alma" broke through to the North Beach extraction shaft at Columbus and Powell Street in North Beach , joining "Mom Chung", which had arrived on June 2. The arrival of
10324-406: The south and west of the city, passengers must board at the front of the train and pay their fare to the train operator to receive their ticket; those who already have a ticket, or who have a daily, weekly, or monthly pass, can board at any door of the Metro streetcar. Subway stations have controlled entries via faregates , and passengers usually purchase or show Muni staff a ticket in order to enter
10440-552: The southern edge of the city, opened as part of the Third Street Light Rail Project . Limited weekend T line service began on January 13, 2007, while full service began on April 7, 2007. The line initially ran from the southern terminus at Bayshore Boulevard and Sunnydale Street to Castro Street Station in the north. The line ran into initial problems with breakdowns, bottlenecks, and power failures, creating massive delays. Service changes to address complaints with
10556-527: The southwestern part of the city, while the rest are located on the eastern side of the city, where the system underwent recent expansion as part of the Embarcadero extension and the Third Street Light Rail Project . However, many of the stops on the system are surface stops consisting of anything from a traffic island to a yellow-banded "Car Stop" sign painted on a utility pole. All subway and surface stations are accessible to people with disabilities. Because
10672-409: The southwestern quadrant of the city. By 1921, the city was operating 304 miles (489 km) of electric trolley lines and 25 miles (40 km) of cable car lines. The last line to start service before 2007 was the N Judah , which started service after the Sunset Tunnel opened in 1928. In the 1940s and 1950s, as in many North American cities, public transit in San Francisco was consolidated under
10788-537: The start of excavation for the TBM launch box on Fourth Street between Bryant and Harrison. "Mom Chung" was delivered to San Francisco in April and May 2013, and in late July 2013, "Mom Chung" began digging the tunnel for southbound T Third trains. "Big Alma" began digging north in November 2013 at a slightly faster rate, 54 ft/d (16 m/d), compared to the 44 ft/d (13 m/d) average of "Mom Chung". The initial plan
10904-482: The subway was served only on weekdays until 1982. The K Ingleside line began using the entire Metro subway on weekdays on June 11, 1980, the L Taraval and M Ocean View lines on December 17, 1980, and lastly the J Church line on June 17, 1981. Meanwhile, weekend service on all five lines (J, K, L, M, N) continued to use PCC cars operating on the surface of Market Street through to the Transbay Terminal , and
11020-527: The surface branches, eastbound trains were combined at West Portal and Duboce Portal, and westbound trains split at those locations. Two-car N Judah trains and one-car J Church trains (each 10TPH) combined at the Duboce Portal, while two-car L Taraval trains (10TPH) alternately combined with two-car M Ocean View and K Ingleside (each 5 TPH) trains at West Portal to form four-car trains. However, this provided suboptimal service; many inbound trains did not arrive at
11136-461: The surface of Market Street or return PCCs to regular running. However, tracks were rehabilitated for the 1983 Historic Trolley Festival , and the inauguration of the F line , served by heritage streetcars , followed in 1995. By the late 1980s, Muni scheduled 20 trains per hour (TPH) through the Market Street subway at peak periods, with all trains using the crossover west of Embarcadero station to reverse direction. To allow for high frequencies on
11252-433: The system expanding with the construction of the Central Subway , Muni requested bids for a new generation of light rail vehicles. Muni prequalified CAF , Kawasaki and Siemens to bid on the request while Breda was disqualified based on a ranking of potential bidders. The contract was awarded to Siemens for the purchase of up to 260 cars to be delivered in three phases: the initial firm order of 24 cars would accommodate
11368-609: The system uses high-floor vehicles, while operating as a streetcar, the vehicles are not accessible to people with disabilities that impact their mobility. A select number of stops, typically located near major intersections, are equipped with ramps or lifts , for people with disabilities. Muni Metro has two rail yards for storage and maintenance: Notes Muni Metro first operated Boeing Vertol -made US Standard Light Rail Vehicles (USSLRV), which were built for Muni Metro and Boston 's MBTA . Boeing had no experience in making LRVs, and has not made another since. The first cars of
11484-534: The system's vulnerabilities. Among the most urgent issues was replacing the track ballast in the Twin Peaks Tunnel , which was meant to be replaced during a maintenance project in 2018 but was instead reused at that time. City supervisors harshly criticized the mistake, which SFMTA director Jeffrey Tumlin blamed on a "culture of fear" he was working to correct since becoming the agency's leader in 2019. The surface-only (from Market Street to Balboa Park) J Church route resumed service on December 19, 2020, followed by
11600-594: The then-scheduled December 2019 start of revenue service. SFMTA noted that of 37 schedule updates submitted by Tutor Perini between December 2014 and December 2017, 21 were rejected "due to multiple and repetitive issues that vary from incorrect working sequences to unrealistic forecasted completion dates to artificially steering the schedule longest path through certain portions of the project". Contrary to TPC's claims, SFMTA stated that ground conditions were as expected from preliminary surveys, but TPC's "mining productivity has not been as planned" and directed TPC to develop
11716-563: The tunnel boring machine launch site and headwalls for the Yerba Buena/Moscone Station. At the time, the FTA grant had not been secured, and opponents were threatening lawsuits over potential disruption to traffic and businesses. The two tunnel boring machines (TBMs) are named "Big Alma" and "Mom Chung" (for "Big" Alma Spreckels and Dr. Margaret "Mom" Chung , respectively). Preparations for tunnel boring began on June 12, 2012, with
11832-408: The tunnel was completed in 1978. The K and M lines were extended to Balboa Park during this time, providing further connections to BART. (The J line also saw an extension there in 1991, which provided yet another BART connection at Glen Park .) On February 18, 1980, the Muni Metro was officially inaugurated, with weekday N line service in the subway. The Metro service was implemented in phases, and
11948-697: The winning entrants were announced that August. Temporary artworks were also installed during construction. " One Hundred Years: History of the Chinese in America ", a mural painted by James Leong originally for the Ping Yuen housing project in Chinatown, was enlarged, printed, and wrapped in 2012 around the Hogan & Vest building at Stockton & Washington, at the future Chinatown station site, prior to that building's demolition. In addition, temporary murals were painted on
12064-484: Was US$ 333,000 (equivalent to $ 1,555,586 in 2023). The federal government offered to provide 80% of the funds for design and production of the USSLRV in exchange for a commitment to keep the cars in service for at least 25 years, but the cars, as-delivered, were prone to jammed doors, defective brakes and motors, leaky roofs, mechanical breakdowns, and were involved in several accidents. Muni Metro added 30 more cars to
12180-540: Was a spectacular service crisis, widely referred to as the "Muni meltdown", in the summer of 1998. During this period, two reporters for the San Francisco Chronicle —one riding in the Muni Metro tunnel and one on foot on the surface—held a race through downtown, with the walking reporter emerging the winner. After initial problems with the ATC were fixed, substantial upgrades to the entire Muni transit systems have gone
12296-422: Was a starting point for dreams. Let’s see if it can become a starting point of something real as well." The SFMTA published a concept study in January 2015 on the feasibility of several options for phase 3. The report studied three main alignments: Columbus Ave, Powell St, or a loop line on Powell St, Beach St, and Columbus Ave. Both subway and surface options were studied for each alignment. The report found that
12412-493: Was announced in June 2020, followed by a further delay to 2022. In March 2021, Muni imposed a deadline for major construction to complete by March 31 as part of a settlement with TPC for work order modifications and other claims; in exchange, TPC would receive a $ 143 million payment. Test trains began operation in the subway in July 2021. By September 2021, construction was 98% complete. Installation of overhead line equipment at
12528-438: Was being used to extract the two tunnel boring machines. A proposed third phase would build an extension beyond Chinatown, including new stations at Washington Square in North Beach and Fisherman's Wharf. In preparation, the tunnels were bored past Chinatown station, and the tunnel boring machines were extracted from the intersection of Powell and Columbus, near Washington Square . Fourteen alternative routes were proposed in
12644-408: Was extended, which temporarily shortened the services of T Third Street between 4th and King Station (referred to as 4th and Berry in the notice) and Sunnydale Station ; the K Ingleside route also ended at Embarcadero Station and did not splice with the T Third Street route. A similar shutdown was imposed in early November 2015. During the November shutdown, bus service was provided in lieu of
12760-725: Was funded primarily through the Federal Transit Administration ’s New Starts program. In October 2012, the FTA approved a Full Funding Grant Agreement, the federal commitment of funding through New Starts, for the Central Subway for a total amount of $ 942.2 million. The Central Subway was also funded by the State of California, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission , the San Francisco County Transportation Authority and
12876-583: Was made. In subway stations, riders instead tag their cards on the faregates to gain access to the platforms. Central Subway (San Francisco) The Central Subway is a Muni Metro light rail tunnel in San Francisco , California , United States. It runs between Chinatown station in Chinatown and a portal in South of Market (SoMa) , with intermediate stops at Union Square/Market Street station in Union Square and Yerba Buena/Moscone station in SoMa. A surface portion runs through SoMa to connect to
12992-505: Was only able to supply 66–72 working cars for rush-hour service instead of the required 99 cars, resulting in system delays. Despite the shortcomings of the USSLRV design, these cars constituted the entire light rail fleet until 1996, when new Breda -manufactured cars were put into service, replacing Boeing cars as they were accepted for service. By 1998, the 136-car Muni Metro fleet consisted of 57 Boeing Vertol cars and 79 Breda cars. Two Boeing cars were preserved for potential donation to
13108-468: Was reduced from 14.8 months to 5.2 months. In 2014, the San Francisco Controller's Office audited the project and predicted it would be completed on schedule in December 2018 and slightly under budget. Tunnel boring completed in June 2014, a month ahead of schedule and under budget. Over Labor Day weekend 2015, between September 5–8, the track at the intersection of 4th Street and King Street
13224-541: Was replaced with buses due to the COVID-19 pandemic . The SFMTA reopened rail service on August 22, 2020, but returned to bus substitution three days later, citing malfunctioning overhead wire splices and the need to quarantine control center staff after a COVID-19 case. During this brief time, routes were reconfigured to improve reliability in the subway: Advocates with local nonprofit Senior and Disability Action criticized this route configuration, expressing concern over
13340-417: Was routed to new tracks extending north from the Caltrain depot at 4th and King above ground to a new station at 4th and Brannan , then proceeds underground with intermediate stops at the new stations Yerba Buena/Moscone station and Union Square/Market Street station before terminating at Chinatown station at Stockton and Washington Streets. In addition, the second phase includes short turn service via
13456-524: Was to remove the two TBMs near Washington Square in North Beach in 2014 once boring was complete. On July 31, 2012, a lawsuit was filed in Superior Court by Marc Bruno and Save North Beach, a 501(c)(4) organization of North Beach merchants and residents who believed that the removal of the equipment on Columbus Avenue would cause permanent harm to the neighborhood near Washington Square. The petitioners pointed out in their suit that they are in favor of
#4995