Muni Metro

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U-Bahn.svg
Muni Metro
Sunset-Tunnel-east.jpg
Basic data
Country United States
city San Francisco
Transport network separate tariff
opening 1912 (tram) ,
1980 (tunnel operation)
Lines 6th
Route length 115 km
Tunnel stations 9
use
Passengers 170,000 per day
vehicles Boeing LRV (1980 to 2002) ,
Breda (since 1996)
operator SFMTA
Power system 600 V = overhead line

Muni Metro is the name of a light rail- like public transport system in San Francisco and runs there in addition to the S-Bahn -like system Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) , the Caltrain , the San Francisco trolleybus , two historic tram lines (line F Market & Wharves and E Embarcadero ), cable cars and various bus routes .

The Muni Metro emerged from the San Francisco tram and was further developed through modifications. This means that there is now an underground section and some sections that run above ground, partly on their own track, and partly in the street space.

history

A train on line T in Castro metro station (August 2013)

The San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni) was founded on December 28, 1912. The Twin Peaks Tunnel was opened as early as 1917 , which was then the longest tram tunnel in the world. When in the 1950s many tram lines in San Francisco were converted to bus operation, the tunnel could not be converted for buses, so the tram lines operating there were preserved and operated with the traditional PCC trams .

In the 1950s the plans for the BART-S-Bahn were pushed ahead, and already then a two-story tunnel was planned under Market Street . The tunnel was opened in 1978 for the S-Bahn, which runs on the lower floor, while the muni tram on the upper floor did not start operating until the 1980s. The reason lies in delays in delivery of the Boeing LRV light rail vehicles , which were delivered from 1979 onwards, but showed many inadequacies when they arrived. The new tunnel was also built in such a way that the old PCC streetcars could not drive through. In the tunnel and on some above-ground stations, suitable elevated platforms were set up for the new vehicles in order to enable rapid passenger changes .

On February 28, 1980, the first line N began operating through the new tunnel with the Boeing LRV light rail vehicles. More lines were gradually led through the tunnel, line K on June 11, 1980, line M on December 17, 1980, line J on June 17, 1981. All lines only ran through the tunnel on weekdays, while the old PCC- Railways were used, which drove further above ground through Market Street. On September 19, 1982, this above-ground operation was discontinued and the light rail operated exclusively with the Boeing LRV car. The tram has also been running daily since November 20, 1982. Soon there were ambitions from business to reactivate the above-ground routes in the city center, but it took until the Historic Trolley Festival 1983 for operations to start, which subsequently resulted in the establishment of Line F as a museum tram.

The dot-com bubble at the end of the 1990s pushed the tram to the limits of its capacity. The trains were often overcrowded, the number of passengers was taking longer, the five incoming lines came in random order and some of them had to stand in the tunnel for some time, which reduced the overall throughput of trains. In addition to ordering new railways, the underground route was converted to automated train traffic in order to speed up the sequence of trains, which initially did not work properly (including incorrect track changes and frequent emergency braking). In the summer of 1998, the so-called “Muni meltdown” finally occurred, the perceived collapse of the system. At the time, two reporters from the San Francisco Chronicle were doing a test, one using the Muni Metro through the tunnel and the other walking the overground route - the pedestrian won the race.

The new Breda light rail vehicles were eventually delivered and used first on the new line towards South Beach, where many of the dotcom bubble internet companies had settled. However, these also showed numerous problems: they were louder and heavier, which led to complaints from residents. The cars were longer, which led to the renovation of the workshops, at the same time the trains could initially only be operated with two cars instead of the expected three cars, otherwise the overhead lines would be damaged. The wagons became more expensive, not only did the sales price rise from an initial 2.2 million to 3 million US dollars, but it is also estimated that around 1 million additional investments per train had to be made to make them quieter. The undersized brakes ultimately led to the NTSB in 1998 deciding to reduce the maximum speed from 80 to 50 km / h.

The numerous problems were ultimately resolved, but the tram system (despite the tunnels) remained a comparatively slow and often criticized means of transport. Due to the necessity, it is even expanded - as early as 1998 a shuttle service was set up to the end point of the Caltrain on 4th & King Street. Until January 2007 only the N line ran there. With the opening of the 8.2 kilometer stretch along Third Street on January 13, 2007, the new T line was introduced. At the same time, line N was withdrawn to Embarcadero and instead line J was extended to 4th & King. After delays and complaints, there were further changes to the timetable on June 30, 2007: instead of line J, line N was returned to 4th & King, and line K was operationally connected to line T. Finally, it was also decided to replace the 151 Breda trams. On July 15, 2015, an order was placed with Siemens to deliver up to 260 Siemens S200 SF light rail vehicles , which will regularly run in multiple units . The first vehicle in the series was delivered in January 2017. This type differs from the Siemens S200 for C-Train in Calgary in terms of length, height, wheelbase and curb weight and is easier to curve.

During the COVID-19 pandemic , the light rail network was out of service from March 30, 2020.

The route network prior to termination in March 2020:

line Line route opening
J Church Balboa Park - San Jose / Randall - Church & Market - Van Ness - Embarcadero 1917
K Ingleside Balboa Park - Ocean & Jules - St. Francis Circle - West Portal - Castro - Church - Van Ness - Embarcadero (further as T ) 1918
L Taraval Wawona & 46th ( SF Zoo ) - Taraval & Sunset - West Portal - Castro - Church - Van Ness - Embarcadero 1919
M Ocean View Balboa Park (San Jose & Geneva) - SF State  - St. Francis Circle - West Portal - Castro - Church - Van Ness - Embarcadero 1925
N Judah Ocean Beach - Judah & Sunset - Duboce & Church - Van Ness - Embarcadero - 4th & King ( Caltrain ) 1928
T Third Street Sunnydale - 3rd & Williams - 3rd & 23rd - 4th & King ( Caltrain ) - Embarcadero - Van Ness - West Portal (further as K ) 2007
S shuttle West Portal - Van Ness - Embarcadero (- 4th & King - UCSF / Chase Center)
(booster rides during rush hour and on Golden State Warriors match days )

When it comes back into operation in August 2020, the line network will be reorganized: in order to reduce delay transfers from the road sections to the tunnel route, as well as the use of one-car trains (which are required on some outer branches), lines K, L and J will be removed from the Inner city tunnel removed and at the same time the operation of tunnel line S expanded. Lines K and L, as well as M and T are operationally linked, so that a change-free journey is possible here. The West Portal stop and the Church complex will be converted into transfer stations in order to link the lines that are no longer going into the tunnel with the tunnel lines.

Infrastructure

The 115-kilometer network is served by six lines, all of which run through a central tunnel. This tunnel has nine stations and consists of two sections. The first, called the Twin Peaks Tunnel , was opened on February 3, 1918 and is crossed by four of the six lines. When it opened, it was one of the longest tram tunnels in the world. The second part is the Market Street Subway , a joint structure with the BART, through which all lines pass. This tunnel was commissioned in 1973 for BART and in 1980 one level above for the Muni Metro. Another tunnel, called the Central Subway , which crosses Market Street, is currently under construction.

The operator is the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA).

Lines

(As of August 2020)

line Surname Line route Stops Tact
J Church logo.svg J Church Church & Market - San Jose & Randall - Balboa Park 20th 6-9 min
L Taraval logo.svg K Ingleside logo.svg LK Taraval-Ingleside Wawona & 46th ( SF Zoo ) - Taraval & Sunset - St. Francis Circle - Ocean & Jules - Balboa Park 29 6-9 min
N Judah logo.svg N Judah Ocean Beach (Judah & La Playa) - Judah & Sunset - Duboce & Church - Van Ness - Embarcadero - 4th & King ( Caltrain ) 33 6-9 min (Mon-Fri)
10-14 min (Sat, Sun)
S Shuttle logo.svg S shuttle West Portal - Van Ness - Embarcadero (- 4th & King - UCSF / Chase Center)
(according to UCSF / Chase Center only on game days of the Golden State Warriors ) 		9 (+ 6) 6-9 min
T Third Street logo.svg M Ocean View logo.svg TM Third-Ocean View Sunnydale - 3rd & Williams - 3rd & 23rd - 4th & King ( Caltrain ) - Embarcadero - Van Ness - West Portal - St. Francis Circle - SF State  - Balboa Park (San Jose & Geneva) 47 10-14 min

Network plan

Web links

Commons : Muni Metro  - collection of images, videos and audio files

credentials

  1. ↑ Light Rail Transit Ridership Report: Third Quarter 2008 (PDF) American Public Transportation Association . December 4th, 2008. Archived from the original on February 5th, 2009. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved January 14, 2009.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.apta.com
  2. ^ A Brief History of the F-Market & Wharves Line . Market Street Railway . Retrieved August 22, 2010.
  3. ↑ Kevin Wallace: The City's Tunnels: When SF Can't Go Over, It Goes Under Its Hills . In: San Francisco Chronicle . SFGenealogy. March 27, 1949. Retrieved March 8, 2009.
  4. ↑ This Is Light Rail Transit (pdf) In: Light Rail Transit Committee . Transportation Research Board. November 2000. Archived from the original on February 21, 2018. Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved August 6, 2014. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.apta.com
  5. ^ Anthony Perles: The People's Railway: The History of the Municipal Railway of San Francisco . Interurban Press , Glendale, CA (US) 1981, ISBN 0-916374-42-4 , p. 250.
  6. ↑ Bill Soiffer: The Last Streetcar On Top of Market . San Francisco Chronicle , Sep. 20, 1982, p. 2.
  7. ^ A b c Anthony Perles: Tours of Discovery: A San Francisco Muni Album . Interurban Press , 1984, ISBN 0-916374-60-2 , pp. 126, 136.
  8. ↑ A Walker Matches Train Pace . In: San Francisco Chronicle , Hearst Communications, Inc., September 1, 1998. Retrieved February 15, 2009. 
  9. ↑ Coupling without orders is technically an avoidable accident . Rescue MUNI. Archived from the original on September 20, 2000. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved April 18, 2007.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.lumiere.net
  10. ^ Edward Epstein: Muni Plans to Quiet Streetcars . In: San Francisco Chronicle , August 14, 1997. Retrieved April 18, 2007. 
  11. ↑ Fundamental Flaws Derail Hopes of Improving Muni . In: San Francisco Chronicle , June 23, 1997. Retrieved April 18, 2007. 
  12. ↑ Real-time subways . Gin and Tonic. 2004. Retrieved April 21, 2007.
  13. ^ Rachel Gordon: T-Third line causing delays, so officials consider new routes. SF Gate, June 4, 2007, accessed June 22, 2020 .
  14. ↑ Michael Cabanatuan: $ 1.2 billion contract OKd for new Muni Metro light-rail cars . In: San Francisco Chronicle , Hearst Communications, Inc., July 16, 2014. Retrieved July 17, 2014. 
  15. ↑ Muni secures $ 41 million for new Metro trains . 2nd July 2015. 
  16. ↑ Stefan Göbel: San Francisco: Muni increases . In: Stadtverkehr , ISSN  0038-9013 , issue 5/2017, pp. 6–12
  17. ^ Siemens Industry, Inc .: S200 SF Light Rail Vehicle - San Francisco. (pdf) (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on May 24, 2015 ; accessed on May 5, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / w3.usa.siemens.com
  18. ^ Amy Fowler: Starting March 30: New Muni Service Changes. SFMTA, March 30, 2020, accessed June 22, 2020 .
  19. ^ Mariana Maguire: Big Changes Ahead when Muni Rail Returns in August. SFMTA, June 18, 2020, accessed June 22, 2020 .
  20. ↑ Grant Ute, Philip Hoffman, Cameron Beach, Robert Townley, Walter Vielbaum: San Francisco's Municipal Railway: Muni , page 48. ISBN 978-0-7385-7580-3 online (English), accessed on February 2, 2012
  21. ↑ polishclubsf.org: Historic San Francisco film Emerges After 95 years. (PDF; 104 kB) Accessed February 2, 2012 .
  22. ↑ A Full BART Chronology (269k .pdf; 326 kB)