SFMTA looks to makeover Muni Metro when service returns in August
When Muni Metro reopens to passengers sometime in August, subway service will look vastly different than it did before the Covid-19 pandemic.
Transit officials are promising and betting that a new subway service plan will improve reliability and increase frequency that includes running frequent three-car shuttle trains between West Portal and Embarcadero stations.
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s Director of Transportation Jeffrey Tumlin said last Tuesday that the agency plans to activate a crossover switch that will allow trains not only run three-car trains, but will also allow outbound trains at West Portal to switch back to the inbound direction.
Another service change transit officials have talked about before as part of improving service in the subway and on the J-Church is to terminate the rail line at Market Street and have passengers transfer to the subway at Church and Market streets.
That change will also occur in August, said Tumlin.
“It’s faster to get off the train and walk downstairs and hop on a three-car shuttle than it is to deal with the problems that we experience at Duboce Portal.”
The J will no longer compete with the N-Judah entering the Duboce Portal to downtown stations, which has been a long-time headache for passengers and agency staff as a bottleneckfor causing delays.
Before Covid-19, transit officials were looking for ways to improve service on the J.
Other rail lines that will no longer enter the subway include the K-Ingleside and L-Taraval. The agency will “interline” the rail lines. For example, once the L arrives at West Portal, the L will continue as a K and enter the subway.
Passengers on the K and L are expected to make a transfer at West Portal station if heading to downtown, Tumlin said.
“This introduces a sort of a new concept for Muni which is high frequency lines which includes transfers.”
Last Thursday, the agency wrote on its website in a blog that the M-Oceanview will return and interline with the T-Third and will continue to run in the subway.
The T will eventually run by itself when the SFMTA completes the Central Subway, which is scheduled for completion by the end of 2021.
With the service changes, there will be fewer trains that will need to turn around at Embarcadero station, which has also been a source of delays in the subway.
The agency has spent years attempting to find ways to turn trains around faster at Embarcadero station, including having additional staff and supervisors at the station to make the transition smoother, but have had little to no success.
More details about the new service plan are coming soon, the agency wrote.
