T Third Street

T Third Street

A T Third Street train crossing the Islais Creek Channel
Overview
Type Light rail
System Muni Metro
Locale San Francisco, California
Termini West Portal Station (inbound)
Embarcadero Station (outbound; continues as K Ingleside)
Sunnydale Station
Stations 30
Daily ridership 33,752 (2013; combined with K Ingleside)[1]
Operation
Opened April 7, 2007
Owner San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency
Operator(s) San Francisco Municipal Railway
Character Predominantly in street median right-of-way;
At grade & Underground
Rolling stock 151 Breda light rail vehicles
(high floor)
Technical
Track gauge 4 ft 8 12 in (1,435 mm)
(standard gauge)
Electrification Overhead lines, 600 V DC
Route diagram
Legend
Inbound: sign change from

West Portal
Forest Hill

Twin Peaks
Eureka closed
Castro

Church

|  F 

Van Ness

Civic Center Bay Area Rapid Transit

Powell Bay Area Rapid Transit

Montgomery Bay Area Rapid Transit

Embarcadero F  San Francisco Ferry Building Bay Area Rapid Transit
Outbound: sign change to
 E 
Folsom
I80 (Bay Bridge)
Brannan
2nd & King
AT&T
Park

Central Subway 2019

Caltrain

 E 

4th & King Caltrain
4th Street Bridge
Mission Rock
UCSF Mission Bay
Mariposa
20th Street
23rd Street

Metro East Yard

Marin Street
Levon Hagop Nishkian Bridge
over Islais Creek

Evans
Hudson/Innes
Kirkwood / La Salle
Oakdale/Palou
Revere/Shafter
Williams
Carroll
Gilman/Paul
Le Conte
US 101
Caltrain
Arleta
Sunnydale

Bayshore Station proposed
Caltrain

The T Third Street is a Muni Metro line in San Francisco, California. It is the first new light rail line in San Francisco in more than half a century, and the first fully accessible line in the system. It is also the first true light rail line in the mostly streetcar Muni Metro system, as it operates mostly in a street median, rather than in mixed traffic.

Testing on the line took place in summer 2006,[2] with limited service starting on January 13, 2007, and full service beginning on April 7, 2007.[3] It runs along the newly constructed light-rail tracks on Third Street and Bayshore Boulevard in the Visitacion Valley, Bayview/Hunters Point, Dogpatch, and Mission Bay neighborhoods, connecting to the existing Muni Metro system along the southern Embarcadero and below Market Street, and replaced the 15 Third bus line.

In the future, the line may be extended to Caltrain's Bayshore Station (to which it was originally planned to run) and, in the other direction, to San Francisco's Chinatown via the Central Subway project.

Route Description

Current alignment — conjoined operation with K Ingleside

Following service changes on June 30, 2007, the T Third Street and the K Ingleside lines were spliced together in the Market Street Subway tunnel,[4] resulting in a route from Balboa Park, through downtown, to Bayshore and Sunnydale. At West Portal Station, inbound K trains heading through downtown to Third Street change their signs to the T line; at Embarcadero Station, T trains heading through downtown and outbound to the Ingleside neighborhood change signs to the K line. Each train displays its ultimate destination. This system will continue in place until the Central Subway is operational.

Leaving the Market Street Subway at Ferry Portal heading south, the T Third follows The Embarcadero south of Market Street, then veers onto King Street in front of AT&T Park until it reaches the Caltrain station terminal. This portion of the Muni Metro rail line between the Embarcadero portal and the Caltrain terminal was built in 1998 and is utilized by an extension of the N Judah, which shares track with the T to the Caltrain terminal at 4th and King. From there the T turns south on Fourth Street, crossing the bridge over Mission Creek before joining Third Street for the majority of the route's length. It passes through Mission Bay where the UCSF Mission Bay branch is located, then continues on south through the Bayview and Hunters Point neighborhoods. Once both economically impoverished parts of the City, they have slowly experienced rehabilitation and rebuilding mainly helped by the new T line. At the intersection of Third and Jamestown Avenue, the T continues to run in both directions as it crosses U.S. Highway 101 (James Lick Freeway), although only Third Street is open to auto traffic northbound; likewise, southbound auto traffic is splintered to a southbound on ramp to Highway 101 and merges with San Bruno Avenue. From there the T follows Bayshore Boulevard (changed over from Third) for two more stations until it reaches its terminus at Sunnydale Station. A section of track follows one more block until stopped short at the Daly City limits.

All stations along this line feature high platforms, eliminating the need for the raising and lowering of entrance and exit steps characteristic of other Muni Metro lines. Stations south of Fourth and King feature short platforms that accommodate only two-car trains.

The T Third also uses the Muni Metro terminology in which an inbound train goes from West Portal to Embarcadero. This also means that an outbound T Third train runs from Sunnydale and out to the western neighborhoods via downtown.[5] This is the reverse of other lines, as those lines have their outer termini on the southwest and west sides of the city, and those trains enter the subway from the west going inbound toward downtown.

Future route

The future alignment will neither share right-of-way with, nor share identities with the K Ingleside, avoiding both King Street and the congested Market Street subway. The southern segment from Sunnydale to 4th and King Street will remain as-is, operating on street-level median tracks. The line will burrow to subsurface level at Bryant Street Portal, continue under Fourth Street, to Moscone/Yerba Buena Station, and then to Union Square/Market Station, before terminating at Chinatown Station. A future extension might include Washington Square Station in North Beach. Unlike the upper deck Market Street subway that can accommodate four-car LRV trains, the Central Subway station platforms will be about 250-foot (76 m) long to accommodate two-car trains.

Former route

Initially upon opening, the T Third was operated from Castro Station to Bayshore and Sunnydale. In the aftermath of the Muni Meltdown of 2007, the T Third was disallowed from operating as a distinct line, in favor of being spliced together with the K Ingleside.

Operation

The T Third operates seven days a week, beginning at 5 a.m. weekdays, 6 a.m. Saturdays and 8 a.m. Sundays, operating until 1 a.m.[6] Headways on the route range from 9 to 12 minutes during the day, and from 12 to 20 minutes at night. Late night service is provided by the 91 Owl diesel bus line on Third Street, and by the N-Owl diesel bus line on King Street, The Embarcadero and most of Market Street. There is also a T-Owl diesel bus line that runs from Market Street and Van Ness Avenue to Bayshore Boulevard and Sunnydale. This line only operates on weekend mornings, between the times owl service stops and the underground subway stations open.

Station and stop listing

outbound to inbound

Station Neighborhood Other Muni
Metro lines
Notes
West Portal West Portal Sign change from K Ingleside inbound
Forest Hill Forest Hill and Laguna Honda
Castro Street Castro
Church Street Duboce Triangle * *Connects with J Church on surface stop at 14th Street
Connects with F Market & Wharves streetcar
Van Ness Civic Center and Tenderloin Connects to F Market & Wharves
Civic Center/UN Plaza Civic Center Connects to F Market & Wharves and BART
Powell Street Financial District Connects to F Market & Wharves and BART
Montgomery Street Financial District Connects to F Market & Wharves and BART
Embarcadero Financial District Changes to K Ingleside outbound
Connects to F Market & Wharves and BART; within walking distance of E Embarcadero
Serves Ferry Building
Folsom Financial District Connects to E Embarcadero
Serves The Embarcadero
Brannan South Beach Connects to E Embarcadero
Serves The Embarcadero
2nd & King Mission Bay Connects to E Embarcadero
Serves AT&T Park
4th & King Mission Bay * Serves CalTrain; *Transfer made to E Embarcadero and N Judah via separate platform nearby
Mission Rock Mission Bay
UCSF Mission Bay (or Gene Friend Way) Mission Bay Serves the UCSF Mission Bay Campus
Mariposa Mission Bay
20th Street Mission Bay
20th Street Mission Bay
23rd Street Bayview
Marin Street Bayview
Evans Bayview
Hudson/Innes Bayview
Kirkwood/La Salle Bayview
Oakdale/Palou (Opera House) Bayview
Revere/Shafter Bayview
Williams Bayview
Carroll Bayview
Gilman/Paul Bayview Bus connection to Candlestick Park
Le Conte Bayview
Arleta Visitacion Valley
Sunnydale Visitacion Valley Inbound terminus

References

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, February 18, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.