Muni metro

San Francisco is one of the few cities in the United States in which the tram systems of the first generation (which appeared at the end of the 19th century) have survived. The first steam tram in San Francisco appeared in 1860 . Soon horse trams began to operate. In 1891, the first electric tram line was opened in San Francisco. After the earthquake of 1906, many cable tram lines were electrified during the restoration.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Market Street had the most intensive tram traffic in the world. Four tram tracks were laid along it, along which the trams of two competing firms, the Municipal Railway and the Market Street Railway, ran in both directions. Each company owned two ways.

In the fifties and sixties, many tram lines were closed and replaced by buses in San Francisco, but the route of the five lines partially passed through tunnels (Twin Peaks tunnel: 3.6 km, opened on February 3, 1918; Sunset-tunnel: 1.3 km , opened on October 21, 1928) and dedicated routes, in connection with which they were quite difficult to convert into bus routes. These lines are preserved. Until the seventies, they used old PCC trams ^[1] .

From the historic to the modern tram

In the seventies, under the Market street, a two-tier tunnel was built. In the very early stages of the project, it was planned that both tiers would be used by the Bay Area Rapid Transit system (which is a kind of combination of subway and commuter train ), while the lower tier was intended for faster, commuter Bay Area Rapid Transit trains, and the upper trains metro network BART . However, the plans soon changed, and it was decided that the BART trains would use only the lower level of the tunnel, and the BART system within the city would be limited to one line. Due to the use of the system of automatic movement of trains on this line, the maximum speed is realized up to 128 km / h ^[2] . The upper level of the tunnel was now to be used for the movement of trams. In addition, the length of the BART system lines was reduced due to political disagreements with Marin County (north of San Francisco).

Since the tunnel was built with high platforms, it was impossible to use old PCC wagons in it. Therefore, the San Francisco Municipal Railway has completely updated the San Francisco tram rolling stock. Although the tunnel was completed by 1978, the trams began to walk along it only in February 1980 , when new trams of the US Standard Light Rail Vehicle type were finally put into the city. From that moment on, the tram system was officially called the Muni Metro. Gradually, by November 1982, the route of all five lines began to partially pass through the tunnel ^[1] .

From 1996 to 2003, 148 articulated trams were manufactured by Breda, Italy, which were gradually being replaced by the US Standard Light Rail Vehicle, which was not technically successful. However, the Breda trams were also rather unfortunate (see below the “criticism” section).

System Expansion

As mentioned above, in the sixties, the San Francisco tram system was significantly reduced. After that, for many years, the length of the network has not changed. Since the end of the 20th century, the Muni Metro network has begun to grow again.

In 1995, the historic F tram line was reopened on Market Street. On the line, RCC trams were used. The full land line became very popular and was extended in 1998 to the Fisherman's Wharf area. At the same time Milan trams of the Peter Witt type were purchased. On the line "F" are also used single copies of trams from San Francisco, New Orleans, Blackpool, Melbourne, etc.

In 1998, the N line was extended four stops from the Embarcadero stop to the new Giants team baseball stadium and Caltrain suburban train station , where the transcontinental railway ended in the 19th century.

This extension, despite its short length, was important for two reasons: first, it connected Caltrain station with the San Francisco rail public transport system, and secondly, it was of psychological importance, since for the first time in decades the tram system began to grow. In the future, it is planned to use this piece of paths for the second historical line E, which stretches from Caltrain to Fisherman's Wharf .

At the end of 2006, the construction of the new line Muni Metro, T Third Street was completed. This line passes through the former industrial areas where new housing is now being built, as well as through some depressed areas of the city. It is believed that the tramline will help improve the situation in these areas.

Line T Third Street has nineteen stops, all equipped with high platforms. Since January 13, 2007 , the T Third Street line has been operated only on weekends in a non-commercial mode. Full operation began on April 7, 2007 ^[3] .

In the future, the construction of the Central Subway underground tramline is planned, which will continue the T line to the center. At the same time, the new subway will cross Market Street at an angle of 90 degrees and will pass under the lower level of BART ^[4] .

Lines (routes)

The Muni Metro system consists of 7 lines (routes).

• F Market (land line, not shown)
• J Church (orange)
• K Ingleside (blue)
• L Taraval (purple)
• M Ocean View (green)
• N Judah (blue)
• T Third Street (red, trial operation of this line began on January 13, 2007, full operation began on April 7, 2007 ^[5] )

All lines except the F line go through the Market Street tunnel.

Line F runs along Market Street from Castro Street to Embarcadero, then along Embarcadero to Fisherman's Wharf.

Lines J, K, L, M and N begin in the western and southwestern part of the city. These lines basically have a combined track. Their stops are usually located at the intersections of streets. Some stops are equipped with high platforms. In the center of the city, the route of these lines runs mostly along selected lanes, irrespective of car traffic.

Three lines, K, L and M, enter the Market Street tunnel at its southwestern tip, the so-called southwestern portal. Their final stop (Embarcadero) is located at the opposite end of this tunnel.

Lines J and N enter the Market Street tunnel at its southwestern tip, through a portal located next to Church Street and Duboce Avenue.

Lines N and T, passing through the Market Street tunnel, come to the surface through the northeast portal of the tunnel. Coming out of the tunnel in the northeast, the N line goes to Caltrain station, the T line goes further south, to the county border in the area of ​​Bayshore Boulevard.

During peak hours, the J route is also extended from the Embarcadero underground terminus at the northeast end of the tunnel and goes to Caltrain station.

There was also a line (route) S, which ran entirely in the Market Street tunnel. This route was canceled after the start of full-scale operation of the T line from April 7, 2007.

When departing and arriving at the depot, trams on line F use the land part of line J.

Tunnels

The Muni Metro system has three tunnels . Market Street Subway is a major network hub. As the name implies, it is laid under Market Street, its length is 5.7 km. The tunnel is two-tiered, the lower tier is used by the BART subway, and all the lines (routes) of the tram pass through the upper tier. The construction of this tunnel was completed by 1978. It has seven underground stops (stations).

Through the Twin-pix tunnel (Twin Peaks Tunnel) pass lines (routes) K, L and M. This tunnel was opened on February 3, 1918. Its length is 3.2 km. Initially, the tunnel had two stops, Forest Hill Station near the eastern end of the tunnel and Eureka Station near the western tip, but later Eureka Station was closed and replaced by the semi-underground station West Portal Station, located close to the western portal of the tunnel. During the construction of a tunnel under Market Street, Forest Hill Station was closed, the level of its platforms was raised, and new elevators were installed. Until 2007, there were 2 wires in the tunnel: one for current collection using a pantograph , the other for current collection using a rod (In San Francisco, all trams made before 1978 use rods). After updating the contact network, the second wire was removed.

Sunset tunnel is used by line N. It was opened on October 21, 1928. The length of this tunnel is 1.2 km.

Stations

In the tunnel under Market Street there are seven underground three-level stops (stations), four of which are connecting stations between the Muni tram and the BART metro.

Ceiling coating stations - noise-absorbing ribbed grating , the walls are covered with porous ceramics or painted concrete ; the floor is made of solid concrete. Rough ceramic tiles laid on the edge of the platforms; This tile helps not to slip passengers . Several stations also have elevators .

Before the opening of the tunnel under Market Street in San Francisco , PCC streetcars were used . In 1980 , they were replaced by US Standard Light Rail Vehicle (abbreviated as LRV) trams manufactured by Boeing . These trams were delivered to San Francisco and Boston . US Standard Light Rail Vehicle turned out to be technically unsuccessful trams, and already in 1995 (that is, only 15 years after the start of operation, although usually the trams serve 20-30 years) they began to be replaced by trams manufactured by the Italian company Breda .

In San Francisco, Italian trams received the designation LRV2. In 2001, the last US Standard Light Rail Vehicle was replaced by Breda trams.

In San Francisco, about one hundred and thirty US Standard Light Rail Vehicles were used, thirty of them were originally intended for Boston , but Boston refused to use them due to frequent breakdowns.

The US Standard Light Rail Vehicle was replaced by 148 Breda articulated trams, more reliable than the US Standard Light Rail Vehicle, although by the end of 2006 five Breda trams had already been written off.

Since the Muni Metro system has stops with both high and low platforms, all trams are equipped with a special retractable step mechanism, which ascends to stations with high platforms and at the entrance to the tunnel, and descends at the exit.

Muni Metro is open from approximately five in the morning until one in the morning on weekdays; on Saturday and Sunday, the system starts working later, at seven and eight in the morning, respectively. This is due to the fact that the station, together with BART, serves BART, and BART starts operation at the time indicated above due to the presence of a night window, which is used to support paths ^[6] .

At night, most of the lines L and N run by buses, the routes of which are also designated L and N. During the Metro Improvement Project , the movement of trams on lines K, L, and M between Castro and West Portal stops on weekdays ended at nine in the evening and replaced by buses that worked until one o'clock ^[7] .

The standard fare for Muni Metro is the same as for Muni buses, namely $ 1.50 ^[8] . After paying the fare, the passenger receives a ticket with which he can ride any bus, historic electric or modern tram for ninety minutes. Payment methods vary depending on where the passenger takes the tram. On the land plots in the southern and western parts of the city, the passenger pays the driver a fare, entering the tram through the front door. Those who already have a ticket or use a pass can enter the tram through any door. At the underground stations are used turnstiles . At the ground stations with high platforms installed ticket vending machines , at such stops, passengers are required to purchase a ticket before they take the tram. Passengers must keep the tickets until the end of the trip, since control can be exercised at any time.

Passengers can change from the Muni Metro trams to Muni buses and vice versa, as well as to the historic electric trams of the F line, however, when transferring, passengers are required to enter the bus or the historic tram through the front door. At Powell and Embarcadero stops, passengers can also transfer to the historic cable tram, for which ordinary one-time tickets are not valid.

The four underground stations of the Muni Metro are interchange stations between the Muni Metro and the BART Metro. Also, several Muni Metro ground stops are located next to the Glen Park and Balboa Park BART stations. However, Muni Metro and BART are operated by different organizations and use different systems, so Muni tickets on the metro do not work, and when transferring passengers must buy metro tickets. Monthly Muni tickets are valid for BART and BART sells a certain half-month travel card, BART Plus, which is valid for other transport companies in the region. BART Plus is valid for BART only as a card for a certain amount.

The Muni Metro system has repeatedly become the object of criticism.

Strong complaints were caused by the Breda trams. They were more expensive than expected. It was planned that each tram will cost 2.2 million dollars, but in the end the price increased to three million dollars ^{[9] [10]} . Moreover, these trams were too big, heavy and noisy. Some property owners sued the city due to the fact that, in their opinion, too heavy trams destroyed the foundations of houses ^[11] .

Due to the large (compared to the Boeing trams) dimensions, the switch to the Breda trams caused additional costs associated with the refurbishment of the depot and underground stations ^[10] . It also turned out to be impossible to operate these trams in systems of three or more cars, since during such operation trams cannot communicate with each other. The Breda trams were so noisy that the city budget allocated an additional $ 15 million for measures to reduce their noise. However, there are calculations, according to which, in order to reduce the noise level of each tram to acceptable volumes, one will have to spend a million dollars ^[12] . Despite the measures taken, the Breda trams are still noisy more than PCC and Boeing trams. Safety of trams also causes concern. In 1998, the maximum speed was reduced from fifty miles per hour to thirty miles per hour due to insufficient brake reliability ^{[13] [14]} .

Another object of criticism is the alarm and blocking system . At the beginning of use, the system repeatedly failed, which was expressed, for example, in the fact that trams were heading on the wrong path. More often, the emergency braking system was turned on unnecessarily ^[15] . The peak of the problems came in 1998. Then two reporters from the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper conducted the following experiment: one went on foot and the other took the tram through the tunnel. As a result, the pedestrian arrived at the finish line first.

Problems with blocking are not solved completely until now. They again became frequent after the introduction of the new T Third Street route in April 2007. In addition, at the moment, judging by the schedule, the system should pass more than 40 couplings per hour. Technically, the system can miss 36 pairs per hour. In addition, tram drivers are not in a hurry to deploy trams at the Embarcadero end station, which also leads to significant delays.

• San Francisco Cable Car

• Herman van 't Hoogerhuijs, Marco Moerland, Bas Schenk. Trams 1990 Publishing house de ALK, the Netherlands, ISBN 90-6013-862-7
• BA Svhenk, MR Van Den Toorn. Trams 2007. Publishing house de ALK, the Netherlands, ISBN 90-6013-466-4

• Official site
• Information about the new line T on the official website