Commuters angry after San Francisco light rail tracks blocked twice in one day
- Commuter Chaos
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- September 30, 2018
COMMUTER CHAOS: Light rail riders in San Francisco were hit with two separate incidents that blocked light rail tracks, both during the morning rush hour, causing shutdowns on the tracks and significant delays.
Incident 1: At 8:30 AM, SF Muni’s Twitter account reported that the busy “N Judah” LRT line was disrupted by a motor coach that got disabled on top of the tracks, stopping service at the peak of the morning rush. The stalled coach bus was not cleared until one hour later.
Incident 2: At the same time (9:30 AM), just as the previous incident had cleared, a train on the “T Third” line was involved in a collision with an SF Muni bus, which made a left turn in front of a moving train. As a result, two light rail operators and two passengers were injured. Light rail service was replaced by shuttle buses and disrupted for well over an hour before being restored at 10:40 AM.
The incidents drew the ire of several delayed MUNI light rail passengers on social media, with some passengers reporting regular delays throughout the week and waits of over 45 minutes for trains.[1]
One passenger, who gave up on taking the train altogether, demanded that MUNI refund their Uber fare.[2]
@sfmta_muni 30min wait for OB #NJudah during rush hour is ridiculous. 5 of every other train have gone by Embarcadero. You should have switched one to an N train, done an N switchback, or let riders know about delay. WTF is going on????
— Gina B (@jigglesfrog) September 29, 2018
This is the third delay on the N this morning alone!!
— Moxxxie (@missmoxxxie) September 28, 2018
Future Surrey LRT could be plagued by frequent delays
Once again, this incident highlights a major, fundamental flaw of the proposed street-running light rail system endorsed by TransLink, the Regional Mayors’ Council, and the City of Surrey. The proposed Surrey Light Rail Transit system will run at street level on segments of 104th Avenue, King George Boulevard and Fraser Highway.
Light rail trains can be blocked at any time by vehicles that become stuck on the tracks or get hit by other trains. Light rail trains can also be blocked by protests, as was seen in San Francisco when N-Judah line trains were blocked in 2012.[3]
SkyTrain for Surrey has called for the cancellation of the Surrey-Newton-Guildford LRT project, the conversion of the Surrey-Langley LRT into a SkyTrain extension of the Expo Line, and for Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) on King George Boulevard and 104 Avenue (instead of an LRT).
Footnotes
- Gina B (@jigglesfrog) on Twitter[↩]
- Bob Wu (@bobwu22) on Twitter — Original text: “@LondonBreed – will I be reimbursed for my $20 surge priced Uber trip? Fire Ed Reskin. Now. His inability to enact required infrasturucture improvements and overall incompetence begs for new leadership. This stalled train was the first after another stall. We’re going nowhere.”[↩]
- Stan Bunker – @BungerKCBSRadio on Twitter[↩]
Pictured in header: Incident at San Francisco – MUNI Metro Light Rail
Commuter Chaos
SkyTrain for Surrey is a BC-based community organization that has advocated for the expansion of the Vancouver SkyTrain system, including our successful advocacy for the under-construction Surrey Langley SkyTrain extension.
Commuter Chaos stories are our documentation of the inevitable outcome of choosing an LRT system, especially when it is chosen in place of a SkyTrain or a grade-separated metro.
Media Contact: Daryl Dela Cruz – Founder, SkyTrain for Surrey ・ Phone: +1 604 329 3529, [email protected]
