San Francisco’s first north-south subway opened last weekend, extending service on Muni’s T light rail line.
San Francisco’s Central Subway, under construction for a decade and planned for four decades, finally opened to the public over the weekend.
“The subway cuts through the most densely populated parts of San Francisco and carries particular importance for the city’s Chinatown neighborhood, whose residents hope it will spur an economic revival,” according to an article by Ricardo Cano for the San Francisco Chronicle.
The first Central Subway train left Chinatown at 8 am on Saturday, and the Municipal Transportation Agency (Muni) is operating limited weekend service through the first week of January, according to the article. “When it opens for full service on Jan. 7, the T line will take riders from Bayview-Hunters Point to Chinatown via the city’s first north-south subway and connect riders to BART, Caltrain and Muni’s other light-rail lines on Market Street,” writes Cano.
More details on the long past and the potential future of the subway are available from a separate article by Cano and J.D. Morris published a few days before the opening.
The subway opens four years behind schedule and 20 percent over budget, attracting stinging criticism right up until opening day.
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