In mid-January, the SFMTA suggested that N-Judah would finally return to service this month or next. But not. Now it looks like May.
Some Muni light metro services came to life in December and January, but only parts of the lines that pass above the ground – including J-Church, which will no longer be going underground and ends at Church and Duboce. And, for the last time, we heard that more trains would start running in February or March. But now the Chronicle reports via a slideshow on traffic performance that is scheduled to be presented to the SFMTA Board of Directors on Tuesday that “May” is the new deadline projected for the return of the subway service to lines N-Judá and T-Terceira, with no specific date provided and no dates for the return of the K, L or M trains as well.
What is delaying the return of the subway train service appears to be mainly maintenance projects, including the “rail straightening” work that has not started and will take eight weeks to complete, according to traffic director Julie Kirschbaum at presentation. A variety of projects were completed in the train tunnels while the trains were not operating, including installing a new wifi system, removing an outdated signaling system and replacing the entire metal splicing system – connectors between the suspended power lines – which followed the discovery of a batch of defective seams that were breaking last August, hours after the metro service returned for the first time in five months.
The other major project that Muni did not know he would have to deal with, the result of a mistake made by employees and contractors, was the replacement of the ballast rock under the tracks in the Twin Peaks tunnel that should have been done as part of an earlier project two years. This project has also been completed, according to the presentation.
The project to replace “exchange machines” in the entire system is still open. “Each switch machine requires its own individual installation project,” says the presentation. “Maintenance engineering is working on prototyping to make design and installation faster.”
If and when the N-Judah and T-Third lines return in May, the report suggests that the T will end at the West Portal station.
Under the newly reconfigured light rail system, the M and T will function as a tandem line – with trains operating on Route T towards the entrance to Third Street and the exit M route to Balboa Park. OJ remains above ground and ends at Duboce, and the old routes K and L become a single line that also remains above ground, traveling between Taraval and Balboa Park. K and L passengers wishing to reach the city center will have to transfer to the T or S-Shuttle trains at Portal Oeste.
But it’s more like San Francisco won’t see how this setup works in practice until the summer.
According to Kirschbaum’s presentation, a consultant is being hired to “analyze emerging service standards and advise on a restoration approach”. In addition, she says, the “pace of service restoration” depends on more federal stimulus funds reaching SF.
Previously: Muni Brings Back the T-Third Train, Some Buses This Weekend; N-Judah may return in February
Photo: Matt Baume