Muni readies two-car N-Judah trains, three-car next

Muni officials have begun testing three-car trains at night as evident in a new YouTube video posted by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency on Thursday.

The transit agency plans to launch a three-car train sometime in the spring but will first launch two-car trains on the N-Judah line, which serves an average of 45,000 passengers on the weekday – the transit agency’s heaviest passenger subway line.

Before two-car and three-car trains are put into service, the transit agency will need approval first from the California Public Utilities Commission.

SFMTA Director of Transportation Ed Reiskin said last month during a Feb. 2 Board of Directors meeting that the manufacturing of the new LRV4s will ramp up in March by Siemens Industry, Inc. Siemens is manufacturing the new trains in Sacramento.

The transit agency will start receiving one new train a week from Siemens, said Reiskin.

The SFMTA expects to have the first 24 trains to arrive by the summer, and to have a total of 64 trains by next year.

A total of 219 trains are part of the $1.2 billion contract with Siemens with an option of additional 45 trains.

Reiskin said:

“Starting in the summer or even before, we’ll start seeing more shuttle trains in the subway, more two-car trains where there are one-car trains, and really adding service where the demand is exceeding our current ability to meet the service.”

Jerold Chinn

Jerold serves as a reporter and San Francisco Bureau Chief for SFBay covering transportation and occasionally City Hall and the Mayor's Office in San Francisco. His work on transportation has been recognized by the San Francisco Press Club. Born and raised in San Francisco, he graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in journalism. Jerold previously wrote for the San Francisco Public Press, a nonprofit, noncommercial news organization. When not reporting, you can find Jerold taking Muni to check out new places to eat in the city.