T Third Street

Infobox rail line
name = T Third Street
color = d21245

logo_width = 100px

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image_width = 250px
caption = A T-Third Street train crossing the Islais Creek Channel
type = light rail
system = Muni Metro
status =
locale = San Francisco, California
start = West Portal Station (inbound), Embarcadero Station (outbound; continues as K Ingleside)
end = Bayshore and Sunnydale
stations = 31
routes =
ridership =
open =
close =
owner = City of San Francisco
operator = San Francisco Municipal Railway
character =
stock =
linelength =
tracklength =
notrack =
gauge =
el = overhead catenary
speed =
elevation = underground, at grade

T Third Street

The T Third Street is a Muni Metro line in San Francisco, California that operates seven days a week from 5am to 1am. [ [http://www.sfmuni.com/cms/mms/routes/tthirdsvc.htm New T-Third Service ] ] It is the first new light rail line in San Francisco in more than half a century, and the first fully accessible line in the system. It runs along the newly constructed light-rail tracks on Third Street and Bayshore Boulevard in the Visitacion Valley, Bayview/Hunters Point, Dogpatch, and Mission Bay neighborhoods, connecting to the existing Muni Metro system along the southern Embarcadero and below Market Street, and replaced the 15 Third bus line.

In the future, the line may be extended to Caltrain's Bayshore Station (to which it was originally planned to run) and, in the other direction, to San Francisco's Chinatown via the Central Subway project.

Following service changes on June 30 2007, the T Third Street and the K Ingleside lines were spliced together, though keeping their respective line designations, resulting in an upside-down horseshoe-shaped route from Balboa Park to Bayshore and Sunnydale. At West Portal Station, inbound K trains heading towards downtown change their signs to the T line; conversely, at Embarcadero Station, T trains heading into downtown change signs to the K line. The trains show the ultimate destination of the spliced lines rather than the intermediate "terminus" of the individual line.

All stations along this line feature high platforms, eliminating the need for the raising and lowering of entrance and exit steps characteristic of other Muni Metro lines. Stations listed below are in order going outbound, away from downtown. Stations south of Fourth and King feature short platforms that accommodate only two-car trains.

Late night service is provided by the 91 Owl diesel bus line on Third Street, and by the N-Owl diesel bus line on King Street, The Embarcadero and most of Market Street. There is also a T-Owl diesel bus line that runs from Market Street and Van Ness Avenue to Bayshore Boulevard and Sunnydale. This line only operates on weekend mornings, between the times owl service stops and the underground subway stations open.

Controversies

The 15 Third previously provided direct routing that covered the distance of Third Street between King and Market Streets by traveling only eight city blocks rather than the circuitous 17 city blocks that the T Third now travels. [ [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BATN/message/34547 Yahoo! Groups ] ] [ [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BATN/message/15489 Yahoo! Groups ] ] However, this would be remedied with the proposed Central Subway Project, currently in planning stages, that will bore a tunnel below the SOMA corridor of Third Street and re-serve the affected North Beach and Chinatown corridors.

References

External links

* [http://www.sfmuni.com/cms/msc/const/3rdover.htm Official project website]
* [http://www.sfmuni.com/cms/mms/routes/images/T3-NewService-Broch-map.gifMap of the line]
* [http://www.sfmta.com/cms/mmaps/documents/T.pdf Official Map of the T Line in PDF]
* [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/07/26/BAGCTK5BR51.DTL San Francisco Chronicle article about the T Third]