The Blue Line is a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) line in the San Francisco Bay Area that runs between Dublin/Pleasanton station and Daly City station. It has 18 stations in Dublin, Pleasanton, Castro Valley, San Leandro, Oakland, San Francisco, and Daly City.
B Blue Line | |||
---|---|---|---|
Overview | |||
Owner | San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District | ||
Locale | Tri-Valley, East Bay, San Francisco Peninsula | ||
Termini | |||
Stations | 18 | ||
Service | |||
Type | Rapid transit | ||
System | Bay Area Rapid Transit | ||
History | |||
Opened | May 10, 1997 | ||
Technical | |||
Line length | 35.7 mi (57.5 km) | ||
Track gauge | 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) | ||
Electrification | Third rail, 1 kV DC | ||
Operating speed | 70 mph (110 km/h)[1] | ||
|
The Blue Line shares much of its track with other BART services. The eastern segment which is unique to it is located in the median of Interstate 580, as are its three unique stations of Castro Valley, West Dublin/Pleasanton, and Dublin/Pleasanton.
History
editOf BART's five primary rapid transit services, the Blue Line was the most recent to open. Service began when the Dublin/Pleasanton extension opened on May 10, 1997.[2] The West Dublin/Pleasanton infill station was added to the line on February 19, 2011.[3]
SFO/Millbrae extension service
editWhen the SFO/Millbrae extension opened on June 22, 2003, BART extended the Blue Line to SFO. BART truncated the Blue Line back to Daly City and rerouted the Yellow Line to San Francisco International Airport in its place on February 9, 2004. San Mateo County is not a member of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District, so SamTrans funded the county's BART service. When the extension's lower-than-expected ridership caused SamTrans to accrue deficits, BART agreed to SamTrans' request to operate only this line south of Daly City effective September 12, 2005.
SamTrans and BART reached an agreement in February 2007 in which SamTrans would transfer control and financial responsibility of the SFO/Millbrae extension to BART, in return for BART receiving additional fixed funding from SamTrans and other sources.[4] BART has since again increased service south of Daly City, but this line now terminates at Daly City.
Date of change | Service pattern |
---|---|
June 22, 2003 | Daly City–SFO[5] |
February 9, 2004 | none[6] |
September 12, 2005 | Daly City–SFO/Millbrae[7] |
January 1, 2008 | Daly City–Millbrae (evenings/weekends)[8] |
September 14, 2009 | none[9] |
2019–2022 changes
editOn February 11, 2019, the Blue Line began operating between MacArthur station and Dublin/Pleasanton station on Sundays. The change was to allow single-tracking in the Market Street subway during electrical work, with only the Yellow Line running through the Transbay Tube to serve San Francisco.[10]
Sunday service to San Francisco and Daly City resumed on February 16, 2020. From February 16, 2020 to September 13, 2020, and again from March 22, 2021 to August 1, 2021, trains terminated at Montgomery station during single-tracking work.[11][12] From September 14, 2020 to March 21, 2021, and again from August 2, 2021 onwards, trains terminate at 24th Street Mission during single-tracking work.[13][14]
Stations
editStation | Jurisdiction | County | Opened | Other BART lines |
---|---|---|---|---|
Dublin/Pleasanton | Dublin / Pleasanton | Alameda | May 10, 1997 | |
West Dublin/Pleasanton | February 19, 2011 | |||
Castro Valley | Castro Valley | May 10, 1997 | ||
Bay Fair | San Leandro | September 11, 1972 | G Green Line O Orange Line | |
San Leandro | ||||
Coliseum | Oakland | OAK Oakland Airport Connector G Green Line O Orange Line | ||
Fruitvale | G Green Line O Orange Line | |||
Lake Merritt | ||||
West Oakland | September 16, 1974 | G Green Line R Red Line Y Yellow Line | ||
Embarcadero | San Francisco | May 27, 1976 | ||
Montgomery Street | November 5, 1973 | |||
Powell Street | ||||
Civic Center/UN Plaza | ||||
16th Street Mission | ||||
24th Street Mission | ||||
Glen Park | ||||
Balboa Park | ||||
Daly City | Daly City | San Mateo |
References
edit- ^ "BART Sustainable Communities Operations Analysis" (PDF). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
- ^ "BART Chronology January 1947 – March 2009" (PDF). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. March 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 13, 2013.
- ^ "Ceremony to commemorate new West Dublin/Pleasanton Station planned for Feb. 18". Bay Area Rapid Transit. January 28, 2011. Retrieved April 9, 2013.
- ^ "BART-SFO Settlement Agreement and Release of Claims" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Commission. February 14, 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 12, 2009.
- ^ Cabanatuan, Michael (April 18, 2003). "BART to link to SFO June 22 / After many delays, latest date is firm, transit officials say". San Francisco Chronicle.
- ^ Cabanatuan, Michael (February 7, 2004). "BART changing schedule so more go to SFO / Peninsula ridership below expectations, needs a boost". San Francisco Chronicle.
- ^ Murphy, Dave (August 11, 2005). "PENINSULA / BART to airport to be cut / Weekend trains to be kept on Peninsula". San Francisco Chronicle.
- ^ Gordon, Rachel (December 9, 2007). "BART to raise fares, increase train frequency starting Jan. 1". San Francisco Chronicle.
- ^ "Off-peak service reductions began Monday, September 14th" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. September 15, 2009.
- ^ "February 11 schedule change impacts weekdays and Sundays" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. January 15, 2019.
- ^ "New Sunday service plan to begin in February" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. November 25, 2019.
- ^ "BART schedule change begins March 22, 2021" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. March 16, 2021.
- ^ "BART schedule change beginning Sept 14th increases weekday commute service" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. September 8, 2020.
- ^ "BART returns to near-regular service starting 8/2/21 | bart.gov". www.bart.gov. Retrieved February 18, 2022.