San Francisco's New Light Rail Line Runs Into Trouble

The start of regular service on the city's new light rail line creates major delays for the entire transit system.

1 minute read

April 13, 2007, 7:00 AM PDT

By Christian Madera @http://www.twitter.com/cpmadera

"A cascade of problems related to the opening of a new San Francisco streetcar line this week has stalled commutes throughout the Municipal Railway system and angered passengers who often have had to wait 30 minutes or more for a train.

Mechanical breakdowns, power failures and streetcar bottlenecks inside the Market Street subway tunnel and near the South of Market Caltrain station -- while train operators and passengers are still getting used to recent route changes -- have resulted in maddening delays.

'This is a customer relations disaster,' said R. Paul Herman, 38, a business consultant who lives in Potrero Hill and works in the Financial District.

He said he waited more than half an hour at a crowded streetcar stop Wednesday morning for a T-Third train to show up. The cars are scheduled to run every eight minutes."

FULL STORY: PASSENGERS LEFT IN LURCH BY T-THIRD'S ROUGH START

Thursday, April 12, 2007 in The San Francisco Chronicle

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