Muni Metro delays sour Valentine’s Day commutes

From morning to evening, Wednesday’s commute on Valentine’s Day in the Muni Metro was not so lovely.

Around 9:30 a.m., a delay occurred at Castro Station involving a track switch, which allows trains to crossover, said Erica Kato, a spokesperson with the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.

Major #MuniMetro delays right now both IB and OB at Castro Station. Passengers leaving Forest Hill Station. #sfmuni #sfmta @sfbay pic.twitter.com/vGFg4uPCKf

— Jerold Chinn 陳景深 (@Jerold_Chinn) February 14, 2018

The issue was resolved around 10 a.m., as riders ascended to the surface for shuttle buses that never came, before returning back down to the station to continue downtown.

Subway delays persisted through noon, and eventually the N-Judah and J-Church were only running on the surface because of an issue between Van Ness and Church stations.

The SFMTA tweeted out in the afternoon that the N-Judah and J-Church would remain running above ground only for the rest Wednesday night.

Many riders frustrated with Wednesday’s Muni Metro delays, took to Twitter to express their frustration:

Even as a staunch MuniSf apologist, this is soooo Muni @Sfmta_muni pic.twitter.com/wfEtUbcgDm

— Billy Robins (@WARobins) February 15, 2018

Always dispiritting when you just want to get home and Muni looks like this pic.twitter.com/wS2IsQ9OAS

— Ron Corral (@ronny_corral) February 15, 2018

Thing is T trains are a lot smaller and come from far deeper, so they’re packed. If N’s aren’t running sending more T’s or shuttles would be helpful, I mean it’s not like it’s a holiday and people are trying to make their dinner reservations or anything

— besound (@besound) February 15, 2018

I can't believe that MUNI doesn't issue refunds on a day like this.

— Zameer Manji (@zmanji) February 14, 2018

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.