Muni Metro to shut subway early for track work starting Thursday night

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency will close Muni Metro service early each night starting Thursday through April 24 as part of the agency’s effort in keeping the subway in top shape.

During the closure, subway passengers between the hours of 9:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. on weekdays, 8 a.m. on the weekends, will need to take KLM shuttle buses. The shuttle buses will serve subway stops from Third Street and Mission Rock to St. Francis Circle. On game days at Chase Center in the evenings, subway service will remain running, the agency said.

The SFMTA said there will be train service on the street-level during the hours of the subway closure.

• K-Ingleside from Balboa Park to St. Francis Circle
• M-Ocean View from Balboa Park to West Portal
• N-Judah from Ocean Beach to Church Street and Duboce Avenue
• J-Church from Balboa Park to Church Street and Duboce Avenue
• T-Third from Sunnydale to Third Street and Mission Rock

SFMTA Director of Transportation Jeffrey Tumlin said last week at the agency’s board meeting that he wants start doing overnight subway work quarterly, adding;

What this gives us is about a maintenance window that’s nearly three times longer than we normally had, allowing us to get a lot more work done.”

Tumlin said crews will be focused on doing work on the traction power system, track, signal system and fire and life safety systems.

The agency’s Director of Transit Julie Kirschbaum plans to return at a future board meeting to update directors on the progress of the maintenance work and the work being specifically done inside the old subway.

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.