San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) invited transportation leaders and transit advocates to take the first official trip on the southern end of the Mid-Coast Extension of the UC San Diego Blue Line.
The extension will be operated by San Diego MTS and was built by the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG). The $2.1 billion, 11-mile light-rail extension is on track to open in November.
Attendees celebrated with a ribbon cutting at the Tecolote Trolley Station and then rode the trolley north to the new Clairemont Drive and Balboa Avenue stations.
“Today’s milestone is a big step forward for our region,” said Nathan Fletcher, MTS Board chair and chair, San Diego County Board of Supervisors. “It means we are well on our way to realizing a new option for people to connect to the University area, speed their commutes and help the environment. I can’t wait for the entire line to open on Nov. 21. I also want to give a special thanks to Senator Padilla and the Federal Transit Administration. This project would not be possible without their support.”
The public can experience the same ride on Aug. 28. MTS will run trolley shuttles between the Old Town Transit Center and the Balboa Avenue Transit Center every 15 minutes during the Mid-Coast Community Celebration.
“There are so many positives to a project like Mid-Coast. It will have a transformative impact on regional transit connectivity,” said Todd Gloria, San Diego mayor and SANDAG vice chair. “Among many benefits, this trolley expansion will create better job opportunities for families, and better access to education for students. It will help our fight against climate change and at the same time boost economic activity.”
“As one of the largest undertakings in our region's history, we are extremely proud to have kept this project on-budget and on-schedule to begin service in a few short months," added SANDAG Chair and Encinitas Mayor Catherine Blakespear. "We are thrilled to invite the community to join us for a sneak preview to ride along a portion of the new trolley extension on Saturday at three of the nearly completed stations along Morena Boulevard.”
The project will expand the current trolley network to provide a one-seat ride from the U.S./Mexico border all the way north to the university community. The extension will connect the two largest employment centers in San Diego – the university area and downtown San Diego, serve UC San Diego which supports 75,000 students, faculty and staff, and provide healthcare access to the VA San Diego Healthcare System’s 84,500 Veterans.
Major construction for the 11-mile trolley extension began in 2016, and the project remains on budget and on schedule to begin service on November 21, 2021.
San Diego MTS and SANDAG want to remind people that there is no public access to the stations or the tracks until opening day on Nov. 21, 2021. Construction is still ongoing on portions of the extension and active trains will be on the tracks. Testing and training on the extension will take place for approximately three more months to ensure the system is ready to carry passengers.
To support the extra service, San Diego MTS has added 45 new trolleys built by Siemens Mobility and partially funded by TransNet, the region’s half-cent sales tax for transportation projects. San Diego MTS added 128 new positions including train operators, security, maintenance, IT and more to manage the extension.
San Diego MTS has also made significant enhancements to its bus service to align with the Trolley extension, and better-connect residents to the new trolley stations. San Diego MTS will replace two existing express routes, modify seven exiting east-west connections and implement three new routes that connect to the trolley.
