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SFMTA Announces Opening Schedule of the Central Subway Project
Tuesday, September 20, 2022

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency today announced the opening schedule for the highly anticipated Central Subway project. Starting November 19th, the Central Subway will open with dedicated shuttle service on weekends between 4th and Brannan Station to Chinatown/Rose Pak Station, stopping along the way at Yerba Buena and Union Square where passengers can make transfers to BART and our Market Street subway. Service specifically on this weekend shuttle for the Central Subway will be free in November and December. This soft launch will allow for additional operator training of the brand new system, while allowing the public to experience the system in service. In January, we will transition to daily service, connecting directly to the rest of the T-Third Line.

“The November opening represents a promise fulfilled to the Chinatown community to provide better local and regional transit connections,” said Rafael Mandelman, Chair of the San Francisco County Transportation Authority and District 8 Supervisor. “The Transportation Authority was glad to support the project with $215 million from various sources, including the half-cent sales tax program. We hope to renew the half-cent sales tax program with approval of Measure L this November so that we can fund the city’s next generation of transformational projects.”

In celebration of the soft launch, the SFMTA will be hosting community station activations during October and early November at 4th and Brannan, Yerba Buena/Moscone, Union Square/Market Street and Chinatown/Rose Pak stations. The community celebrations are by invite-only and a “Thank You” to all the neighbors we have partnered with from the start of the project.

“I am thrilled to announce the opening schedule for the Central Subway. We are finally going to be able to experience the vision of thriving, connected neighborhoods—from Chinatown to SoMa to the Bayview and Visitacion Valley—that the people who first conceived of the Central Subway imagined,” said Jeffrey Tumlin, SFMTA Director of Transportation. “I know this announcement has been a long time coming, and I want to thank the community members and neighborhood businesses that have endured far too many years of construction. I hope the opening of the Central Subway will help jumpstart the economic recovery of our city’s downtown as well as its unique neighborhoods.”

The full opening of the Central Subway system will debut in January 2023 in time for Lunar New Year celebrations—connecting thousands to both celebrate and support San Francisco’s Chinatown.

https://www.sfmta.com/press-releases...subway-project