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138-624: Muni Metro is a semi-metro system (form of light rail ) serving San Francisco , California, United States. Operated by the San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni), a part of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), Muni's light rail lines saw an average of 87,000 boardings per day as of the third quarter of 2024 and a total of 24,324,600 boardings in 2023, making it the sixth-busiest light rail system in

276-732: A CPUC regulatory inspection in early November 2017 and car #2006 was the first LRV to enter revenue service on November 17, 2017, following a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Duboce and Church . The first 68 cars were used to expand the Muni fleet to 219 cars and once the fleet reached that total in October 2019, Breda cars would be retired as new Siemens cars are accepted. It is expected that deliveries of cars will continue through 2028. Muni Metro runs from approximately 5 am to 1 am weekdays, with later start times of 7 am on Saturday and 8 am on Sunday. Owl service , or late-night service,

414-552: A Free Muni for Seniors program that provides low- and moderate-income seniors residing in San Francisco free access to all Muni transit services, including Muni's cable cars. Free Muni is open to all San Francisco senior Clipper card holders, ages 65 and over, with a gross annual family income at or below 100 percent of the Bay Area median income level (qualifying income levels are posted on the program's web page). Enrollment

552-440: A $ 212 million design and procurement contract and a $ 114 million ten-year support contract with Hitachi Rail in October 2024. The Muni Metro system consists of 71.5 miles (115.1 km) of standard gauge track, seven light rail lines (six regular lines and one peak-hour line), three tunnels, 12 subway stations, 25 surface stations, and 87 surface stops. The backbone of the system is formed by two interconnected subway tunnels,

690-539: A batch of 25 for the San Francisco Municipal Railway , manufactured by St. Louis and delivered in 1951–2. A total of 4,586 PCC cars were purchased by United States transit companies: 1,057 by Pullman Standard and 3,534 by St. Louis. Most transit companies purchased one type, but Chicago, Baltimore, Cleveland, and Shaker Heights ordered from both. The Baltimore Transit Co. (BTC) considered the Pullman cars of superior construction and easier to work on. The St. Louis cars had

828-482: A better coverage in suburban areas (from busses and trams). The term semi-metro falls under the umbrella term light rail , which includes many kinds of modern tram transport. Semi-metro is in itself a container concept in which premetro and Stadtbahn fall. Although cheaper than a metro line, the construction of infrastructure for semi-metro routes was often still too expensive. Therefore sections were sometimes not constructed or realised in phases. The entanglement with

966-425: A circle. An arm rotating in the circle center had rollers on either end which cut out field resistance to increase speed as it was rotated a total of approximately 180 degrees rotation. This same accelerator also was used for dynamic braking ; when the accelerator pedal was released, the resistance wheel sought optimum braking for the speed, which prevented a lag when the brake pedal was depressed. Westinghouse's design

1104-722: A combination of economics and a desire to help revive the Girard Avenue corridor with a more "romantic" vehicle led to the agency restoring the old vehicles for about half the cost of new cars. SEPTA uses Kawasaki vehicles on the rest of its trolley lines, including the Subway-Surface Green Line linking West Philadelphia with Center City and its 69th Street Transportation Center with the western suburbs of Media and Sharon Hill via light rail routes 101 and 102 . San Diego ; started 2011; number in service: 2. San Diego Trolley currently uses 2 PCCs and

1242-712: A competitive design—the Brilliner —to market in 1938. Because Raymond Loewy designed elements that were very similar to the PCC look, the Brilliner attracted no large orders, being built only for Atlantic City Transit and the Red Arrow Lines in suburban Philadelphia. Fewer than 50 were sold. A significant contribution to the PCC design was noise reduction with extensive use of rubber in springs and other components to prevent rattle, vibration, and thus noise and to provide

1380-467: A fleet of 151 Breda high-floor light rail vehicles (LRVs), which are currently being replaced by a fleet of 249 Siemens S200 LRVs. The system has 117 stations , of which 63 (54%) are accessible . Muni Metro is one of the surviving first-generation streetcar systems in North America . The San Francisco Municipal Railway was created in 1909 and opened its first streetcar lines in 1912. Five of

1518-820: A group of cars on October 1, 1936, followed by CSL on November 13, 1936. Production continued in North America by St. Louis Car Co. and Pullman Standard until 1952, with 4,978 units being built. Under license to use the designs patented by TRC, thousands more PCC and partially PCC type cars were produced in Europe through the last half of the 20th century. The cars were well built, and many hundreds are still in operation. The majority of large North American streetcar systems surviving after 1935 purchased PCC streetcars. The systems which eventually terminated streetcar operations often sold their cars to surviving operators. The Melbourne & Metropolitan Tramways Board (MMTB) in Australia

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1656-439: A length of 46 ft 5 in (14.1 m). Other body differences were a recessed windshield and wider doors. There were far fewer variations of this style, width being the most common. Most double ended cars, at 50 ft 5 in (15.4 m) long by 9 ft (270 cm) wide, were larger than standard, with different door arrangements. Only Dallas ordered standard size double ended cars. All double ended cars retained

1794-418: A level of comfort unknown before. Wheel tires were mounted between rubber sandwiches and were electrically isolated so that shunts were required to complete a ground. Resilient wheels were used on most PCC cars, with later heftier versions known as "Super-Resilient". Gears were another source of considerable noise, solved by employing hypoid gears which are mounted at a right angle to the axle, where three of

1932-463: A long way towards resolving persistent crowding and scheduling issues. Nonetheless, Muni remains one of the slowest urban transport systems in the United States. In 1980, the M Ocean View was extended from Broad Street and Plymouth Avenue to its current terminus at Balboa Park . In 1991, the J Church was extended from Church and 30th Streets to its current terminus at Balboa Park. In 1998,

2070-401: A lower speed limit of 30 mph (48 km/h), down from 50 mph (80 km/h), because the brakes were problematic. The ATC system was plagued by numerous glitches when first implemented, initially causing significantly more harm than good. Common occurrences included sending trains down the wrong tracks, and, more often, inappropriately applying emergency braking. Eventually the result

2208-435: A maximum deceleration of 9 mph /s (14 km/h). Compared to a maximum of 14 points on older equipment, the PCC was considerably smoother. Most PCCs employed three pedals with a dead man's switch to the left, brake in center, and power pedal on the right. Depressing the brake about half-way and then releasing the deadman pedal put the PCC in "park". Lifting the deadman alone would apply all brakes, drop sand, and balance

2346-411: A more aesthetically pleasing design with a more rounded front and rear, compound-curved skirt cut-outs, and other design frills. When a wire is placed in a magnetic field and an electric current is passed through it, the wire will move. If this wire is wrapped on a spool and placed in a magnetic field with an electric current passed through it, the spool (rotor) will rotate, creating an electric motor. If

2484-420: A multi-year reconstruction on the surface section of the line until it resumed train service on September 28, 2024. Service only ran until 9pm until October 2, 2021, when it was extended to 10pm on Sundays and midnight on other days to better align with BART's late-night service. J Church service resumed subway service on February 19, 2022. Several further expansions have been proposed. SFMTA has studied extending

2622-422: A new train control system that utilizes communications-based train control and infrastructure improvements that would enable longer trains to run in the subway and on some surface lines with greater reliability. As of 2024, the train control system replacement was in the planning stages with a pilot implementation planned in 2025 and with the entire upgrade estimated to be completed in 2029. The SFMTA board approved

2760-464: A professional driver is to cover the brake at all times). The left pedal applied the power and the heel interlock had to be engaged at all times since it was the deadman; only when the brake was in "park" could the deadman be disengaged. St. Louis is unique in that all 300 of their PCCs are All-Electric with the 1500s ordered in late 1939, the 1600s ordered late 1940s and the 1700s in January 1945. SLPS

2898-522: A result, these lines, running PCC streetcars , continued in operation. Original plans for the BART system drawn up in the 1950s envisioned a double-decked subway tunnel under Market Street (known as the Market Street subway) in downtown San Francisco; the lower deck would be dedicated to express trains, while the upper would be served by local trains whose routes would spread south and west through

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3036-547: A short section of track and 4000 is used for rides in rotation with others streetcars in their collection. Most PCC-based systems were dismantled in the post-war period in favor of bus-based transit networks. Of the rail transit systems that survived this period, most had replaced their PCCs with modern light rail vehicles (LRVs) by the early 1980s. Beginning in the late 1990s, several cities began to make use of historic PCCs to serve historic streetcar lines that combined aspects of tourist attractions and transit. This table lists

3174-429: A sloped windshield to eliminate nighttime glare, redesigned back end, forced-air ventilation, and other features. Dynamic brakes were the service brake on all PCCs; when almost stopped, friction brakes completed the stop and held the car in "park". Dynamic brakes slowed the "Air" cars to 3 mph (4.8 km/h) at which point a lock-out relay allowed automatic application of air-applied friction brakes against each of

3312-607: A speed of 50 mph (80 km/h), adequate for their system. When Clark stopped building railroad equipment in 1952 PCC trucks were no longer available, Boston and Cleveland then used non PCC trucks with 28 in (710 mm) wheels. Chicago ordered the first of 770 (720 + 50 double-ended) 6000-series cars in 1948 (before the standard, which they influenced), Boston (40, then later 100) in 1950, and Cleveland (70 + 18 double-ended) in 1952. Chicago's first 200 cars were entirely new, but in 1953 they started using components salvaged from new, but no longer needed, streetcars. Toronto, on

3450-591: A standalone Geary subway line, such as in the 2017 20-year Capital Plan, and the planning effort started in 2014 (called the Muni Subway Expansion Project) to extend the M Ocean View in a fully grade-separated right-of-way to better serve the 19th Avenue corridor that had begun preliminary engineering studies in 2018. The ConnectSF report also identified the need to modernize the Muni Metro system. Key improvements that are planned include

3588-426: A streetcar station was opened in 1870. Streetcars continued to run until 1935, and the tunnel was reopened as a road tunnel in 1937 after reconstruction. The first city in Europe to carry a portion of a streetcar line through the city center in a tunnel was Marseille , France , in 1893, with its Noailles subterranean station (see Marseille tramway ). It was initially operated by horse-drawn wagons. A prominent example

3726-778: A subsidiary of the French Alstom) allowed the trams to coast under their accumulated kinetic energy. Two main body standards were made – 1936 and 1945, sometimes called pre-and post-war – the most prominent difference being the windows. The pre-war cars usually had a right side arrangement of front door, five windows, center door, five windows, and one large rear quarter window. These cars were 46 ft (14.0 m) long and 8 ft 4 in (254 cm) wide. There were variations, Washington, D.C. ordered shorter cars, at 44 ft (13.4 m), with one less window, while Chicago ordered longer and wider cars, at 50 ft 5 in (15.4 m) by 8 ft 9 in (267 cm), with

3864-512: A temperature of 72 °F (22 °C) inside the car. The Breda cars feature four doors per car, versus three for the Boeing (only the middle two doors of the Boeing cars were available while in the tunnels due to the cars' end curvature). The initial batch of 136 Breda cars were ordered on contracts exceeding US$ 320,000,000 (equivalent to $ 585,281,662 in 2023), for an average per-car cost of US$ 2,350,000 (equivalent to $ 4,298,162 in 2023);

4002-482: A three-door arrangement. Chicago cars were built with the centerline of the carbody to the right of the centerline of the tracks, so the widened cars could pass on the existing trackage. Post war cars had a rationalized window arrangement. The windows and pillars were narrower, and there were small "standee" windows above each window. Right side arrangement usually was front door, seven windows, side door, four windows, and two rear quarter windows. Most post-war cars had

4140-528: A tram/streetcar line has mostly category C, a light rail line has mostly category B and a semi-metro line has some of category A (combined with category B and sometimes C). Whenever light rail vehicles operate only using category A, it is defined as Light rail rapid transit (LRRT) and is part of the greater light metro class. In the Murray Hill Tunnel in New York, which was completed in 1850,

4278-530: Is in the process of determining viability of a third car as of 2016. They are in use on the Silver Line which opened in 2011 and runs in a clockwise loop around Downtown San Diego . San Francisco ; started 1995; number in service: 27 . The F Market Line (historic streetcar service) in San Francisco, opened in 1995, runs along Market Street from The Castro to the Ferry Building , then along

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4416-423: Is largely similar to semi-metro: a type of public transport in which trams run partly grade separated, by using tunnels and/or viaducts. However, there is one clear distinguishing factor: premetro uses infrastructure that has been explicitly constructed with the ambition to transfer to use metro trains in the future. It is usually also developed from an existing classic tram network. One prominent example

4554-438: Is not automatic. To participate in the program, a qualified senior must have or obtain a Clipper card and submit an application either online or by mail. Like Muni buses, the Muni Metro operates on a proof-of-payment system; on paying a fare, the passenger will receive a ticket good for travel on any bus, historic streetcar, or Metro vehicle for 120 minutes. Payment methods depend on boarding location. On surface street sections in

4692-409: Is provided along much of the L and N lines by buses that bear the same route designation. The cash fare for Muni Metro, like Muni buses, effective January 1, 2020, is $ 3 for adults and $ 1.50 for seniors, and the disabled, and free for youths 5–19. Clipper and MuniMobile fares are lower than cash fares. Their fares are $ 2.50 for adults. For all people under 20 service is free. Muni currently operates

4830-708: Is sometimes also referred to as semi-metro, as the term was originally coined there; this was before switching to the concept of pre-metro. More recent examples are the Madrid Metro Ligero , the Málaga Metro and Alicante Metropolitan-Tram in Spain and the Porto Metro in Portugal. PCC streetcar The Presidents' Conference Committee ( PCC ) is a streetcar design that was first built in

4968-808: Is the Edmonton LRT . Notable examples in Germany are the Hanover Stadtbahn , Essen Stadtbahn , Bonn and Cologne Stadtbahns, and the Frankfurt tramways . In the United Kingdom, the Tyne and Wear Metro is by definition a semi-metro system due to eight level crossings. Over several decades a semi-metro system was constructed in the Dutch city of The Hague . The Brussels premetro

5106-586: Is the Tremont Street subway (1897) in Boston , today part of the MBTA Green Line . Brussels, Cologne and Frankfurt pioneered in Europe with long tunnels with multiple stations in the 1960s. Besides regular semi-metro networks, two subtypes exist. Both terms refer to tram networks where tram vehicles use viaducts and/or run through tunnels under city centres, but with key differences: Premetro

5244-654: Is the only line in the Muni Metro that does not enter the tunnel, instead going through the Central Subway . An additional tunnel, the Sunset Tunnel , is located near the Duboce portal and is served by the N. The interconnected tunnels contain nine subway stations. Three stations—West Portal, Forest Hill and the now-defunct Eureka Valley —were opened in 1918 as part of the Twin Peaks Tunnel, while

5382-695: Is the original purchaser. Toronto's first PCC streetcar entered service on September 22, 1938. All new PCCs purchased by 1951; second-hand by 1957. The TTC now owns and operates only two PCCs for private charter: numbers 4500 and 4549. One PCC, #4612, was donated in operating condition by the TTC to the Edmonton Radial Railway Society in 1997; the society has two additional PCCs from Toronto (4349 and 4367) awaiting restoration. The Halton Country Railway Museum (near Milton Ontario) owns 3 retired TTC streetcars, 4000, 4386 and 4426. They operate

5520-477: Is the premetro in Brussels, where several premetro lines have been or will be converted into full heavy rail metro lines. The U-Stadtbahn is also an intermediate transportation form between metro and tram. It has originated in Germany, adapting the existing tram networks. Here specially developed trams run underground through tunnels in central urban areas. Stadtbahn lines can be subdivided by looking at

5658-550: The Embarcadero north and west to Fisherman's Wharf . This line is run by a mixture of PCC cars built between 1946 and 1952, and earlier pre-PCC cars. Due to its success, a second heritage line was inaugurated in 2015, the E Embarcadero , which serves to facilitate a one-seat ride from the Caltrain San Francisco station to Fisherman's Wharf. Although San Francisco had removed PCCs from revenue service when

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5796-525: The Expo 58 : they were single-body non-reversible two-bogie cars. Articulated trams arrived since 1965: first two-body non-reversible trams (series 7500) then two-body (series 7700–7800) and three-body (series 7900) reversible ones, the last one delivered in 1978. The last single-body PCC tram in commercial service in Brussels ran in February 2010. All series 7500 trams were converted to series 7700 by addition of

5934-461: The N Judah was extended from Embarcadero Station to the planned site of the new Pacific Bell Park and Caltrain Depot , The extension was briefly served between January and August of that year by the temporary E Embarcadero light rail shuttle (restored in 2015 as the E Embarcadero heritage streetcar line). In 2007, the T Third Street , running south from Caltrain Depot along Third Street to

6072-819: The San Francisco Railway Museum , but have since been scrapped; five were sold to the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority for the modest price of US$ 200 (equivalent to $ 338.8 in 2023) to US$ 500 (equivalent to $ 846.99 in 2023) each; one was acquired by the Oregon Electric Railway Historical Society in 2001, but the Society declined to take any more Boeing cars after experiencing several breakdowns. Boeing car no. 1258 has been on exhibit at

6210-599: The Seashore Trolley Museum . Dallas ; started 2003; number in service: 1. The McKinney Avenue Transit Authority in Dallas, Texas, owns three PCC cars, two from Toronto, one from the former Tandy Center Subway. One of the ex Toronto cars is currently in service. El Paso ; started 2018; number in service: 6. Officials in El Paso expressed their desire to preserve the history of the city by refurbishing

6348-530: The Stadtbahn-car 'type B' . In the United States most semi-metro systems are operated with larger vehicles than those on streetcar systems. The semi-metro sits between rapid transit (with higher investments and a higher capacity and speed) and buses and tram in city streets (with lower investments and a lower capacity and speed). It combines advantages of greater speed (from rapid transit) with

6486-945: The United States by the St Louis Car Company (SLCCo) and Pullman Standard . Clark Equipment built the only aluminum-body PCC as well as all narrow gauge B1 trucks for Los Angeles, all the standard and broad gauge B2 trucks both air- and all-electric, and the B2B trucks used under PRCo 1725–1799 and Toronto 4500–4549. SLCCo built all B3 trucks, both standard and broad gauge. PCC cars for Canadian cities were assembled in Montreal , Quebec by Canadian Car & Foundry from bodies and trucks supplied by St. Louis Car. Westinghouse ( Westinghouse Electric , Westinghouse Air Brake Company , Canadian Westinghouse Co.) and General Electric both supplied electrical packages and brake components which were designed and built in cooperation with

6624-616: The Western Railway Museum near Suisun City since its acquisition in 2002. The first of four prototypes of the new Breda cars was delivered in January 1995. After delivery of additional cars and training of operators, the cars began to enter service on December 10, 1996. They were the most expensive street railway vehicles built to-date, at a cost of US$ 2,000,000 (equivalent to $ 3,885,423 in 2023) each, and they were assembled at Pier 80. After suffering initial breakdowns and despite facing complaints of noise and vibrations,

6762-513: The "Electric Railway Presidents' Conference Committee" (ERPCC) in 1931. The group's membership consisted primarily of representatives of several large operators of U.S. urban electric street railways plus potential manufacturers. Three interurban lines and at least one "heavy rail", or rapid transit , operator— Chicago Rapid Transit Company —were represented as well. Also included on the membership roll were manufacturers of surface cars ( streetcars ) and interested component suppliers. ERPCC's goal

6900-564: The 175 cars from the first two phases, 44 additional cars, and surplus 30 cars were contracted in 2021. Siemens has named the new Muni cars the S200 SF while the SFMTA refers to them as the LRV4. They operate at speeds of up to 50 miles per hour (80 km/h). The S200 SF is 75 feet (23 m) long, 8 feet 8.32 inches (2.65 m) wide, 11 feet 6 inches (3.51 m) high (with

7038-462: The 1880s required a standing operator at a four-foot-high vertical controller "stand" to rotate a handle to one of ten electrical resistance points within the stand to provide trolley acceleration. The resistors were not very large and were mounted adjacent to one another along the outside frame bottom of the trolley to provide cooling as they would get very hot. For the PCC however, there were more than ten resistance/speed points; Westinghouse developed

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7176-542: The Boeing LRVs they replaced) that some homeowners, claiming that the exceptional weight of the Breda cars damaged their foundations, sued the city of San Francisco. The Breda cars are longer and wider than the previous Boeing cars, necessitating the modification of subway stations and maintenance yards, as well as the rear view mirrors on the trains themselves. Furthermore, the Breda cars do not run in three car trains, like

7314-399: The Boeing cars used to, as doing so had, in some instances, physically damaged the overhead power wires. The Breda trains were so noisy that San Francisco budgeted over $ 15   million to quiet them down, while estimates range up to $ 1   million per car to remedy the excessive noise. To this day, the Breda cars are noisier than the PCC or Boeing cars. In 1998, federal inspectors mandated

7452-544: The Breda cars have been blamed for reduced train capacity, as multiple cars are not able to be coupled together as intended. Muni originally ordered 35 cars from Breda in 1991, and exercised options to add another 116 cars throughout the 1990s, including an option to purchase another 15 cars in 1999. The fleet had 151 LRVs in 2014, all made by Breda. The double-ended cars are 75 feet (23 m) long, 9 feet (2.7 m) wide, 11 feet (3.4 m) high, have graffiti-resistant windows, and contain an air-conditioning system to maintain

7590-558: The Bredas gradually replaced the Boeings, with the last Boeing car being retired in 2002. Residents along streetcar lines complained the new Breda cars would screech during acceleration and deceleration and their 80,000-pound (36,000 kg) weight, 10,000 pounds (4,500 kg) heavier than the Boeing cars, was blamed for vibration issues. At one point in 1998, 12 Breda cars were unavailable for service due to door problems. Faulty couplers on

7728-579: The Brooklyn order would have all cars equipped by General Electric , and Clark Equipment Company pressed for one car to be made by them of aluminum for delivery to B&QT. Agreements among the parties were reached whereby St Louis Car Company would build 101 essentially identical cars and Clark would build one of its own body design. Brooklyn received its first car number 1001 on May 28, 1936, PRCo took delivery of car number 100 on July 26, 1936, and Baltimore received its first car on September 2, 1936. In

7866-582: The Central Subway as an above-ground light rail line or subway through North Beach, and into the Marina district, with the possibility of eventually terminating in the Presidio. Starting in 2017, the SFMTA, in collaboration with other city agencies, began its ConnectSF process to plan its vision for future transit expansions that would follow its then under construction projects such as Van Ness BRT and

8004-540: The Central Subway. The final report on transit from the ConnectSF program was released in 2021 and identified two major corridors for Muni Metro expansion: a subway line along the Geary Boulevard and 19th Avenue corridor connecting to Daly City, and the extension of the Central Subway to Fisherman's Wharf that had already undergone preliminary analysis. The Geary/19th corridor would replace earlier efforts to plan

8142-488: The Central Subway; the next firm order of 151 cars would replace all of the Breda vehicles and an option to purchase up to 85 additional cars, funding permitting, to accommodate projected ridership growth through 2040. A grant of $ 41   million from the California Transportation Agency awarded on July 2, 2015, allowed Muni to purchase 40 additional Siemens light rail vehicles. Upon awarding

8280-467: The ERPCC. The customer specified the equipment, which was to be installed, performance was similar, and most cities ordered from both suppliers. Since Westinghouse was home based near Pittsburgh, PRCo ordered 75% of its PCC fleet with Westinghouse equipment, the balance with GE. Indeed, PCCs are often identified as either Westinghouse or GE. The last PCC streetcars built for any North American system were

8418-597: The Embarcadero–Sunnydale portion of the T Third Street on January 23, 2021. N Judah and K Ingleside light rail service resumed on May 15, 2021, with the K and T again interlined, along with S Shuttle service now converted to supplementary. At that time, some stations were converted to new wayfinding signage based on international standards, with compass directions like "westbound" replacing older "inbound"/"outbound" directions. M Ocean View light rail service resumed on August 14, 2021. The L remained served by buses due to

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8556-695: The Market Street subway at peak periods, with all trains using the crossover west of Embarcadero station to reverse direction. To allow for high frequencies on the surface branches, eastbound trains were combined at West Portal and Duboce Portal, and westbound trains split at those locations. Two-car N Judah trains and one-car J Church trains (each 10TPH) combined at the Duboce Portal, while two-car L Taraval trains (10TPH) alternately combined with two-car M Ocean View and K Ingleside (each 5 TPH) trains at West Portal to form four-car trains. However, this provided suboptimal service; many inbound trains did not arrive at

8694-420: The Muni Metro subway began operating seven days a week. At the time, there were no firm plans to revive any service on the surface of Market Street or return PCCs to regular running. However, tracks were rehabilitated for the 1983 Historic Trolley Festival , and the inauguration of the F line , served by heritage streetcars , followed in 1995. By the late 1980s, Muni scheduled 20 trains per hour (TPH) through

8832-486: The Muni Metro was officially inaugurated, with weekday N line service in the subway. The Metro service was implemented in phases, and the subway was served only on weekdays until 1982. The K Ingleside line began using the entire Metro subway on weekdays on June 11, 1980, the L Taraval and M Ocean View lines on December 17, 1980, and lastly the J Church line on June 17, 1981. Meanwhile, weekend service on all five lines (J, K, L, M, N) continued to use PCC cars operating on

8970-724: The Netherlands; and particularly the Czech ČKD Tatra , who built the largest number of the PCC type in the world, supplying a number of Central and Eastern European countries. Trams such as the Tatra T3 and its variant Tatra T4 , together the most numerous of any tram model ever produced, are still in service today in many of the regions where they were first introduced. Modern variants of the Tatra T3 are still produced today by some manufacturers, such as KOS Krnov. The Polish Konstal 13N

9108-601: The P.C.C. car to out-pace the average automobile which, in America, is of substantially higher performance than the typical British vehicle." This, however, is only true when compared to the automobiles of that period. The system of acceleration and braking described above means that the original PCC cars were (when in movement) always either accelerating or braking. A later improvement on the Brussels trams (built at that time under license by La Brugeoise et Nivelles and ACEC, now both subsidiaries of Bombardier Transportation, itself

9246-487: The PCCs could not be used in them. Hence, a fleet of new light rail vehicles was ordered from Boeing-Vertol , but were not delivered until 1979–80, even though the tunnel was completed in 1978. The K and M lines were extended to Balboa Park during this time, providing further connections to BART. (The J line also saw an extension there in 1991, which provided yet another BART connection at Glen Park .) On February 18, 1980,

9384-784: The Route 15 Girard Avenue line in Philadelphia in September 2005 after a 15-year "temporary" suspension of trolley service in favor of diesel buses. The line uses restored and modernized (by the Brookville Manufacturing Company) PCC cars, known as PCC-IIs (now upgraded as PCC-IIIs), painted in their original green and cream Philadelphia Transit Company livery, rather than SEPTA's white with red and blue stripes. Modernization included all-new control systems, modern turn markers, HVAC system (which accounts for

9522-820: The San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni) was established. The first streetcar line, the A Geary, ran from Kearny and Market Streets in the Financial District to Fulton Street and 10th Avenue in the Richmond District . The system slowly expanded, opening the Twin Peaks Tunnel in 1917, allowing streetcars to run to the southwestern quadrant of the city. By 1921, the city was operating 304 miles (489 km) of electric trolley lines and 25 miles (40 km) of cable car lines. The last line to start service before 2007

9660-538: The United States . Five services – J Church , K Ingleside , L Taraval , M Ocean View , and N Judah run on separate surface alignments and merge into a single east–west tunnel, the Market Street subway . The T Third Street uses a north–south tunnel downtown, the Central Subway . The supplementary S Shuttle service operates within the Market Street subway and Twin Peaks Tunnel . Muni Metro operates

9798-407: The United States in the 1930s. The design proved successful domestically, and after World War II it was licensed for use elsewhere in the world where PCC based cars were made. The PCC car has proved to be a long-lasting icon of streetcar design, and many remain in service around the world. The Presidents' Conference Committee (PCC) originated from the design committee formed in 1929. It was renamed

9936-467: The XD-323 underfloor rotary accelerator for the PCC's motor control with 99 resistance points. It was installed in the first Pittsburgh car, number 100, and minor modifications allowed use in the last PCCs produced in North America for San Francisco in 1952. The sitting PCC operator had a foot accelerator on the floor, much like that of an automobile, with linkage to underfloor resistance ribbons mounted in

10074-466: The city to Embarcadero Station in the heart of the Financial District . Three lines—the K Ingleside , the L Taraval , and the M Ocean View —feed into the tunnel at West Portal, while two lines, the J Church and N Judah , enter at a portal near Church Street and Duboce Avenue in the Duboce Triangle neighborhood. The N Judah enters and exits the tunnel at Embarcadero. The T Third Street

10212-634: The city's light rail was transformed into the Muni Metro system in 1980, they had made occasional festival trips in the ensuing years before being returned to full-time service. Car 1074 is painted in Toronto Transit Commission livery, but was never owned by the TTC. Toronto ; started 1938; number in service: 2. The first PCC cars in Canada were operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) in 1938. By 1954, Toronto had

10350-408: The city. However, by 1961 these plans were altered; only a single BART route would travel through the city on the lower deck, while the upper deck would be served by the existing Muni streetcar routes. The new tunnel would be connected to the existing Twin Peaks Tunnel . The new underground stations would feature high platforms, and the older stations would be retrofitted with the same, which meant that

10488-559: The city. The Central Subway, with three new subway stations and one new surface station opened on November 19, 2022. The first street railroad in San Francisco was the San Francisco Market Street Railroad Company, which was incorporated in 1857 and began operating in 1860, with track along Market Street from California to Mission Dolores. Muni Metro descended from the municipally-owned traditional streetcar system started on December 28, 1912, when

10626-631: The committee, initially considered buying the cars, but increased metal prices due to the Korean War made them prohibitively costly. Brooklyn, who had bought the first five prototype trainsets, also did not buy any production trainsets. 240 PCC rapid transit cars were built in four years, from 1948 to 1952, then 438 cars with non-PCC trucks until 1957, the last of Chicago's 570 cars built with salvaged components were delivered in 1958. Some Chicago cars were in regular service in 1990, car number 30 made its last revenue run in 1999. The operator listed

10764-526: The contract, Muni officials cited several lessons learned from the prior Breda contract, including not buying enough cars, dictating too much of the design, lax reliability requirements and a failure to account for maintenance costs. The US$ 648,000,000 (equivalent to $ 834,001,687 in 2023) contract for 175 cars (the first two phases) was signed by Mayor Ed Lee in September 2014, making the cost of each car approximately US$ 3,700,000 (equivalent to $ 4,762,047 in 2023). Muni ultimately purchased 249 vehicles:

10902-485: The current lines were added in the following decades: the J in 1917, the K (including the Twin Peaks Tunnel) in 1918, the L in 1919, the M in 1925, and the N in 1928. The other Municipal Railway streetcar lines, and those of the privately owned Market Street Railway , were converted to buses in the 1920s to 1950s, but these five lines were retained as streetcars because of their private rights of way. The system

11040-440: The difficulty in running a hybrid streetcar and light rail system, with five lines merging into one, led to scheduling problems on the main trunk lines with long waits between arrivals and commuter-packed trains sometimes sitting motionless in tunnels for extended periods of time. Muni did take steps to address these problems. Newer, larger Breda cars were ordered, an extension of the system towards South Beach — where many of

11178-422: The doors so they could be pushed open easily. Chicago used "bicycle-type levers" for power and brake but converted some cars to two pedals. St. Louis Public Service Co. (SLPS) used two pedals, both with heel interlocks. The right pedal is the brake; depressing this pedal about halfway while lifting away from the heel applied "park". Once the brake is released the heel need not be engaged with the interlock (although

11316-422: The drums from releasing which would prevent power application, a fail-safe feature. Drum brakes were quite popular and greatly reduced maintenance thus some "Air" cars were retrofitted with drums. Four magnetic brakes, one between the wheels on each side of each truck , applied additional braking for emergency stopping where all brakes were generally employed. "These performances [acceleration and braking] enable

11454-400: The eight wheels. On All-Electric cars the dynamics were effective to 0.75 mph (1.21 km/h) where the lockout relay then allowed a spring-applied friction brake to engage a drum on each of the four motor drive shafts; this completed the stop and held the car in park. Drum brakes were released by an electric solenoid operating from low-voltage battery power; a power failure would prevent

11592-547: The existing T Third Street line at 4th and King station . Muni estimates that the Central Subway section of the T Third Street line will carry roughly 35,100 riders per day by 2030. Originally set to open in late 2018, the subway opened with weekend-only shuttle service on November 19, 2022. Full service as part of the T Third Street line began on January 7, 2023. Additional shuttle trains signed "S Chase Center" will operate between Chinatown and UCSF/Chase Center for events at Chase Center. On March 30, 2020, Muni Metro service

11730-728: The existing tram network is an advantage compared to constructing a separate light metro line. Often several tram branches at grade are needed in order to make fully use of the high capacity tunnels. A rail transit system is firstly determined by its main right-of-way category and secondly by other parameters like power supply and operating speed. There are three major right-of-way categories, having been labelled A, B and C. Category A: independent right-of-way, without level road or pedestrian crossings resulting in conflict free sections. Catergory B: reserved right-of-way to avoid traffic congestion, but with level road or pedestrian crossings. Category C: street running lines in mixed traffic. Typically,

11868-490: The findings, and ultimately produced a set of specifications for a standardized and fixed design. It included a modest list of available options with ample room for customer customization but was to be built with standard parts as opposed to a custom designed car body with diverse parts added depending on the whims and requirements of the individual customer. Numerous national and international users operated large fleets of PCC cars for many years. Many design patents resulted from

12006-539: The fleet; these 30 had been rejected by MBTA after suffering numerous breakdowns. In 1982, the Boeing cars averaged only 600 miles (970 km) between breakdowns; by 1988 this had improved to 1,800 to 2,000 miles (2,900 to 3,200 km) between breakdowns. In 1998, Rudy Nothenberg, president of the Public Transportation Commission, said the Boeing cars were "impossible to maintain and [...] have many, many design flaws;" that same year, Muni

12144-408: The initial 100-car order arrived in San Francisco in 1978; Boston had been running the cars since 1976 and by 1978, MBTA was already returning 35 cars for manufacturing defects. After receipt of the first cars, MBTA forced Boeing to make 70 to 80 modifications on each car. Boeing ended up paying US$ 40,000,000 (equivalent to $ 214,175,439 in 2023) in damages to Boston. The purchase price for each car

12282-804: The introduction of the T Third Street were implemented on June 30, 2007, when the K and T trains were interlined, or effectively merged into one single line with route designations changing at the entrances into the subway (T becomes K outbound at Embarcadero; K becomes T inbound at West Portal). The Central Subway runs between Chinatown station in Chinatown and a portal in South of Market (SoMa) , with intermediate stops at Union Square/Market Street station in Union Square and Yerba Buena/Moscone station in SoMa. A surface portion runs through SoMa to connect to

12420-500: The largest PCC fleet in the world, including many purchased second-hand from U.S. cities that abandoned streetcar service following the Second World War . Although it acquired new custom-designed streetcars in the late 1970s and 1980s (and which was replaced by modern LRVs by Dec. 2019), the TTC continued using PCCs in regular service until 1995, and retains two (numbers 4500 and 4549) for charter purposes. The PCC license

12558-567: The late 1936 discussions of operating experience, it was noted that the Brooklyn car had run 3,000 miles by the time the Pittsburgh car had run 1,000 miles. One of the key patents was filed by Dan H. Bell on January 8, 1937, and granted on July 5, 1938, and entitled, "Rail Car or Similar Article," Patent No. 110,384. The first car to be placed in a scheduled public service was PRCo 100 in August and B&QT launched its first scheduled service with

12696-526: The line's bridges cannot support heavier light rail vehicles (LRV) operated on the MBTA's Green Line . Not considered historic equipment, the PCC cars in use on the Mattapan–Ashmont line represent the oldest cars still in revenue service, originally built between 1943 and 1946. These cars are also the only air-electric PCCs still in regular service in North America. Several retired PCCs from Boston are now at

12834-442: The longest at 55 ft (16.8 m), and narrowest at 8 ft 4 in (254 cm), Cleveland had the widest at 10 ft 4 in (315 cm). Trucks were a major focus, both Clark and St. Louis developed trucks with 28 in (710 mm) wheels and a 70 mph (110 km/h) maximum speed, but only Boston used them, Clark B10s on 40 cars. Chicago used streetcar type trucks, with 26 in (660 mm) wheels and

12972-438: The majority but could easily be changed for special situations. Windows were spaced to match seating. While some of the components in the PCC car had been used before— resilient wheels , magnetic braking , sealed gears, and modular design to name a few—the ERPCC redesigned, refined, and perfected many of these while developing new acceleration and braking controls and put them all in one package. PCC cars were initially built in

13110-411: The more unique examples due to the installation of overhead wires being prohibited within the city limits, necessitating the use of conduit plows that collected current using a plow lowered into a slot between the rails contacting positive and negative rails under the street. A pit was located at the boundary line of the city limits, over which cars would stop to have their power collection changed from

13248-403: The need to transfer at West Portal and Church stations. In November 2020, the SFMTA that announced some rail lines such as the N Judah and T Third would likely return in early 2021, followed by a gradual return to full operation. Kirschbaum said the agency was reconsidering its approach to maintenance after the botched attempt to reopen in August, and that it might take 5 to 8 years to fully address

13386-576: The new cars had a mean distance between failures (MDBF) of 3,300 mi (5,300 km) shortly after being delivered; by August 2019, the MDBF had improved to 8,000 mi (13,000 km). Siemens publicly unveiled a full-size mockup of the S200 SF in San Francisco on June 16, 2015. The first car was delivered from the Siemens plant in Sacramento to San Francisco on January 13, 2017. A test car passed

13524-480: The new dot-coms were headquartered — was built, and the underground section was switched to Automatic Train Operation (ATO). The Breda cars, however, came in noisy, overweight, oversized, under-braked, and over-budget (their price grew from US$ 2.2   million per car to nearly US$ 3   million over the course of their production). In fact, the new trains were so heavy (10,000 pounds (4,500 kg) more than

13662-600: The noticeably larger roof enclosure), and ADA compliant wheelchair lifts. The line runs from Haddington to Port Richmond down the median of Girard Avenue. It crosses both the Broad Street Subway and the Market–Frankford Line , and stops at the Philadelphia Zoo , among other landmarks. SEPTA had originally planned to run modern Kawasaki trolleys along the line once service was restored, but

13800-605: The old PCC streetcars that once made their way through Downtown from 1949 to 1974. They operated on the international streetcar line that connected El Paso, Texas in the United States, with Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. Originally, the line operated until 1973. Six cars in total have been restored, regular revenue operations began in late 2018 for the downtown loop. Kenosha ; started 2000; number in service: 7. The Kenosha Electric Streetcar in Kenosha, Wisconsin , has been operating six ex- Toronto Transit Commission PCCs (five since 2000 and

13938-408: The older Twin Peaks Tunnel and the newer Market Street subway, both controlled by automatic train operation systems to run trains with the operators closing the door to allow the train to pull out of a station. This ATO system was upgraded in 2015 to replace outdated software and relays . The tunnels, 5.5 miles (8.9 km) in total length, run from West Portal Station in the southwestern part of

14076-403: The option of 15 additional cars was exercised on a contract worth US$ 42,300,000 (equivalent to $ 77,366,920 in 2023), making the last batch of 15 cars US$ 2,600,000 (equivalent to $ 4,755,414 in 2023) each. By 2011, the fleet of Breda LRVs was only able to manage a mean distance between failures (MDBF) of 617 mi (993 km). With the Breda cars growing increasingly unreliable and

14214-523: The other seven— Castro Street , Church Street , Van Ness , Civic Center , Powell Street , Montgomery Street and Embarcadero—were opened in 1980 as part of the Market Street subway. Four stations, Civic Center, Powell Street, Montgomery Street, and Embarcadero, are shared with Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), with Muni Metro on the upper level and BART on the lower one. Above ground, there are twenty-four surface platform stations. Two stations, Stonestown and San Francisco State University , are located at

14352-465: The pantograph locked down), and weighs 78,770 pounds (35,730 kg), making it comparable in size and weight to the existing Breda cars. The expected maximum capacity is 203 passengers per car. They are expected to have the same coupling device as the Breda cars; however, the new Siemens trains can couple up to five cars at a time. The new S200 SF vehicles are projected to be able to run 59,000 miles (95,000 km) between maintenance intervals. Initially,

14490-519: The platform area. Faregates closest to an unmanned Muni staff booth open automatically if a passenger has a valid pass or transfer that cannot be scanned. Muni's fare inspectors may board trains at any time to check for proof of payment from passengers. All cars are also equipped with Clipper card readers near each entrance, which riders may use to tag their cards to pay their fare. The cards themselves are then used as proof of payment; fare inspectors carry handheld card readers that can verify that payment

14628-467: The portals in time to combine into longer trains. In the mid- to late-1990s, San Francisco grew more prosperous and its population expanded with the advent of the dot-com boom , and the Metro system began to feel the strain of increased commuter demand. Muni criticism had been something of a feature of life in San Francisco, and not without reason. The Boeing trains were sub-par and grew crowded quickly. And

14766-575: The pre-war style body until the end of production. There were four rapid transit companies on the committee, but the primary focus was streetcars, rapid transit development was slower. The difference in operations between the systems also made standardization difficult. By 1940, Brooklyn had five three-section articulated trainsets with PCC components, after WWII Chicago ordered four similar trainsets . Chicago ordered two from Pullman and two from St. Louis, with different equipment, so that competing manufacturers could be directly compared. Experience from

14904-408: The six teeth constantly engaged the main gear, reducing lash and noise. All movable truck parts employed rubber for noise reduction as well. "Satisfactory Cushion Wheel of Vital Importance; Develop New Truck Design; Generous Use of Rubber" are headings within a paper that Chief Engineer Clarence F. Hirshfeld both presented and published. After a specification document suitable for purchasing cars

15042-548: The sixth since 2009) and one ex- SEPTA car since 2009. The Kenosha Electric is unique among modern PCC operations in that PCCs had not run in the city before 2000—the original rail system was shut down in 1932 before any PCC cars had been built. Two of its cars are still painted in their original TTC colours, while the rest have been re-decorated in the liveries of several U.S. cities including Pittsburgh, Johnstown, Chicago and Cincinnati. Philadelphia ; started 2005; number in service: 18 . SEPTA restored trolley service to

15180-405: The south and west of the city, passengers must board at the front of the train and pay their fare to the train operator to receive their ticket; those who already have a ticket, or who have a daily, weekly, or monthly pass, can board at any door of the Metro streetcar. Subway stations have controlled entries via faregates , and passengers usually purchase or show Muni staff a ticket in order to enter

15318-563: The southern edge of the city, opened as part of the Third Street Light Rail Project . Limited weekend T line service began on January 13, 2007, while full service began on April 7, 2007. The line initially ran from the southern terminus at Bayshore Boulevard and Sunnydale Street to Castro Street Station in the north. The line ran into initial problems with breakdowns, bottlenecks, and power failures, creating massive delays. Service changes to address complaints with

15456-532: The southwestern part of the city, while the rest are located on the eastern side of the city, where the system underwent recent expansion as part of the Embarcadero extension and the Third Street Light Rail Project . However, many of the stops on the system are surface stops consisting of anything from a traffic island to a yellow-banded "Car Stop" sign painted on a utility pole. All subway and surface stations are accessible to people with disabilities. Because

15594-418: The strength of the magnetic field or the amount of current running through the motor is increased (or both), the motor's speed will increase. With a trolley, the speed is controlled by several resistors placed in the wire running to the rotor. Removing circuit resistors one at a time will increase the current in the motor's magnetic field and this will increase the motor's speed. Prior streetcar speed control from

15732-468: The surface of Market Street through to the Transbay Terminal , and the Muni Metro was closed on weekends. At the end of the service day September 19, 1982, streetcar operations on the surface of Market Street were discontinued entirely, the remaining PCC cars taken out of service, and weekend service on the five light rail lines was temporarily converted to buses. Finally, on November 20, 1982,

15870-432: The system expanding with the construction of the Central Subway , Muni requested bids for a new generation of light rail vehicles. Muni prequalified CAF , Kawasaki and Siemens to bid on the request while Breda was disqualified based on a ranking of potential bidders. The contract was awarded to Siemens for the purchase of up to 260 cars to be delivered in three phases: the initial firm order of 24 cars would accommodate

16008-604: The system uses high-floor vehicles, while operating as a streetcar, the vehicles are not accessible to people with disabilities that impact their mobility. A select number of stops, typically located near major intersections, are equipped with ramps or lifts , for people with disabilities. Muni Metro has two rail yards for storage and maintenance: Notes Muni Metro first operated Boeing Vertol -made US Standard Light Rail Vehicles (USSLRV), which were built for Muni Metro and Boston 's MBTA . Boeing had no experience in making LRVs, and has not made another since. The first cars of

16146-532: The system's vulnerabilities. Among the most urgent issues was replacing the track ballast in the Twin Peaks Tunnel , which was meant to be replaced during a maintenance project in 2018 but was instead reused at that time. City supervisors harshly criticized the mistake, which SFMTA director Jeffrey Tumlin blamed on a "culture of fear" he was working to correct since becoming the agency's leader in 2019. The surface-only (from Market Street to Balboa Park) J Church route resumed service on December 19, 2020, followed by

16284-464: The trainsets influenced the following car standards. Cars were to be approximately 48 ft (14.6 m) long (the Chicago maximum, Boston had some 55 ft (16.8 m) long) with one cab per car arranged in "married" two car sets, a double ended single car variant was possible. Number and type of doors and windows, interior layout, and width of cars varied with each system. Boston had two sizes,

16422-696: The transit agencies that still employ PCCs in revenue service, as opposed to a short-run or intermittent heritage railway. Boston ; started 1941; number in service: 4. The Mattapan Line in Boston is a light-rail extension of the MBTA 's heavy Red Line . It runs from the Ashmont terminus of the Red Line to Mattapan , and runs PCCs exclusively. The line was shut down for reconstruction from June 24, 2006, until December 22, 2007, but PCC cars have resumed operation since

16560-502: The trolley pole to the conduit plow and vice versa. "The PCC car was not just another modular vehicle but the result of the only systems engineering approach to mass producing a rail car." Research into passenger comfort resulting from vibrations, acceleration, lighting, heating and cooling, seat spacing, cushion height, space for arms, legs, standing passengers, economies of weight affecting maintenance, cost of power, reduced wear of components and track. Dimensions were established to fit

16698-677: The types of rolling stock. There are many regions with forms of light rail, but only few where light rail uses tunnels and/or viaducts. In the United States, the most prominent examples are the San Francisco Muni Metro and Green Line in Boston. The Buffalo Metro Rail , Seattle's Link light rail , the light rail lines in Cleveland and the MetroLink in St. Louis are also considered semi-metro. A clear example in Canada

16836-491: The work of ERPCC. These were transferred to a new business entity called the Transit Research Corporation (TRC) when ERPCC expired in 1936. Although this company continued the work of research on improvements to the basic design of the car and issued sets of specifications three times in the ensuing years, because TRC defined a PCC car as any vehicle which used patents on which it collected royalties, it

16974-484: Was US$ 333,000 (equivalent to $ 1,555,586 in 2023). The federal government offered to provide 80% of the funds for design and production of the USSLRV in exchange for a commitment to keep the cars in service for at least 25 years, but the cars, as-delivered, were prone to jammed doors, defective brakes and motors, leaky roofs, mechanical breakdowns, and were involved in several accidents. Muni Metro added 30 more cars to

17112-552: Was a spectacular service crisis, widely referred to as the "Muni meltdown", in the summer of 1998. During this period, two reporters for the San Francisco Chronicle —one riding in the Muni Metro tunnel and one on foot on the surface—held a race through downtown, with the walking reporter emerging the winner. After initial problems with the ATC were fixed, substantial upgrades to the entire Muni transit systems have gone

17250-463: Was converted to light rail, with larger US Standard Light Rail Vehicles , in the late 1970s and early 1980s. This included the opening of the Market Street subway as well as an extension of three lines to Balboa Park station . An extension along The Embarcadero to the Caltrain terminal at 4th and King Street opened in 1998. The T Third Street line opened in 2007, serving the southeastern portion of

17388-498: Was formed for the primary purpose of controlling those patents and promoting the standardization envisioned by the ERPCC. The company was funded by its collection of patent royalties from the railways which bought PCC cars. The company was controlled by a voting trust representing the properties which had invested in the work of ERPCC. One participant in Committee meetings, Philadelphia trolley manufacturer J.G. Brill Company , brought

17526-608: Was generated by TRC, orders were placed by eight companies in 1935 and 1936. First was Brooklyn & Queens Transit Corporation (B&QT) for 100 cars, then Baltimore Transit Co. (BTCo) for 27 cars, Chicago Surface Lines (CSL) for 83 cars, Pittsburgh Railways Co. (PRCO) for 101 cars, San Diego Electric Railway (SDERy) for 25 cars, Los Angeles Railway (LARy) for 60 cars, and then Boston Elevated Railway (BERy) for one car. In late 1935 or early in 1936 Westinghouse Electric Corporation pressed for one car to be equipped with their electrical equipment for testing in Pittsburgh, since

17664-947: Was keen to build two new tram routes after World War II, and these routes would be served by PCC Streetcars. The MMTB decided that it was too expensive and Melbourne only ever had two PCC streetcars, of which one was a prototype for a completely different class. Several dozen remain in public transit service, such as on the Ashmont-Mattapan High Speed Line in Boston , as well as in Philadelphia , Kenosha, San Diego and San Francisco following extensive overhauling. All other surviving and functional North American PCC cars are operated by museums and heritage railways. Several retired PCCs from Boston, Cleveland, and Philadelphia were purchased as scrap and have been privately stored just outside Windber, Pennsylvania since 1992. The PCCs built for Washington, D.C. were among

17802-498: Was made. In subway stations, riders instead tag their cards on the faregates to gain access to the platforms. Semi-metro One key difference from metro lines (rapid transit) is that semi-metro lines only partially run in tunnels and on viaducts. A metro line has an entirely conflict-free track, often completely grade separated. Semi-metro routes are operated by regular trams (with or without low floor ) or with specially developed tramcars (light rail vehicles), such as

17940-622: Was not built under license. Only models with direct references to the original American PCC streetcar are included here. Later models of a particular series such as the Tatra T5 were adapted and modernized further. Note that the country listed only covers areas where the cars were initially delivered; references for these areas can be found in the text. Belgium ; introduced 1951; number built: 125 (both models) . The first PCC cars in Brussels (series 7000–7100) were built in prevision of

18078-501: Was only able to supply 66–72 working cars for rush-hour service instead of the required 99 cars, resulting in system delays. Despite the shortcomings of the USSLRV design, these cars constituted the entire light rail fleet until 1996, when new Breda -manufactured cars were put into service, replacing Boeing cars as they were accepted for service. By 1998, the 136-car Muni Metro fleet consisted of 57 Boeing Vertol cars and 79 Breda cars. Two Boeing cars were preserved for potential donation to

18216-596: Was remarkable and innovative in that it allowed motor control by floor pedal similar to that of an automobile. General Electric also developed a control system for PCC cars that mirrored the Westinghouse scheme in function although not in simplicity or maintainability . With the GE commutator motor controller operating by air pressure, it had to be redesigned with the advent of the All-Electric PCC. Acceleration

18354-542: Was replaced with buses due to the COVID-19 pandemic . The SFMTA reopened rail service on August 22, 2020, but returned to bus substitution three days later, citing malfunctioning overhead wire splices and the need to quarantine control center staff after a COVID-19 case. During this brief time, routes were reconfigured to improve reliability in the subway: Advocates with local nonprofit Senior and Disability Action criticized this route configuration, expressing concern over

18492-509: Was the N Judah , which started service after the Sunset Tunnel opened in 1928. In the 1940s and 1950s, as in many North American cities, public transit in San Francisco was consolidated under the aegis of a single municipal corporation, which then began phasing out much of the streetcar network in favor of buses. However, five heavily used streetcar lines traveled for at least part of their routes through tunnels or otherwise reserved right-of-way , and thus could not be converted to bus lines. As

18630-457: Was the rolling laboratory for All-Electrics and what was learned here was applied to the post-WW2 All-Electric demonstrator in the fall of 1945. From 1936 to 1945, PCC cars were "Air-Electrics" with friction brakes , doors, and windshield wipers operated by air pressure. PRCo PCC 1600 of 1945 was the post WW2 All-Electric Demonstrator which eliminated the air compressor and associated piping while incorporating such features as standee windows ,

18768-417: Was to design a streamlined , comfortable, quiet, and fast accelerating and braking streetcar that would be operated by a seated operator using floor-mounted pedal controls to better meet the needs of the street railways and appeal to riders. ERPCC prepared a detailed research plan, conducted extensive research on streetcar design, built and tested components, made necessary modifications and revisions based upon

18906-669: Was used worldwide after World War II had ended which resulted in adaptations based on the American PCC design. Two such licensees were successful, namely the Belgian company La Brugeoise et Nivelles (since 1988 a subsidiary of Bombardier Transportation , itself since 2021 a subsidiary of the French Alstom ), who built both standard-gauge and meter-gauge cars based on the PCC license for many networks in Belgium, France and

19044-445: Was variable between 1.5-to-4.75-mile-per-hour per second (2.41 to 7.64 km/h) depending upon the depression of the power pedal with the accelerator advanced automatically by a low-voltage pilot motor. Service braking was also variable and the maximum dynamic application decreased speed by 4.75 mph per second (7.64 km/h); pressing the brake pedal into emergency also brought the friction and magnetic brakes into play providing

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